spider mite cure
 

Hey,

I am fairly certain I have a spider mite infestation. More and more plants seem to develop small bulges on leaves and discoloration.

What is the "approved" way to deal with those buggers?
Anything better than alcohol/soap/water mixture ?

Does pyrethrin based insecticide kill them?

:bump:

I have also started adding about 1-2 teaspoons of canola oil to the rubbing alcohol mix, 1/2 to 1 tsp of cinnamon powder and using about a tbsp of Dr Bronners Peppermint Castile Soap - all diluted in water. It works wonders. Keep plants out of sun until dry.
Today for example a single spray killed a group of earwigs that crawled out the bottom of a pot.....instantly.

I am using it as a preventive spray too.
I have heard foggers work. I am going to try those this week, but will stick to a monthly spray.

A mitecide is all you need.

it boils down to preference but at least with my concoction I know its 100% safe for indoor use because it uses everyday ( organic ) household ingredients.
Also if you research the problem you will find that mites can develop resistance to chemicals and you can actually exacerbate the problem with a chemical miticide. Its proven that they cannot build a resistance to any formulation of rubbing alcohol, oils and Dr Bronner's for example.

How much water do you add to dilute this? Would it also work without the Dr. Bronners (don't have any right now)? I currently have a few strawberry plants that are fighting a spider mite infestation and I have been looking for an effective, organic solution (I don't want to eat a bunch of chemicals! That's why I'm growing my own in the first place!)

water is about 1/4 to 1/2 of a 32oz bottle.
It's a bit like cooking - I never measure ingredients precisely, just came up with the right formulation.

I used Safer's EndAll with some success. Treatment has to be repeated several times.

I like your recipe and will have to get the ingredients I don't have. A have a few plants that are known to be sensitive to chemicals. I have just always treated everything around them and hoped for the best.

its cheap too. We have a lot of houseplants and I am convinced that the lifecyle of the mites is perpetuated through them as well. You have to have a regime of preventive spraying and I believe that the cinnamon helps with fungal infections.