Fw: Spider Mites on Mints ?

I have never had luck controlling the spider mites on the potted double white Brugmansia that sits on my deck.  I have blasted it twice daily, laboriously spraying UP  so that the place where the mites sat would be hit.  It was useless.  I once made a concoction, however, of vinegar, oil and soap that I had read in a magazine.  I've since lost the recipe, but I am sure you could experiment.  The soap was just Ivory dish liquid, I believe, the oil was almost certainly vegetable oil, but I'm not certain of that.  Is there someone out there who has heard of this recipe?  It actually worked pretty well.  I put it in a spray bottle and did it once a week for 2 or 3 weeks.
 
Karrie Reid
Folsom Foothill Gardener
Zone 9, California
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: Spider Mites on Mints ?

I have heard that you can get rid of spider mites by spraying the foliage
with a blast of water from the hose every day for several weeks straight. 
Seems it interrupts their mating cycle and you can wipe out the whole next
generation that way.  Of course, you have to catch them early.  As soon as
it gets dry and hot here in Los Angeles, I'm on the lookout, especially on
my roses and I use the hose in the early afternoon, not only to cool down
the plants and wash the foliage, but also to foil the mites.  By the time
the sun goes down, the foliage is dry so I don't have any problems with 
fungal diseases taking hold in the night.

Robin Corwin
Studio City, California
Sunset Zone 21, Zones 9/10



>From: "Linda Starr" <mtnstar@ocsnet.net>
>Reply-To: mtnstar@ocsnet.net
>To: <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
>Subject: Re: Spider Mites on Mints ?
>Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 17:07:07 -0700
>
>Dear Richard,
>
>I am in Zone 9 California - southern Sierra Nevada foothills at 1000 foot
>elevation - hot, dry and windy too.  Earlier in the year the mints were in
>part shade and we had an unusually wet spring, but the sun rose in the sky
>and put the mints in full sun.  The mites are so bad I may scrap all four
>pots and get new potting soil and plants and then watch them more closely
>this time.  I have had so many projects going this year and with harvesting
>my lavender, I haven't had time to keep an eye on my plants as much as I
>usually do.
>
>Linda Starr
>Springville Lavender Gardens
>Zone 9 California
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