Bringing them in...

[lotis146]

So I wound up bringing mine in temporarily since the lows were in the 40s, the highs in the 60s for over a week. After receiving a fair amount of rain I didn't think leaving them in the cold was good. They're going to go back out for the next week (70s/50s) during which time I'm going to treat them and then bring them in permanently.

I see some of you treat over a matter of weeks, spray, spray and dip...etc. What sorts of chemicals do you use to treat? For those of your who only spray or dip has this been successful? Is one more so than the other? I've got to get to dipping, spraying, or both today or tomorrow so they have time to dry completely before I bring them in. Your suggestions and experience is appreciated.

(I'm going to treat all the indoor guys too who haven't been subjected to the lows in the 50s but I'm thinking they'll manage for the next week. I do have many in spike & bloom.)

Thanks.

[Leafmite]

I don't treat my orchids/plants when I bring them inside unless they show signs of a problem so I cannot advise you here. I just inspect all my plants (and I have many, many plants) and orchids carefully for potential problems as I bring them inside. If I suspect an ant colony has set up in a pot, I soak the entire plant under water, overnight. If the plant is too tall, I harvest some wormwood branches and that usually clears them out. This is why bringing my plants and orchids inside is usually a great undertaking. It takes quite a bit of time to inspect each and every plant. :0
I do spray my fruit trees with Malathion and Captan and those have proven themselves very effective. Whatever you use, make certain you use it correctly as you don't want to put your health at risk or aid in the pests becoming resistant to insecticides. :|

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I don't treat my orchids/plants when I bring them inside unless they show signs of a problem so I cannot advise you here. I just inspect all my plants (and I have many, many plants) and orchids carefully for potential problems as I bring them inside. If I suspect an ant colony has set up in a pot, I soak the entire plant under water, overnight. If the plant is too tall, I harvest some wormwood branches and that usually clears them out. This is why bringing my plants and orchids inside is usually a great undertaking. It takes quite a bit of time to inspect each and every plant. :0
I do spray my fruit trees with Malathion and Captan and those have proven themselves very effective. Whatever you use, make certain you use it correctly as you don't want to put your health at risk or aid in the pests becoming resistant to insecticides. :|

Thank you, it does actually help to hear from people who don't treat at all. My biggest concern with treating is that I have birds so once they're inside I won't use anything, insecticide on down, if I can't isolate them somewhere completely out of the way until they're dry. I would prefer honestly to use something less potent than insecticides although a systemic does seem very preventative. Earwigs are a concern of mine as they took to my plants early in the season and do a good job hiding out. Then of course I get lots of little spiders who don't bother me so much, nevertheless they're not cool to have inside. During the week or so I've had them indoors due to cold I haven't seen anything of major concern though I think some could use some fungicide, me thinks. So I may just go the route of dunking as you suggested, and others have mentioned, followed by spraying with a less harmful all in one. I'm also looking forward to wiping out the gnats that enjoy reproducing and annoying me.

Thanks.

[Leafmite]

I have birds, too...three parakeets and a zebra finch (who thinks he is king of the parakeets).

[RJSquirrel]

Im sure glad I got a little greenhouse and dont have to drag 150+ plants around anymore. Had a cool breeze this morning and all of the orchids were really liking that fresh cool air.
I will have to find a way to post pics since I cant from work anymore and I got no internet at home. I got lots of buds that right now really cant stand too much of a drastic temp change. Lost most of my buds last year to the cold.

[Bill U.]

I have always had great success with the product called "Mighty Wash" that I found one time at a store called "Brew and Grow".

Now, I'm not pushing this on you, but I have had issues with mealy bugs, spider mites, and aphids in the past and one application of this stuff and they were all eliminated. The thing that drew me to this in the store is that it says that it is safe to use even the day of harvest for crops and is non-toxic. I don't know how it works exactly, but if it is okay if my curious parakeet decides to "check things out" (nosy little thing she is lol), then she won't be harmed.

The only thing to watch out with this stuff is that the label says that it should not be applied when the plants are going to be in any sort of bright light- best for dim light/early evening applications because apparently it can cause burns on your plants from the reaction of the light with the active ingredients.

I provided the link if you wanted to see what I was talking about and maybe you can either get this or find something else that might be comparable for you
Mighty Wash

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by Bill U.

I have always had great success with the product called "Mighty Wash" that I found one time at a store called "Brew and Grow".

Now, I'm not pushing this on you, but I have had issues with mealy bugs, spider mites, and aphids in the past and one application of this stuff and they were all eliminated. The thing that drew me to this in the store is that it says that it is safe to use even the day of harvest for crops and is non-toxic. I don't know how it works exactly, but if it is okay if my curious parakeet decides to "check things out" (nosy little thing she is lol), then she won't be harmed.

