Spider mites: Worm tea does not work (for me)

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

OK, I think I have tested this thoroughly enough, 3 sprayings, 3 to 4 days apart, 3/4 cup of Our Vial Earth product per gallon. New sprayer. All mites appear to be alive and well 4 to 5 days after last spraying.

Could be that my fungicide residue is causing a problem, or that Our Vital Earth is selling more than they can produce in full concentration, or ???. So for now, I will not be using worn tea for mites.

I just sprayed my collection with Bayer Advanced 3 in 1 (not the Garden Safe stuff that is neem oil), and I can find no living mites. Reports on the Bayer product say it is effective and gentle on a highly mixed collection. Time will tell if this product can replace the neem oil that has such bad effects on some plants.

[benaged]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

OK, I think I have tested this thoroughly enough, 3 sprayings, 3 to 4 days apart, 3/4 cup of Our Vial Earth product per gallon. New sprayer. All mites appear to be alive and well 4 to 5 days after last spraying.

Could be that my fungicide residue is causing a problem, or that Our Vital Earth is selling more than they can produce in full concentration, or ???. So for now, I will not be using worn tea for mites.

I just sprayed my collection with Bayer Advanced 3 in 1 (not the Garden Safe stuff that is neem oil), and I can find no living mites. Reports on the Bayer product say it is effective and gentle on a highly mixed collection. Time will tell if this product can replace the neem oil that has such bad effects on some plants.

I have used (home made) compost tea, worked on spidermites.Mike

[arleneg]

Hi Cynthia,

Try using 50/50 ratio and spray on leaves and potting media surface. That's what I do when I use worm tea as an insecticide/pesticide spray.

[mayres]

Good idea - I was thinking the same thing - make it stronger......

[digitalgate]

nothing beats Vendex® 50 WP miticide from dupont. I just kill those
monster a month ago. The Phal has been growing 3 inches of leave now.
3 application. Soaking the whole plant in the chemical.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

A 50/50 mix is a bit too expensive for a 1000 plants. Think I'll stick with other chemicals, but use the tea as an optional suppliment.

Thanks Digi-gate, I'll be looking for something to rotate with. Any experience with a highly mix orchid collection with Vendex?

[digitalgate]

yah, fertilizer, fungicide, miticide, some pyrothroid, all in one goal.
kill some plant in the process. Too lazy to do , with so many process.

[Anton]

You could always start your own worm farm Cynthia.

[justloveorchids]

I agree Anton ...........quite why so many posters on this forum keep buying Worm Tea when they could so easily set up a wormerie of their own and have gallons of the stuff for free and compost their kitchen scraps and veg/fruit peelings into the bargain beats me

[adespo]

I just got a worm farm for my birthday and was wondering where I could get worms for it besides online.

[mayres]

Sometimes places that sell fishing bait also sell containers of worms - you want the red wrigglers and not the night crawlers.

[NancyG]

Justloveorchids,

Our development prohibits having things like wormeries in our backyards. We can't even have vegetable gardens. Rats are indigenous to South Florida and we really don't want to attract those guys to our backyard.

So purchasing is a better option for me.

NancyG

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Yes, I am very much considering this. Wondered how I would do it in a climate that freezes pretty good, then realized I have just the spot under my bench in the greenhouse where I currently have a trash can now to hold warm water for watering in winter, but have decided this is not the best way to handle the problem. So, are there any down sides to having a wormery in my greenhouse. Do we get gnats or flies with wormeries? Do they produce any toxic gases that would ruin orchid flowers? How about a list of sources of hardware in the US, for those of you that have bought ready made set-ups.

[WIB]

According to Kelly, my friend, worm guide, and neighboring worm farmer, they are pretty much odorless (the castings smell no different from earth or good compost); there are no toxic emissions or residues, and there isn't really a problem of escape (because they don't like light and prefer to stay under the litter in their box). Unprocessed table waste, might attract fruit flies, so it's important to have a good balance of worms and food items (to make sure that the latter are rapidly consumed bythe former). Coir makes good bedding for them (which is a convenience for orchidists, I imagine), but torn newspaper works fine. They do NOT like their surroundings to go much below 50 degrees, at which point they start to die. This has deterred me from farming them in my chilly basement, although there are volunteers in my outdoor composter, which must stay warm enough in the middle for them to survive. The down side, to my ear, is that separating worms from castings can be more than a bit tedious.

[arleneg]

justloveorchids,

Having a wormerie in my backyard is not feasible. I'll rethink that option if I move elsewhere... That won't happen for, at least, 8 years.