mites

[Blanche]

Could someone please tell me what they use for a good miticide. I don't want something natural because I've found they don't often work. This is for a peach tree and two of those angel trumpet trees. Thanks.
Blanche

[GObug]

Dormant oil should be a good product before the tree buds. After that look for something with bifentrin, like Talstar. But be careful to wait until after the flowers are gone because bifenthrin is very bad for bees.

[Suze]

Dormant oil can work quite well when used in the fashion that GObug has explained.

Another approach later in the season, if/when mite activity is already apparent is to use a soap spray (potassium salts of fatty acids), like Garden Safe. It works on contact by rupturing the body of the mite *if* the mites are actually contacted by the spray, so good coverage including undersides of leaves is important. Treat twice a week for two weeks (mites are generally on a reproductive cycle of less than a week), then monitor carefully thereafter. A hand lens can be helpful for this.

Don't use either the oils or soap sprays when direct sun is on the plants.

[GObug]

Suze is right. Insecticidal soaps do work on some mites and would be a better choice than Talstar. Common dish soap at about 1 tsp per gallon is recommended by CO dept of agriculture, but I think there could be a difference between brand names. The disadvantage to using common dish soap is the label does not give dosage for use as a pesticide, so it is a bit of a shot in the dark. It still might be worth the effort since it is right there and you don't have to run to the garden center.