Ultimate Spider-Mite Solution

[blupit007]

So I got mine yesterday in the mail.  The box was wrapped in a big plastic bag which contained the entire contents of the wilt proof bottle!...  Hopefully they will replace it!  And if I need to dry them outside, I am out of luck till a warm spring day cause it is in the teens here.

[davidwood]

That's really unlucky Kristen, I get a lot of that, not quite so bad though, every thing I import here is opened and examined and some times it results in a few spillages if they don't put the top back properly.
May I ask why you are buying the Wilt Proof as I know you have Kontos, is it not working for you.

[blupit007]

Kontos is not working yet.  But I must admit, I did get a serious infestation on my biggest garden variety plant... so I thought that I would give it a try.  I ended up chopping the entire thing down and putting it in the chilly dark basement...

[davidwood]

That's very interesting Kristen, I have 3 yellow garden variety Hibiscus and there has been quite a big increase in Mite damage on them in the two and half weeks since I started using Kontos.

I am 100% confident that the Kontos will eventually work but as there is so little info on this yet we don't know if this is a normal reaction. What is good news is that I had Magnifique [which was my worst cv for Mites] right next to these yellow garden hibs and Magnifique is now clear of Mites.

As I weren't to sure if this is normal and I know it takes about 6 weeks to be free of Mights using Kontos I gave them a spray of Bayer 3-1, as Bayer 3-1 kills on contact I thought a good idea and am hoping to be garden free of Mights by 2011.

Maybe an idea to start a section just on Kontos as I am sure a lot more people will be trying it in the future, but if anyone was to ask me about using it I would say most definitely YES, but gave a spray of Bayer at the first application.

[blupit007]

Yeah, My Sunny Wind / Baja Breeze (which live in the same big pot for 3 years) is big full and beautiful.  I have never had a single mite on it ever... until I started to use Kontos.  But the kontos has worked on the other hybrids that I have.  After about 5 weeks of using it, I got the mite infestation (mostly on the Baja Breeze half)  I have to admit, since the pot is so huge, I was really stingy about giving it a large dose of fertilizer / Kontos every week, that is until I noticed the mites... However, I was giving everyone else a hefty portion.  So now I'm out my favorite big plant!  Bummer, but probably my fault...

[Louis]

good morning kristen,

dont give up on kontos. i am having good luck with it. takes time. use it in every watering. dont water the plants with plain water on the next watering. use it every time. what dose are you using.


the best way to find the mites is at night in the dark. take a spray bottle with warm water and lightly mist the plant and use a strong flashlight, you will see the webs that you might not see in daylight. i use an led flashlight that puts out 1 million candlepower. if you dont kill them, you will make them blind
louis

[Charlie]

Great idea, Louis. Those blinded mites can still feed, I bet!

Kristen and David, what I think happens with the Kontos is that many of us naturally stop other efforts to control mites when first using the Kontos. Since Kontos does not kill the feeding adults they do some damage prior to the Kontos killing off the next generation. It can take as long as 8 weeks to show significant results and several months to show almost total results. Remember, it does not kill adult mites effectively. If any are present or if adults migrate to the hibiscus later they will do some feeding damage. Kontos prevents the spread of mites by stopping reproduction (killing the next generation).

After over a year of using Kontos regularly, Cindy and I see mite damage once every month or two. The damage will be a few leaves on one plant that we remove by hand. We never know for sure where the mites came from but what is important is that with a houseful of about 100 hibiscus plants we are losing fewer than 10 leaves per month to mite damage.

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

Kristen,

   I've been using Kontos too and although it takes time, it works for me.  One thing you need to make sure of is once you water with Kontos, let me plant pretty much dry out (not to the point of wilting, of course) before you water it again.  Also, the next time you water, try to water so that nothing leaks out of the bottom of the pot.  If the plants are in saucers this is not as big of a deal.  I think Charlie said he was watering 2/3 times with Kontos for his plants in saucers and that was working well.

Buying Kontos was the best $200 I ever spent for my plants.  Now if I could only get myself a greenhouse......................

