best miteicide for adeniums and cacti.

[george76904]

Well I just found some mites on the undersides of some of my recently aquired adeniums, however upon closer inspection the mites have jumped to nearby cacti. Any ideas on the best way to kill them all (other than nuclear warfare )? Also has anyone ever tried using good mites to kill bad mites? I read about it and I liked the idea but I've never tried it.
Thanks for the help,
Will

[iann]

Almost anything kills mites, until they develop resistance. Almost nothing eradicates them. Lots of people out there with sure-fire remedies, but it pays to consider that those same people always seem to have more mites to spray ...

Beneficial mites are only useful if you have a very certain ID on your pest, because they are pretty targeted at one species. You'll probably only find predatory mites for two-spotted spider mites. There are at least two different predatory mites offered for sale, maybe more, but I haven't used either. I think effectiveness depends strongly on your conditions.

[george76904]

Thanks. I used a garden safe one from Lowes that seems to have killed all the living ones but now I'm trying to find others with different active ingredients. But I'm still hopefull that I can eradicate them before they destroy my adeniums.
Thanks,
Will

[iann]

Easy to kill, hard to eradicate. You've knocked down most of them, but probably not all and almost certainly not the eggs. Hard to say more without knowing what you actually used. Plan on treating again in a couple of weeks, then maybe look for a different class to use next time.

[Zhanna]

One to try for a nasty infestation might be Forbid 4F. It supposedly works on the eggs, too. I've just tried it on my Venus flytrap after noticing a few red spider mites and a huge amount of eggs on the leaves that basically appeared overnight. It's very expensive as packaged from Bayer, but 8 ounces of concentrate is far more than you would need unless you grow commercially. You can purchase a small amount (enough to mix up a gallon) from sellers on ebay.

[A. Dean Stock]

I've had better results with Tetrasan on both orchids and cacti. It is also a good ovacide so they don't come back on you right away. It is more effective and less toxic to people than other products I've used over the years.
Dean