TheFuture
Well-Known Member
Instead of Neem Oil, save your money and purchase some Azamax or Azatrol. When you finish the bottle, but the other brand. Switch back and forth between the two following that.
Basically, I recommend using Azadirachtin in any form opposed to none at all. Neem oil is the least dilute, most raw form besides Neem Cake which is the compressed remnants of pressing the oil out. Azamax and Azatrol are concentrated emulsifiable liquid azadirachtin which is many times more effective than Neem oil itself. On top of that, you apply Azamax/Azatrol to the roots for the majority of systemic control. You can choose to spray as a foliar but it is not necessary as long as the plant is ingesting it via root contact. It is not a contact kill; it is an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR).
Even Neem oil is only smothering in mode of action while having residual effects of azadirachtin absorbed through the leaf or direct ingestion by the vector as it consumes the oil on the leaf surface itself. Azadirachtin inside the plant has to be ingested by insects but those sucking insects such as Aphids and Mites are affected immediately upon ingesting any amount. Their mouthparts become unable to work so they cant eat any more. They can not molt out of their exoskeleton so if they were in transition they might burst in their shells. They cant change from one form to the next so essentially emaciate and die pretty terribly. As the base of any important Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, an IGR is necessary as your base mode of vector control.
The primary method of best control of spider mites and other vectors that grow on a bell curve with increases in temperatures is to keep temperatures stable and low. If you were to be able to achieve 65-68*F temperatures, the vectors would be sluggish and much slower to reproduce.
After that, it is easy enough to use pressurized water to physically blast off some vectors; use a hose, put the plant in the bathtub, immerse upside down in a tub of water, whatever you do. Spray the plants with insecticidal soap such as Safer brand, which in addition to the problems you have been giving them will dissolve the waxy coating on the outer shell of most insects causing them to dry out and die.
If your plants are just too bad after that, you can move on to contact kill applications such as Peppermint or Spearmint oil, Clove oil, or a few other essential oils. For smothering mode of action equal to Neem but no harsh acrid taste and much thinner (higher viscosity) use Safflower Oil or BioWorks Saffoil-X.
Continuing on if the vectors haven't been knocked down now for whatever reason, use a Pyrethrin + Synergist combo such as FoxFarm Don't Bug Me http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/index.php/item/dont-bug-me-environmentally-friendly-insect-spray.html or the commercial version Evergreen 60-6. Both are natural OMRI approved Pyrethrin Oil and Piperonyl Butoxide increases effectiveness.
After that, this is were I would use the Hot Shot Pest strips and have in the past. DO NOT stick around in the room with them as the gases they emit are toxic to you, not just the vectors. Keep in mind the vapor is heavier than air and thus you need to keep the strip hanging at or right above canopy level and at the ground level to be the most effective. These strips will kill every living bug dead in your grow area but the mites can get used to them at which time you'll be pulling your hair out.
Lastly, if you don't have to worry about growing commercially or for an Organic Certification, you can use Floramite or Avid. Used correctly, there will be no trace of these non-organic methods of vector control. If you don't want to go through the rigmarole you can simply apply Avid once you transplant from seedling to Vegetative pot for 45 days of mite-free growth. At the 45 day mark there is no longer systemic action of the miticide. Therefore, around the 36 day mark, around transplant time, apply Floramite for an additional 45 days of mite free growth. I do not recommend applying anything after this because you will have plants in full bloom and do not want any extra crap in the plant. You do not want to smoke Avid of Floramite or I'm sure you're going to have some problems. Main reason this is the last recommendation.
Each step wait 7-10 days in between applications for best effect.
If anyone reading this cannot get rid of the mite problem just burn your plants, containers, media, and grow space and start over, lol.
Basically, I recommend using Azadirachtin in any form opposed to none at all. Neem oil is the least dilute, most raw form besides Neem Cake which is the compressed remnants of pressing the oil out. Azamax and Azatrol are concentrated emulsifiable liquid azadirachtin which is many times more effective than Neem oil itself. On top of that, you apply Azamax/Azatrol to the roots for the majority of systemic control. You can choose to spray as a foliar but it is not necessary as long as the plant is ingesting it via root contact. It is not a contact kill; it is an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR).
Even Neem oil is only smothering in mode of action while having residual effects of azadirachtin absorbed through the leaf or direct ingestion by the vector as it consumes the oil on the leaf surface itself. Azadirachtin inside the plant has to be ingested by insects but those sucking insects such as Aphids and Mites are affected immediately upon ingesting any amount. Their mouthparts become unable to work so they cant eat any more. They can not molt out of their exoskeleton so if they were in transition they might burst in their shells. They cant change from one form to the next so essentially emaciate and die pretty terribly. As the base of any important Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, an IGR is necessary as your base mode of vector control.
The primary method of best control of spider mites and other vectors that grow on a bell curve with increases in temperatures is to keep temperatures stable and low. If you were to be able to achieve 65-68*F temperatures, the vectors would be sluggish and much slower to reproduce.
After that, it is easy enough to use pressurized water to physically blast off some vectors; use a hose, put the plant in the bathtub, immerse upside down in a tub of water, whatever you do. Spray the plants with insecticidal soap such as Safer brand, which in addition to the problems you have been giving them will dissolve the waxy coating on the outer shell of most insects causing them to dry out and die.
If your plants are just too bad after that, you can move on to contact kill applications such as Peppermint or Spearmint oil, Clove oil, or a few other essential oils. For smothering mode of action equal to Neem but no harsh acrid taste and much thinner (higher viscosity) use Safflower Oil or BioWorks Saffoil-X.
Continuing on if the vectors haven't been knocked down now for whatever reason, use a Pyrethrin + Synergist combo such as FoxFarm Don't Bug Me http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/index.php/item/dont-bug-me-environmentally-friendly-insect-spray.html or the commercial version Evergreen 60-6. Both are natural OMRI approved Pyrethrin Oil and Piperonyl Butoxide increases effectiveness.
After that, this is were I would use the Hot Shot Pest strips and have in the past. DO NOT stick around in the room with them as the gases they emit are toxic to you, not just the vectors. Keep in mind the vapor is heavier than air and thus you need to keep the strip hanging at or right above canopy level and at the ground level to be the most effective. These strips will kill every living bug dead in your grow area but the mites can get used to them at which time you'll be pulling your hair out.
Lastly, if you don't have to worry about growing commercially or for an Organic Certification, you can use Floramite or Avid. Used correctly, there will be no trace of these non-organic methods of vector control. If you don't want to go through the rigmarole you can simply apply Avid once you transplant from seedling to Vegetative pot for 45 days of mite-free growth. At the 45 day mark there is no longer systemic action of the miticide. Therefore, around the 36 day mark, around transplant time, apply Floramite for an additional 45 days of mite free growth. I do not recommend applying anything after this because you will have plants in full bloom and do not want any extra crap in the plant. You do not want to smoke Avid of Floramite or I'm sure you're going to have some problems. Main reason this is the last recommendation.
Each step wait 7-10 days in between applications for best effect.
If anyone reading this cannot get rid of the mite problem just burn your plants, containers, media, and grow space and start over, lol.