The only thing to watch out with this stuff is that the label says that it should not be applied when the plants are going to be in any sort of bright light- best for dim light/early evening applications because apparently it can cause burns on your plants from the reaction of the light with the active ingredients.

I provided the link if you wanted to see what I was talking about and maybe you can either get this or find something else that might be comparable for you
Mighty Wash

Thanks for sharing this but I'm a little unsure of what it really is...? Looking online even the company's site they don't explain what is in it. I was wondering if it's a Neem Oil product but I saw they say it's unlike Neem claiming Neem doesn't kill eggs. I haven't used Neem before but keep hearing it smells horrible (I'm hoping that's exaggerated). The packaging claims it's an insecticide, fungicide, and a miticide, it too can be applied up to the day of harvesting. The kind I bought at Lowes was just under $10 for a concentrated pint which if used at 2 tbsp per gallon would provide me with 8 gallons of solution. So it's relatively cheap and it's "natural", which Bill & Leafmite you know is especially a bonus with curious birds (my Cockatoo goes straight for a plant to bite if it's within reach). I can deal with a bad smell presuming it dissipates as it dries...does it? I believe it gives the same warnings about heat and sunlight.

I appreciate and am interested in Mighty Wash but turned off that I don't know what it is. I see there's a lot of talk on various forums about it and reviews with mixed results but like I said no explanation - I found - on their site as to ingredients. Would like to know more if you do? (Only explanation I found is it's frequency adjusted water...?) And it's a bit more expensive, ~$11/qt ready-to-use.

Anyone else heard of this? Anyone else use just Neem oil when bringing in? Or have experience with this?

Thanks again everyone! Glad that it works for you Bill!

[Bill U.]

Lotis, I agree that I was intrigued by what exactly Mighty Wash was. When I had first bought it, I bought it on the recommendation of the sales clerk in the Brew and Grow store, who had mentioned that it flies off their shelves and that they have heard nothing but good things about it. And for me at the time, I was totally infested with spider mites on my ornamental plants (orchids, houseplants, etc) and in my veggie plants as well (bell pepper, green beans, etc), so I was in need of a quick fix solution that was natural- I did plan on eating from my veggies after all!

But in revisiting the thought provoked by your post, I have done a fair amount of internet searching about what Mighty Wash may be and if there was a DIY version readily available.

So far, my search has been inconclusive- I have come across a large number of marijuana growing forums (of which I have no crop and no association with) who mention that a very large number of their users use Mighty Wash for their "crop". I have attached some of the most intriguing threads that I have come across that include some extremely technical jargon.

From what I can tell from the threads my limited experience with undergraduate organic chemistry is that Mighty Wash works primarily by dissolving the chitin that forms the exoskeletons of the "creepy-crawlies" through the use of a specially ionized solution of water along with a stabilizer of sorts that allows the entire solution to be kept stable for long periods of time. From what I understand, the "Frequency charged water" could be somewhat easily reproduced with a 6V battery, some wires, and some water. Some versions suggest the addition of some salt to the solution to drive it forward, but the extreme danger to that is that the solution could form a toxic gas (HCl (g)- Hydrochloric acid gas) that could do some serious damage to the experimenting dabbler in chemistry. The "Frequency charged water" produced through this process should still have most of the effects of Mighty Wash, but the problem is that it doesn't have a long shelf life at all because the water wants to return to the most stable form that it can ≠ frequency charged state.

As for the cost, I am absolutely sure that the markup on this product is many times what it actually cost to produce this en masse, but from my experience, 1 qt was enough to spray over 40 plants 2 or 3 times (had to use some on my mom's houseplants/garden as well). So for me the cost was spread out over a couple of applications that were months apart. My best results were to fill a hand-spray bottle with the Mighty Wash solution (a thin, bright bubble-gum pink solution with some SLIGHT oily consistency) and spray the affected plants until dripping and let them air dry.

As for the neem oil- I have heard of a lot of other users here on OB using this as a natural pesticide/preventative. I have never used it, so I really can't speak for the effectiveness or any smells that might be associated with it.

Best of luck with whatever you decide! And I will be around investigating this further

Mighty Wash and PM Wash. What's in it, and how to make it yourself. | Rollitup
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=215108
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=267119

[syspila]

I am also in Cincinnati and I just brought in all my plants over 3 days--now it has been warming up! Oh well, now their all watered, under lights and ready for Winter!

[Karkadann]

All of my orchids and houseplants came back inside near the end of September. The poor things didn't even get to go outside until late May since it was so cold and drizzly here.
Thanks, Minnesota. :/