[blupit007]

Thanks everyone.  The Kontos seems to be working on the Cindy's Heart slowly.  That one and the Garden one were the only ones in the main living room with the temps in the 70's.  No one else has them, but they are all at around 64º in the rest of the house.  I only hope the hacking and moving to the cold black basement doesn't kill my huge garden cv.  Hope it comes back when I bring it out in the spring!

Louis, I use 1/8 tsp per gallon of water every week with my fertilizer.  I only have to water once maybe twice a week right now.  I started my Kontos regimen with a 1/4 tsp per gallon for 2 weeks, then cut back to 1/8 tsp there after.  What dose do you use?

[Louis]

Thanks everyone.  The Kontos seems to be working on the Cindy's Heart slowly.  That one and the Garden one were the only ones in the main living room with the temps in the 70's.  No one else has them, but they are all at around 64º in the rest of the house.  I only hope the hacking and moving to the cold black basement doesn't kill my huge garden cv.  Hope it comes back when I bring it out in the spring!

Louis, I use 1/8 tsp per gallon of water every week with my fertilizer.  I only have to water once maybe twice a week right now.  I started my Kontos regimen with a 1/4 tsp per gallon for 2 weeks, then cut back to 1/8 tsp there after.  What dose do you use?

Kristen,

I am using 2 ml per gallon of water. In the water i have a light dilute of hv fertilizer. because of the heat in the greenhouse, each plant gets watered every other day with the kontos. i may have to buy one more before spring.


I still find one now and then. i then take the plant into the shower stall and with an attachment to my shower,give then a strong shower with a water blaster.

this cleans them out. you cannot solely rely on the kontos. must follow up with water blasting.

keep a vigil with a strong light at night. you can see their beady eyes glowing like a cat 

louis

[blupit007]

Yeah, I actually bought one of those shower heads with the 6' hose just so I can wash the dog and blast my hibiscus!!  Pretty funny!  I did give CH a good blasting last week. 

[farmer d]

Wilt Pruf update:

I sprayed my plants Dec 26 for the first time and so far haven't seen any leaves fall off (good!).  Definitely noticed that the new blooms on all plants are not opening all the way up now (maybe got some overspray on them?).  They don't look nearly as nice as before but I can't say for sure its the WP as we have had a lot of rain and some very windy weather with more cold nights (39 degrees with wind on 2 consecutive nights last week).

Also with all the rain I'm thinking any HVH fertilizer I've recently added has been soaked down below the root level by all the rain.  Maybe that has also impacted the blooms.  On Dec 31 I finally had a long enough break in the rain to add more fertilizer.

I'll keep you posted as I really, really don't want to use any chemicals if possible.  Cross your fingers this works but I don't think I can really know until we get deep into spring and the mites have a chance to try and do their thing.

Farmer D

[davidwood]

I walked through the garden this morning and for the first time I am 100% Spider Mite free on my HVH cv's, the garden hibs still have a few but I am sure within 1 week they will also be clear. It has taken four and half weeks using the Kontos.

[blupit007]

Mite Update:

  I have been using Kontos every week now for months.  I have been mite free, except for a straggler every now and then.  (ex, today I found one leaf with 2 on it.)  Kontos is the only form of mite control I have used all winter, granted it is cold here in winter, so no mites outside...  I have used it at a rate of 1/4 tsp per gallon of water once a week with fert.

 Now that it is getting a bit warmer, I was wondering about the Wilt Proof success.  I haven't heard much buzz about it lately.  I would like to hear if everyone is still excited about it.  I was thinking of bringing the one I saw a mite on outside and spray it, but then after reading this forum, saw it needs UV rays.... I has been too overcast for sun so I guess I'll wait.

[farmer d]

I am ready to use the Wilt Pruf at first sign of trouble.  My question is where do they lay their eggs and do they wait to hatch all winter long until the temps and conditions are right for them?

Since most of my plants lost their leaves during winter I am guessing if there are any eggs left they would be on the bark or ground.

If that's the case can they survive my daily spraying and resulting soaking of all hibiscus branches with SN and a wet and cold ground during winter?

Either way I have lots of WP ready to go.  My plants aren't since their leaves are just starting to come in now.  I might spray one or two  when they're ready as a test group to see and it will be the ones that had mites last fall.

Farmer d