Spider mites + aphids.

[BrassavolaStars]

Hello all,

I have two concurrent pest problems. One is spider mites, the other is aphids. One of my trichopilias has aphids and a few of my Dendrobiums have mites.

I am not that concerned about the trichopilia because it seems the aphids have mostly been gotten rid of. More importantly a few of my Dendrobiums are covered in webs with small red and white mites crawling on them. They are quite infested to be honest.

Can I safely use Bayer advanced 2&1 rose/flower on these plants? Will that fix the spider mites and aphids problem?

[Fuerte Rav]

Bump!

Anything that helps with mites is of interest to me as well. Hope someone can answer the OP.

[Roberta]

I think that Bayer's formulation is granular - has fertilizer as well as pesticide. Not for orchids! I use Bayer's Advanced 3-in-1 spray ... they have changed the formulation so I can't say anything from experience about what it does now. The one that I use has imidacloprid (systemic insecticide, good for aphids, scale, etc) and also a miticide. For a start, soapy water followed by a Neem-oil spray (or other horticultural oil) can be effective against mites. Others on the Board may also have favorite miticides. Whatever you use, use it again weekly for at least 3 weeks (treatments will attack adults, might or might not get larvae, won't touch eggs so it is necessary to go after several generations to get rid of an infestation)

[rbarata]

Are all your plants in the same location?

[Ray]

You might also consider Azamax. Do the same 3 treatments, a week apart, as Roberta mentioned, but the product is a topical/systemic insecticide/miticide, that DOES affect all stages of pests, is non-toxic to mammals and bees when dry, and it is a bit of a deterrent to future infestations, too.

[Leafmite]

Years ago, I discovered my plant collection had infestations of scale, spidermite and whitefly. Not having anything on hand safe for indoors, the plants being in dire condition, and having young children, I needed an alternative (I did not know of Neem oil at the time, just had Malathion, Bayer 3-in-1, and Sevin) so I took olive oil spray and sprayed all my plants very well with this. The next morning, I washed all the plants with warm soapy water to get rid of the olive oil. It was a pain but it took two years before I again saw spidermites or scale and I haven't seen White fly since. I have a decently sized plant collection and some are sensitive to pesticides, produce fruit or have useful leaves so I cannot use systemic on all of my plants. Now, I use Neem oil (Ray's recommended cure might also be derived from the Neem tree).

The granular Bayer 3-in-1 rose systemic has a very strong fertilizer (the old formula wasn't as strong) so it might actually harm your orchids. Use a type without fertilizer if you are going to use a systemic.

Whatever you do, treat all of your plants at the same time. Even if you do not see the pest on another plant, it is likely lurking somewhere.....

[Dollythehun]

I second Ray, Azamax does a great job. It's used by organic growers and safe to use indoors. It does contain neen oil as Leafmite stated. It can be used as a soil drench also. It's only draw back is that it cannot set around, you need to mix a new batch before each use. Bayer has changed its formula a couple times recently and I find that confusing.

[Ray]

Azamax is a concentrated form of azadirachtin, the active ingredient found in neem oil, but contains no oil.