Cheap & easy spider mite treatment

I am looking into ways to control the spider mite infestation in my garden. The whole village is infested with them so pre-emptive measures don't go a long way. I am an unstoppable vector. I've tried a few things with varying success and finally decided to use a neem oil based product but the price tags made me laugh really hard.

I am a cheap, hardcore DIY guy. Pure neem oil is sold for dirt cheap at every corner. Could anybody please compare the efficacy of DIY-neem-oil-emulsion against commercial products? Also, we use oxalic acid for varroa mites (which a nasty bee parasite) with great success. Has anyone actually tried oxalic acid on spider mites? I am also evaluating the potential of sulfur. Local people use sulfur for all kinds of agricultural problems but I've never seen someone do it. Is it any good against mites?

Here are the girls. All are clones from the same mother. Most of them are on coco slabs but there are soil pots and deep water culture tanks here and there. The two massive individuals on the back reached the 2 meter mark this week. I'll try to get better pictures next time.

@Niko83

the thing you dont want to do is go cheap on the neem oil. I highly recommend you go to neemresource.com and get ahimsa neem oil.... best stuff on the market. I use agsil ( you can buy your own agsil mineral and make your own silica water for much cheaper ) and also use aloe vera in the mixture as well.

sulfur is great for powder mildew. only thing that worked for me.

Mild soap,neem oil and cedar oil mixed into to water applied via a misting machine

White oil. Cheap and only a day holding period

insecticidal soap.

ya'll overlooked the most efficient, easiest (by FAR), and the safest cleanest treatment of all
and anyone that knows me, knows wtf I am talkin about
predator mites.
expensive, but effective, and easy.
plus, like I also say, nothing like the thought of each and every spider mite getting systematically hunted down and torn apart and eaten while alive..
awesome.

Niko83 said:

I am looking into ways to control the spider mite infestation in my garden. The whole village is infested with them so pre-emptive measures don't go a long way. I am an unstoppable vector. I've tried a few things with varying success and finally decided to use a neem oil based product but the price tags made me laugh really hard.

I am a cheap, hardcore DIY guy. Pure neem oil is sold for dirt cheap at every corner. Could anybody please compare the efficacy of DIY-neem-oil-emulsion against commercial products? Also, we use oxalic acid for varroa mites (which a nasty bee parasite) with great success. Has anyone actually tried oxalic acid on spider mites? I am also evaluating the potential of sulfur. Local people use sulfur for all kinds of agricultural problems but I've never seen someone do it. Is it any good against mites?

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I'd wager my substantial reproductive organs that they'd work marvelously for you.
and no, I don't sell them, I have nothing to gain.
however I am almost certain that I have probably THE most extensive history with mites..
and that is a shitty history to have.
I grow in a redwood forest, in a relatively open shed, with like 5 types of mites around.
nothing ever, ever, evr worked, because the forest was CRAWLING with mites, so a treatment lasted maybe 2 weeks, and then it didn't last at all, then switch to a diff treatment, same story, works for a lil while and then not.
mean-fuckin-while I was breeding a super-steroid-mite that laughed at essentially all treatments
forbid, avid, dichlorvos, neem, azamax, pyrethrines, all that didn't work at ALL
well, neem worked, but at the rates needed it always fried the pistils, wilted the leaves, and smelled like funk..
predator mites work, no joke
BUT they are expen$ive...
and after the mites are all eaten, they don't stick around, they leave your garden looking for food, so re-infestation is always a possibility.
but that takes a while..
plus in the humid weather the fallacis are the ones you need, and they work damn well

I agree with the monkey man: natural predators are the way to go. Ladybugs have always been what I have understood as the scourge of spider mites, and I'm pretty sure you can order them on Amazon.

I have also heard burning sulfur in your grow room can take care of them. Those same people said that it doesnt affect the taste of smell of your nugs, but I'm skeptical about that claim.

prostheticninja said:

I agree with the monkey man: natural predators are the way to go. Ladybugs have always been what I have understood as the scourge of spider mites, and I'm pretty sure you can order them on Amazon.

I have also heard burning sulfur in your grow room can take care of them. Those same people said that it doesnt affect the taste of smell of your nugs, but I'm skeptical about that claim.

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ahh well...
I'd not recommend that route
ladybugs are useless for anything past aphids
and inside they just do a mass suicide run to the reflectors

greasemonkeymann said:

ahh well...
I'd not recommend that route
ladybugs are useless for anything past aphids
and inside they just do a mass suicide run to the reflectors

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Then be turned to mulch by my ducting fans


Glad to be set straight though before I wasted my time with the beetles if I should ever find myself with mites.

prostheticninja said:

Then be turned to mulch by my ducting fans


Glad to be set straight though before I wasted my time with the beetles if I should ever find myself with mites.

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no problem at all my friend, ladybugs are damn useless..
but, like I said, they do kick ass for aphids
I grow hybrid tea roses and aphids just LOVE roses.
so I've had a nice lil ladybug-feast for them before.
but I've tried 4 times for mites, and they simply don't like them
not to mention the mites can WAY out produce eggs and babies
like not even a comparison
another reason predator mites rule, cuz they eat the eggs and all, and their reproduction rates can easily keep up with the spider mites

Thanks for all the input guys! Glad to hear DIY neem solution actually works.

I guess prevention works only if you are in a somewhat sterile environment like a big city. As greasemonkeymann pointed out, prevention works a week maybe two here in the rural, then it's business as usual for the mites because there is a huge reservoir of mites right at my doorstep. I tried a few kinds of soaps and I can confirm they work (even without the added oil) but applying it is tedious work. That's why I want a systemic drug like neem.

I wonder where those predator mites live. Their food is right at my doorstep, so they must be close by right? I guess all those pesticides people use give an unfair advantage to faster-reproducing pests like mites and aphids. I've heard they travel great distances hitching a ride with the wind. That definitely explains why they are so ubiquitous.

Niko83 said:

Thanks for all the input guys! Glad to hear DIY neem solution actually works.

I guess prevention works only if you are in a somewhat sterile environment like a big city. As greasemonkeymann pointed out, prevention works a week maybe two here in the rural, then it's business as usual for the mites because there is a huge reservoir of mites right at my doorstep. I tried a few kinds of soaps and I can confirm they work (even without the added oil) but applying it is tedious work. That's why I want a systemic drug like neem.

I wonder where those predator mites live. Their food is right at my doorstep, so they must be close by right? I guess all those pesticides people use give an unfair advantage to faster-reproducing pests like mites and aphids. I've heard they travel great distances hitching a ride with the wind. That definitely explains why they are so ubiquitous.

Click to expand...

I had mites last year they were only on one plant and neem didn't faze em, I watered it in and mixed neem meal in the soil and sprayed with it and they just partied on, more neem please. what did finely kill em was Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew. They say that mites can't build up a resistant to neem so maybe someone should tell those little fuckers to read the memo. I'm going to try this stuff see how they like it. http://www.dazeys.com/blog/trifecta/