Best organic/inorganic spider mite/aphid spray that you can use during hot heat?

[Living Tribunal]

I just came back from vacation to find a few of my crepe myrtles suffering from a spider mite party. I usually spray an organic neem oil, alcohol, soap mix but spraying oil on your trees down here in Texas during late spring is a big no no. Does anyone have any good spray recommendations that won't cook leaves during the hot heat of early summer (already triple digits here)?

I'm open to both organic and inorganic solutions.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[cmeg1]

I use Bayer 3 in 1 .
Works great....you gotta use something regularly.
I’m zone 7A and it gets about 100 here in the summer and I will be using it all season and it sold around here and should be fine.
All my trees are absolutely bugless and perfect leaves.
I’m don’t spray on flowers because the bees , do before or after flowering

 

[Living Tribunal]

@cmeg1 you don't need to apply it in shade or anything?

 

[cmeg1]

@cmeg1 you don't need to apply it in shade or anything?

I wouldn’t spray this in sun you do it early morning or after sun is starting to shade so it has about 45 minutes to dry first , you don’t spray it till it drips either just a fine mist over everything with a pump sprayer

 

[Living Tribunal]

I wouldn’t spray this in sun you do it early morning or after sun is starting to shade so it has about 45 minutes to dry first , you don’t spray it till it drips either just a fine mist over everything with a pump sprayer

Awesome, I'll give it a shot. I've found that crepe myrtle leaves are very sensitive to oil and it's hard to get off at times. I lose the bugs but the trees look like they suffer from a case of vitiligo, only reason for my paranoia.

 

[cmeg1]

Awesome, I'll give it a shot. I've found that crepe myrtle leaves are very sensitive to oil and it's hard to get off at times. I lose the bugs but the trees look like they suffer from a case of vitiligo, only reason for my paranoia.

I’ve been using this on crab apples and even in European Beech leaves on a regular basis every two weeks and the Beech leaves get sun six hours a day and look very smooth and just fine.

 

[Living Tribunal]

@cmeg1 ordered. Thanks for the suggestion, hopefully this gets rid of them with no damage to the leaves.

 

[coh]

Just spray the plants with water, everyday (or more often). That can be very effective against mites and aphids.

Regarding that bayer product, I don't know what's in it...but if imidacloprid is one of the ingredients, be aware that it has been shown to increase the reproductive rate of spider mites.

 

[Living Tribunal]

Just spray the plants with water, everyday (or more often). That can be very effective against mites and aphids.

Regarding that bayer product, I don't know what's in it...but if imidacloprid is one of the ingredients, be aware that it has been shown to increase the reproductive rate of spider mites.

I've been spraying the leaves every evening only to find 50-100 new guys under the leaves every morning. I think I need to just nip this in the butt. I checked the specs of the spray and don't see imidacloprid as an active ingredient. I'll check the bottle when it arrives however.

 

[JoeR]

I had amazing success with neem oil in removing aphids from tomato plants. I sprayed in the afternoon and even though it was hot and sunny the next day they were fine. They don’t immediately die, but within the next few days or so all the adults and larvae/Eva’s are dead and gone. I was surprised how effective it was. You really just have to make sure every plant surface is evenly covered.

 

[Living Tribunal]

I had amazing success with neem oil in removing aphids from tomato plants. I sprayed in the afternoon and even though it was hot and sunny the next day they were fine. They don’t immediately die, but within the next few days or so all the adults and larvae/Eva’s are dead and gone. I was surprised how effective it was. You really just have to make sure every plant surface is evenly covered.

Neem oil in this texas heat, even if applied at night and washed a few hours after, just cooks the leaves the next day. I've tried multiple soap brands and dish soap to try and get the oil out but it just never works and I get spots/burns on the leaves. During early spring it works great though.

 

[Starfox]

A pyrethrum spray works wonders and is safe in heat. It's only a contact spray though but gets them almost instantly and the UV breaks the active ingredient down within minutes. The only downside is it is not a preventative so just spray them as you see them.

 

[petegreg]

I use Bayer 3 in 1 .
Works great....you gotta use something regularly.
I’m zone 7A and it gets about 100 here in the summer and I will be using it all season and it sold around here and should be fine.
All my trees are absolutely bugless and perfect leaves.
I’m don’t spray on flowers because the bees , do before or after flowering

I wish we had this available here. Some Bayer products are but this one is not approved. Had a phone talk with Bayer dealer and he couldn't offer any alternative, sadly.

 

[Living Tribunal]

I wish we had this available here. Some Bayer products are but this one is not approved. Had a phone talk with Bayer dealer and he couldn't offer any alternative, sadly.

Can you not see if Amazon could sneak it past customs for you ?

 

[petegreg]

Can you not see if Amazon could sneak it past customs for you ?

Thank you, I've tried, it always ends like these:

Fortunately we have some alternatives, but not so nice 3-in-1.

 

[Living Tribunal]

@petegreg that's rough! Does the $55 mean they are able to import it though? I'm betting someone local can buy it in bulk. Hopefully the mites aren't too bad in slovakia

 

[petegreg]

@petegreg that's rough! Does the $55 mean they are able to import it though? I'm betting someone local can buy it in bulk. Hopefully the mites aren't too bad in slovakia

I'm not sure because I don't follow this kind of offers. Some seasons are good and some worse. Once I get abroad again I will think of this.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

The Bayer products does contain imidacloprid, coh is right, it is not very effective on spider mites. I had them real bad last year and the year before and it did not eradicate them. I now use Avid, Forbid, and Floramite in rotation and I have not seen any since using these products mid summer last year. They are a little on the spendy side if you buy a container of each but if you look on ebay you can find some sellers who break it down into small quantities. I got 30mls of each one at a very reasonable price. The stuff is very concentrated so that is enough for a couple of years. Just make sure to wear PPE when handling and spraying with them, and really for anything that you are spraying, Protect Yourself!

 

[cmeg1]

I actually don’t know what mites look like...I suppose they are either the black specs,green specks,or fuzzy white specks lol
I know they stunt growth of soft new growth though.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Spider mites





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