Bought Avid to kill spider mites—can I dunk my orchids?

[ccole93]

I just spent 8 months battling fungus gnats (thanks to nematodes they’re FINALLY gone; BT did not work) and now I found spider mites infesting a couple of my calatheas, which spread to my expensive philodendron and one of my orchids.

I don’t have it in me to do the constant Neem applications or wipe every single leaf on two dozen plants that cost a lot of money so I bought a three pack of Avid, Forbid, and Floramite. To ensure the entire plant is treated I intended on filling a bucket and dunking them in the solution (wearing proper PPE of course). They said if even one mite survives it will create super mites that are impossible to kill.

I did do a soapy water wash on a few plants and they’ve perked up but it took a few hours to do. I considered predatory mites but they’ll take a few weeks to get here and reviews seem mixed. The fungus gnats were annoying but at least not abjectly harmful, but the spider mites have killed plants on me in the past, and I’m very attached to my orchids and other plants.

So could these be dunked if I dry out the crowns afterwards? Nothing is in bloom right now.

[estación seca]

Plain water spray controls spider mites. You can't get rid of them permanently.

[ccole93]

Spraying two dozen plants like that is just not feasible for me. I’ve read a few experiences with Avid and Forbid totally destroying the spider mites (since they’re real pesticides, not suppressants like Neem oil). Just not sure if it’s safe to submerge the plants completely.

[estación seca]

Despite what people post online, you can't kill all the spider mites. They are tiny and can live in small numbers on plants for a very long time without being noticeable. There are some on the walls and furniture in your home. They are outside in the environment and will return. If you're going to grow plants you will need to be on the watch for pests at all times. It's something you must do over and over again, like washing your hands. Don't poison your home space in a futile attempt. If you regularly take your plants to the bathroom and spray them down you will control the spider mites. You can do it just one plant per day.

[ccole93]

Okay thanks for your advice but I’m not going that way.

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Despite what people post online, you can't kill all the spider mites. They are tiny and can live in small numbers on plants for a very long time without being noticeable. There are some on the walls and furniture in your home. They are outside in the environment and will return. If you're going to grow plants you will need to be on the watch for pests at all times. It's something you must do over and over again, like washing your hands. Don't poison your home space in a futile attempt. If you regularly take your plants to the bathroom and spray them down you will control the spider mites. You can do it just one plant per day.

Agree!

[Orchidtinkerer]

hey rbarata, just want to offer my condolences cause I've just had to deal with them. I accidentally ripped off an alive leaf on one that looked dead to me but there were spider mites hiding behind it still!
I think they are planning another sneak attack. They are too good at hiding in all the crevices. Fingers crossed it was just some dead mites I found. They do a lot of damage considering how small they are.
Hope you can get rid of them all.

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

hey rbarata, just want to offer my condolences cause I've just had to deal with them. I accidentally ripped off an alive leaf on one that looked dead to me but there were spider mites hiding behind it still!
I think they are planning another sneak attack. They are too good at hiding in all the crevices. Fingers crossed it was just some dead mites I found. They do a lot of damage considering how small they are.
Hope you can get rid of them all.

Well... although I'm always under attack by mites, I was not the thread starter.