kts4375 said:
Prevention: Till soil at the beginning and end of each gardening season to destroy overwintering larvae. Tillage has shown to cause up to 90% mortality.
That sounds like the good ones. Being more mobile is one of the differentiating traits.Takanotsume said:Is there an an easy way to identify beneficial mites vs. harmful ones?
I've noticed a couple on my plants that are scurrying around very quickly and look a bit larger then the usual pesky ones. They also tend to roam everywhere as opposed to favoring the undersides of the leaves.
I don't know what you have going on, but spraying them with really diluted soapy water works wonders for me when they are really bad. I also follow up with a wet swab to remove them, with emphasis on the big ones. Then I swab them every other day and it gets hard to find them. Before I brought in my other plants, I was down to 2 that had aphids still, of the dozen or so that started with them. If you can do the whole plant in one sitting a couple times, and they still seem to be coming back strong, start looking for basal shoots that are hidden in the substrate.. That's the only reason I keep getting them back on the two of the first batch.stettoman said:SNS 209 systemic pest control, anyone tried it?
https://sierranaturalscience.com/natural-pesticides/sns-209/
I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up with the aphids, hate to dump my OWs...
I've ordered a pint, will report back if there is significant reduction in aphid activity...
CraftyFox said:I don't know what you have going on, but spraying them with really diluted soapy water works wonders for me when they are really bad. I also follow up with a wet swab to remove them, with emphasis on the big ones. Then I swab them every other day and it gets hard to find them. Before I brought in my other plants, I was down to 2 that had aphids still, of the dozen or so that started with them. If you can do the whole plant in one sitting a couple times, and they still seem to be coming back strong, start looking for basal shoots that are hidden in the substrate.. That's the only reason I keep getting them back on the two of the first batch.
Well.. I would only spray them when they were in a serious state, with a very dilute solution. How many times are we talking about here? For me, that's once.. And then, with the same dilute solution, I will follow up and hand clean them with a swab. When you are only using a few drops to a pint.. I've yet to see anything but beneficial results from the treatments as I do them. I also consider it the "feeding" for that duration. Then there is the whole "removal of the honeydew effect". To say using a systemic solution is better is a dangerous generalization.. It's better if you are going for that whole Chernobyl landscape.solid7 said:
Soap is only effective on contact, and repeated sprayings of soap on plants can be detrimental. The pH of soap is around 9.5, typically.
It is much better to use a systemic solution for any plants that have pests like aphids, which tend to be "farmed". (ants)
CraftyFox said:To say using a systemic solution is better is a dangerous generalization.. It's better if you are going for that whole Chernobyl landscape.
I don't recall saying anything about ants in containers.. The ants I tolerate in my house are of the hunter fashion, I'm the only farmer in here. To say that systemics don't have an impact on non-target species is, at best, a half-truth.. Is this even an argument? There is always new and tender growth on peppers where I live, indoors or out.solid7 said:
Wouldn't agree with that, at all. Nothing nuclear about using a plant based systemic that only affects things that are actually eating the plant. Especially when you consider that a slow growing OW will maintain succulent growth - which is the most vulnerable state for a plant to be in. And also the most desirable to a pest.
I won't rob you of your experience - but aphids for many, if not most of us, are not the kind of thing that are generally a "one time" issue. If you have them n an OW, you probably have everything that you need for an epidemic. Ants in containers indoors? HELL-TO-THE-NO. You're branding your own religion, there.
You'll have to clarify how you use a soap based contact spray, but manage to spare the predatory insects. That's a new one on me.
That's not a chemical I've used yet, or I'd have shared my experiences about it. Hopefully it fits your need. I'll definitely be interested in the results. The cost of my method is essentially time that I already spend with my plants, just more focused.stettoman said:CraftyFox, I suggest you check my link. What you are doing for pest control may ultimately be effective for you, but time & devotion-wise it's just not practical for me. If I can apply a biologic pest control that empowers the plant itself to repel the little bastiges, it's win-win all around. One pint of this stuff makes 60 gallons of treatment, well worth the $25 bucks if it works...
It sure seems that you are, by implication, advocating the tolerance of ant (farmers) in indoor containers.CraftyFox said:I don't recall saying anything about ants in containers..
I'm trying to maintain a natural harmony indoors, maybe keep these Aphidius wasps and other beneficials alive, even if it means farming some of these little honeycows What else do I have to do all winter? You can say what you want about ant farms, but I find all the best predators there!
Of course it is. We didn't even get into specific systemics. "Systemics", as a term, doesn't have the connotation that you assigned. (your Chernobyl reference) Additionally, systemics can be applied either as a drench, or to foliage. So without context, I wholeheartedly disagree with your assertion.CraftyFox said:To say that systemics don't have an impact on non-target species is, at best, a half-truth.. Is this even an argument?
Of course there is. But my comment was that an OW is in a perpetual state of succulent growth. This is why we have to harden off plants when they go back out. Is this even an argument?CraftyFox said:There is always new and tender growth on peppers where I live, indoors or out.
Be damned if I'm gonna go all "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", or wear a portable microscope on my face, while picking at plant nits. I doubt many others will, either. In fact, if you maintain enough pests to keep the beneficials going, then you've arguably got enough pests to cause your plant a problem. Especially when you factor in the prolonged exposure.CraftyFox said:If you don't practice maintaining beneficials, I'm sure a few of the concepts would seem foreign to you.. There's definitely an art to it that I have yet to master. So easy to destroy an ecosystem, so hard to maintain one.. I start by quarantine, then visual inspection with a hand lens, removing any beneficials back to the general population. It's really not that hard, but it's certainly not the "easy" method. Nothing about it is perfect and I'm fully confident I've killed a good number of soon to be wasps already.. Maybe more than the incandescent lights, but it's debatable.
CraftyFox said:And really, you make Aphids sound like they are some evil force.. Like, attack of the zombie cows!! They are like a threat level 1 in my grow. I mean, number one problem with aphids is they will bring a disease to your plant. Whether you kill them or not, after they vector it, you've got it. In my grow, any new adult that happens to find it's way in here is going to be confronted by a standing force, before they get to take one single suck on these.. Can't see how that's worse?