Carl Spackler
Well-Known Member
Last week, I saw a few spots on the tops of the leaves on two of my girls and took home a sample to examine thoroughly under my old-school microscope. Got confirmation of two-spotted-red spider mites. I knew that later in the vegetative/early flower stage coupled with hotter temps, the conditions are ideal for S.mite developement.
I bought a pouch of Red Man chewing tobacco (gotta love the non-p.c.-branding still holding on) and threw a robust handful into 2 quarts of boiling water. Let it rip for 20 minutes, then strained through cheesecloth into a half gallon fine mist sprayer. I also added 4 drops of commercial-grade 7.90%Bifenthrin for some added punch against other potential nasties with an excellent reputation for long residual effect. Since the Bifenthrin contains a sticker/surfactant it made no sense to include additional soap as a surfactant. I hiked back today and sprayed every leaf/stem surface including the surrounding soil to the point of run-off. Since I was doing a little selective pruning to aid in light penetration I decided to stick a few of the cuttings in a baggie to check for efficacy. Under magnification the effects were devasting. Before treatment, I saw dozens of mites in various stages of development, eating , playing, running and screwing. After that it looked much like the day after Hiroshima/Nagasaki. A few stragglers were still barely moving but they appeared not long for this world. I realize that these controls are unlikely to control many of the eggs that were layed earlier but, I plan on a follow-up blast with another thermonuclear device just to make sure they know that this treaty is non-negotiable and binding. I expect they will show up aboard the "Missouri" with their collective tiny swords and rue the day they attacked Mr. Spackler.
I bought a pouch of Red Man chewing tobacco (gotta love the non-p.c.-branding still holding on) and threw a robust handful into 2 quarts of boiling water. Let it rip for 20 minutes, then strained through cheesecloth into a half gallon fine mist sprayer. I also added 4 drops of commercial-grade 7.90%Bifenthrin for some added punch against other potential nasties with an excellent reputation for long residual effect. Since the Bifenthrin contains a sticker/surfactant it made no sense to include additional soap as a surfactant. I hiked back today and sprayed every leaf/stem surface including the surrounding soil to the point of run-off. Since I was doing a little selective pruning to aid in light penetration I decided to stick a few of the cuttings in a baggie to check for efficacy. Under magnification the effects were devasting. Before treatment, I saw dozens of mites in various stages of development, eating , playing, running and screwing. After that it looked much like the day after Hiroshima/Nagasaki. A few stragglers were still barely moving but they appeared not long for this world. I realize that these controls are unlikely to control many of the eggs that were layed earlier but, I plan on a follow-up blast with another thermonuclear device just to make sure they know that this treaty is non-negotiable and binding. I expect they will show up aboard the "Missouri" with their collective tiny swords and rue the day they attacked Mr. Spackler.
