Current Treatments For Red Spider Mite

[habanerocat]

There is nothing surer than I have my first outbreak of RSM. So this is something new for me to deal with. I've been reading lots on here about the best solution. To be honest it has got very confusing in relation to what works best on succulents. What is currently available. What is available fast and where to get it.

I've compiled a list from what I've read on here. It may be useful if people would update (copy/paste) this list with what is currently available and where to get it. Active ingredients. Also rating its effectiveness.

Malathion
Not available

Bug Clear Ultra
RSM not listed as far as I can see

Organic Bug Free
RSM listed
Widely available
?/10

Floramite
RSM listed
Ebay US
?/10

Avid
RSM listed
Abamectin active ingredient
Ebay UK
?/10

Rotenone
Couldn't find much info

EndALL
Contains Neem Oil with pyrethrin
US only?
?/10

Neem Oil
Ebay UK
?/10

Acetamiprid
Couldn't find much info

Movento
US only?

SB Plant Invigorator & Bug Killer
Widely available
?/10

[KarlR]

Floramite is great if you can get it. Worked wonders for my collection. But it is expensive. It's main advantage is that it leaves a residue on the plants which contains the active ingredients for a week or two, so you get the next best thing to a long lasting systemic substance.

I think the overall best solution depends on the size of your collection and what kind of plants you grow.

I recently had a small outbreak of spider mite on a few leafy plants indoors, and for these I just used a homemade spray with washing up liquid and alcohol. Worked great and cost next to nothing. But then there were only a few plants and no wool and such for the mites to hide in.

I've tried all kinds of homemade soaps for my main collection (a few thousand cacti), trying such things as garlic, chili, neem, nicotine extract, solanine extract and so on. They all worked, but personally I just found it too difficult to spray often enough and thoroughly enough to get all the mites. Sure enough they'd bounce right back a couple of weeks later. And some of the sprays were very cumbersome to make, not to say dangerous in the case of nicotine and solanine.

So for a small collection I'd go with soap, but for a large collection I'd heartily recommend Floramite.

[Martin]

Avid
RSM listed
Abamectin active ingredient

Best solution if you can get hold of it, very effective

Also kills Thrips as a by product

Wear an organic solvent mask (one with a proper charcoal filter not a paper mask available on ebay for around £20) and spray, dont water it, in late evening when sun is off the plants

[Phil_SK]

Ever so slightly soapy water (washing-up liquid rather than bar of soap) should be good enough for most instances. It'll need reapplying every now and then but that's not unusual with mites anyway, as they blow in from the surroundings: conifer hedges can act as a reservoir, I'm told.
One more hardcore treatment not on your list is Compo Bi 58, active ingredient dimethoate, which should deal with them. Available through ebay and amazon from Germany, postage is inevitably steep.

[brianc]

SB plant invigorater works for me, i seldom suffer with Red spider mite or Mealy bugs . I spray every 2 to 3 weeks
the only plants i find Rsm on are my Lophopora but if you catch it quick enough it will control it? I spray on a dull
day so the sb has a chance to work better, as for conifer hedges housing Rsm i have an 80 foot conifer hedge 4 foot
from my green houses and i do not seem to have a great problem with critters its been there 30 years.
I do check my plants on a regular basis with a Mag Glass so i do not miss much.

[Stuart]

Overhead watering seems to be the best deterrent. RSM likes it to be hot and dry, regular watering and the occasional pre-emptive strike from the old formula Provado seems to prevent any problems. Keeping a Brighamia in the collection might be an idea, apart from being eligible in BCSS shows, they're available in garden centres from time to time and are the first plants in a greenhouse that RSM will attack. Maybe use one as a decoy plant?
Stuart

[juster]

I've been using SB plant invigorator for a number of years, every few weeks in the growing season. Watering my Rebutias and Sulcos today it struck me that they were looking quite clean and happy. SB certainly works for me.

[habanerocat]

Ok, thanks for all the suggestions above. I've updated the list below. Hope it is helpful to some people.
Thanks to @Thermoman for information on a "soap" mix I have copy and pasted.
Personally I've tried the SB Plant Invigorator & Bug Killer which I have sourced locally, but will be giving the soap mix a go as an ongoing deterrent. I also like the idea of keeping a Brighamia in the collection as mentioned by @Stuart. The canary in the coal mine as John Pilbeam used call it, although I think he was referring to peanut cacti who also seem to get attacked first.

Malathion, Savona, old formula Provado
Not available

Organic Bug Free
RSM listed
Contains fatty acids, methanol and ethanol
Widely available

Floramite
RSM listed
Bifenazate active ingredient
Ebay US

Avid
RSM listed
Abamectin active ingredient
Ebay UK

Rotenone
Couldn't find much info

EndALL
Contains Neem Oil with pyrethrin
US only

Neem Oil
Organic Insecticide, Fungicide, Miticide
Ebay UK

Acetamiprid
Couldn't find much info

Movento & Permethrin
Ebay US only

SB Plant Invigorator & Bug Killer
RSM listed
The product works as an insecticide/acaricide/fungicide by a physical mode of action
Widely available

Wilko Flower and Rose Insect Bug Killer
RSM listed
A ready to use solution containing fatty acid (1.61% w/w)
Available in the UK

Compo Bi 58
For ornamental plants under glass. For protection against sucking insects and scale insects
Active ingredient 400g/l Dimethoate
Ebay Germany
Expensive stuff is right....

Soap mix
Use just ordinary soap flakes, not the much dearer horticultural variety. The made-up insecticide it produces costs about 1 or 2p per litre, depending on how much you pay for your water. That's roughly one thirtieth to one fortieth of the cost of other insecticides. Make an 0.25% solution, or thereabouts, by dissolving 10 grams of soap flakes in hot water and topping-up the resulting solution to 4 litres. That's roughly one ounce in a 12L bucket of water. The exact dilution is not critical. Soapy water appears to be lethal to adult RSM and MB. You can use it as a spray or a douche but you will need to reapply it in order to deal with any adults subsequently emerging from unaffected eggs. However, at the price I quoted, you can afford to be generous, even profligate, with the stuff. A handy tip is to save the unusable 'fag-ends' of your old soap bars and pop them into a jar of water. Then, when you want insecticide, you will have a useful 'free' supply to hand!

[iann]

The label on Bug Clear Ultra (Acetamiprid) list red spider mite, but it isn't particularly effective. Possibly even less effective against flat mites.

[Martin]

Dimethoate does not work on red spider mites

M