Miticide Information (Chemical)
 

I've been dealing with a mite problem for awhile now, and after finding that the oil and alcohol treatments were failing to be as effective as I had hoped, I've been researching more direct means. I came across these two webpages from Raymond Cloyd at the University of Illinois Extension which provided some excellent information on chemical insecticides and miticides. While written in 2004, I'm would consider these must reads before considering chemical miticide usage. A wealth of information, and some do's and donts.

Part One
All Miticides Are Not Created Equal

Part Two
All Miticides Are Not Created Equal

I am battling what I believe are mites, they especially love to attack several of my Catasetinae. Last year I was less certain that this problem was mites and so I didn't treat it aggressively enough with miticides. This year I will be rotating through using Talstar, Avid, Floramite, Tetrasan and Akari; usually combined in pairs. I have finished my third or fourth weekly application and will continue this for another couple of weeks. I hope that I can exterminate the little devils.

I am also now using a nonionic wetting agent in my pesticide tank mixtures when it is allowed by the label. I am using "Ecoadjuvant" brand adjuvant.
http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/in...uvantLabel.pdf
I use 5 - 10 ml per gallon.

Using just an adjuvant alone can give significant suppression of some pests. See the bargraph chart on page 2 here:
http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedL...romPage=GetDoc

One thing about pesticide mixtures that I should comment on; most pesticides are or become a suspension or emulsion when mixed for application so when mixing two or more pesticides and also perhaps an adjuvant, as allowed by the labels, it is important to test for compatability. I had been doing this by observing the final diluted mixture in the 2 gallon spray tank but this was not very satisfactory. Now I have started using a 2 liter, clear polycarbonate bottle to prepare the mixture before final dilution into the spray tank. I can observe the mixture much better in the polycarbonate bottle to look for separation or curdling.

I was especially interested in using the polycarbonate bottle to observe the settling rate of the Tetrasan WDG (Water Dispersable Granules). The product label specifies that the tank should be continuously agitated to keep the material in suspension. I find that if I prepare the dilution with vigorous shaking in the polycarbonate bottle it is then dispersed finely enough that I don't see any noticeable settling after a few minutes of standing. So when I apply Tetrasan WDG from my 2 gallon spray tank I prepare one gallon batches a shake the sprayer every few minutes ti insure that the Tetrasan remains suspended.

So what are you using Jarad ? Any good ?

The weather here in Singapore is getting really hot these days and with the higher temperature, it's mites season .........

:bowing Thank You Jarad for the links good Info. I printed it.