Avid .. Does it kill mite eggs

[Gin]

Was talking with a friend about diffrent bug controls , one piece of info. stated Avid kills mite eggs another said it did not . I don't have any mites , but they wrecked my daughters Phals. this summer .
I found out the ingredient in Avid is a form of Ivermectin an injectable cattle wormer not water soulable 1%. Avid is 2% water soluable . Both are systemic , plus no odor .
I know Kelatne is good but ... Stinky . Gin

[Orchidlady]

Hi Gin!
What is AVID and where can I get it? I just found an infestation on one of my favorite phals this weekend. I HATE THESE THINGS!!!!!!! (Phal has been treated and is in "sick bay" away from the other plants.) I've tried Mitebeater and Concern. I even have a bottle of Kelthane, but would rather wait until I can use it outside in the spring/summer. Meanwhile, if I've treated a plant, I can't remember whether I treat every week or the second week to get the offspring. I'm definitely on the warpath! BTW, good seeing you here!!!! Any updates on Alberta? All the best, Sandy :-)

[pikespeak62]

I used to work for an indoor plant maintenance company.
Avid was used for mite control.
Yes....it kills eggs too.
I don't know if it's available to the public or just commercially.
I know we had to suit up to spray it!

[Orchidlady]

If it works, I'll don the suit and a respirator :-)

[Orchidlady]

Whew, just found Avid, which costs about $100 for 8 oz. At least it's cheaper than my perfume LOL!!!!

[Gin]

I used Safers with Hort. oil on my daughters plants every 3 days for awhile the reproduction cycle is very short , Feed stores have the Ivermectin , injectable cattle wormer , from what I have read the dose is 1/2 teas to a gal of water . problem is it is oily and does not mix very well . Death to mites ! Gin

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I use neem oil for mites, scale, mealies, aphids, most anything else that sucks. It is also a fugicide and bactericide, so I like using it on a regular basis. It kills all stages of insects, including eggs. It is cheap, readily available, and not very dangerous to man and plant. But, you need to keep plants out of the sun and heat for a day or so after use, or the leaves will loose color in a mottled fashion, which does not seem to slow the plant down any, but is a bit worrisome to plant owners. I have seen readimix at Home Depot, and a concentrate at most nurseries. If you buy the concentrate, use it up in the first 4 or 5 hours, I've read it doesn't keep. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[thomaii]

Concerning that most dreadful of spiders, it all depends on if you care about organics or not. Personally I don't.... as long as I'm not ingesting it or destroying the environment. If it is possible I use a product called FloraMite, it is systemic for around 26 days. You apply once then repeat 3 days later and no worries. For edibles there is no substitute for Neem oil. It doesn't actually kill the mites, it interrupts their reproductive cycle (along with most other undesirables). So if I'm going that route I spray every 3 days like clockwork for a month or so and then cut back to once a week for general happiness.

Cynthia, I'v never had my plants burn, but I always let them dry before putting them is direct light. Does this happen with all your plants or just more delicate flowers? Maybe its that wicked bright Az sun...

FloraMite is Suit Up Material, unfortunately that hasn't always been an option. NEVER LET WET PLANT MATERIAL BE IN STRONG LIGHT!!!! Totally detrimental, and Avid is the same. Really I only spray in the early morning, even just water.

hope this helps
all the best

[thomaii]

Oh goodness I forgot... If your using Neem make sure you purchase oils that have been extracted using a cold press technique or most, if not all, of the active bits will be cooked away .

[tom499]

if your growing in a greenhouse, try and get some ladybirds,you can buy them in small or large amounts. also leave some of your greenhouse corners untouched, so as spiders can live. natural predators are often much better for general control, especially lady birds, which seem to eat anything with 6 legs.

its still necassary of course to have the "heavier arsenal" at hand, but a few friendly critters may save you a coins on the chemicals

[palito]

in a greenhouse, predator mites, while expensive, are excellent as well, they decimate spider mites and then they die once there is no more food.

If you are lucky to have them around your gardenn naturally, theyll keep the spider mites in check.

[thomaii]

Hi Palito, unfortunately in my experience predator mites have never gotten the job done. I know that they have worked for some, but it is vital that you know the exact parameters of your growing aria; i.e.. temp and humidity highs and lows. their are 3 different species of predatory mite and they thrive in different conditions. I dont know if its my aria of the world, but if I see even a one pinprick of mite damage out comes the floramite/avid!!!! I think also the depth of the infestation is a large factor.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I have changed my technique for mites and for neem oil. I am pretty much convinced, but time will tell, that neem oil is stressful for many orchids, and the problems that arise, mottled foliage, leaf death for some plants, may not be caused by the neem oil directly, but that the stressed condition of the plants leaves them vulnerable to fungi and bacterial. I have been treating all plants getting neem oil with a systemic fungicide (and bacteriocide for Phyton 27) immediately before I use neem, and for several times over the next few weeks to protect the weakened plants. I no longer use neem on everything when I find spider mites. I use a jewelers loupe to inspect each plant, and only treat the plants with mites. With over 700 plants in my greenhouse, this may seem an impossible task, but I have just completely eliminated a very extensive infestation of spider mites this way. It turns out that spider mites don't like an awful lot of plants. Catts, Phal, and the Phal type Dens (and the tough leaved Australian Dens) seem to be unacceptable to spider mites, so after a while I stoped checking these. However, they love most other Dens, Cymbidiums, Sobralias, and a lot of odds and ends. Those that showed mites got a certain colored tag. So now I know to keep rechecking these, and anything else that seems to be having any kind of trouble. The real trick to this is to have a really good system of 'seeing' these mites, so you know for sure which plants really need work. I can't emphasize enough the need to be able to 'see' these bugs. Treating plants that are free of mites is unnecessary and tough on the plants. Phal/flat/red mites are larger than spider mites, and should be even easier to see, which is good, because the spidermites are sometimes only seen as easily as they are because they are very active, and their movement helps. Flat mites just sit there doing nothing but sucking on plant juices. I have yet to see how extensive the tastes are for flat mites and if they are found more uniformly on the plants, or are limited to the plants they like as spidermites are.

I have been buying jewelers loupes, the kind that lodge in your eye, from surplus shed. $1.25 each, and a flat $5 for shipping, so look over their catalog, everything is cheap. I keep misplacing the loupes, so I bought a half dozen. One for the GH, one for my outdoor potting bench, one for my window sill where I occasionally keep plants, one for my light garden I have started, and a couple to use when I misplace one of the others.

[pikevi]

I have been fascinated by some latest research on Neem oil (Azadirachta indica). Could you please tell me how it causes stress in orchids, Cynthia?

Is it because it is an oil and it blocks the pores on the leaves or prevents absorption of water /nutients from the roots by forming an impermeable thin layer of oil on the surface of roots?

Is there a possibility that the biochemicals in the oil (limonoids ) that are antimicrobial/pesticidal somehow do not agree with the orchids?. Do they get absorbed systemically?

Thanks.