At my wit's end...

[Dexenthes]

Little red mites have been eating my two N. glabrata to the point of almost death and I have tried removing them as best as I could. So far the buggers have not really infected any my other plants, but they have wreaked havoc on my two pure glabrata.

I know some people just throw out their plants when they get to this stage, but I really want to save mine. What kind of insecticide, or treatment would you guys suggest. I've never had to apply anti-pest stuff before and now I'm finally at the breaking point.

Would neem oil work? Or do I have to resort to poisons?

:-(

 

[chibae]

I woulod use both, neem oil, then repot and a dose of systemic..repeat weekly or so until plants are clean

 

[carnivoure12]

I have had great success with just neem oil. Although you need to keep humidity high so it doesn't evaporate to quickly. Just islolate them with ziplock bags and spray thoroughly under the leaves and the grooves. It won't hurt the plant but it might cause bleaching of live LFS.

 

[amphirion]

Up the humidity as well. Most spidermites need dry climates to get rid of fluid buildup.

 

[dashman]

I got rid of a mild infestation with daily swabbing of rubbing alcohol for about 2 weeks. I poured it on a cotton swab and wiped all infected areas thouroughly nightly.

 

[Sig]

Sacrificial D. capensis?

 

[boxofrain]

Avid will kill adults on contact, Floramite will kill adults and eggs, Forbid 4F will kill both as well, along with a small host of other pests. One application when lights are out and allow plant to dry in the dark. Most sprays are phytotoxic.
All are natural pesticides derived from bacteria's. We use them safely on Cannabis.
I have never used them on my CP's, as I have not had a problem in the GH ...YET. But I will not hesitate when the need arises.
None of the above are systemic, they will be gone from the plant within a month (for most plants metabolism's).
If you would like to try some, PM me with your addy and I will ship you off enough of your choice of the above to last a while.

Neem oil works, kinda. But it also leaves a residue from the oil that can plug the stomata and thus stifle your plants breathing, we all know what happens when we don't get enough air.....

 

[icemansyr]

Yeah I've read oils can be rough on more delicate plants like Neps...therefore I've never tried it. I've tried swabbing with rubbing alcohol but that was for mealybug...never had mites. You might also try completely submerging your plants underwater. I had some success with that when a sundew I had a few years ago had a nasty whitefly infestation. If all else fails you might try Orthenex...a no-nonsense systemic insecticide. That is safe on Neps but I would recommend spraying it outside.

 

[Dexenthes]

Thank you all so much for the insight and ideas. I will probably try a little bit of all the techniques listed here.

Just whatever it takes to get these buggers from killing my glabrata!

 

[vraev]

I have used neem oil on my cephs in the past and they came out of it pretty well. Although, I did trim it back all the way to the root and allowed it to grow back. But the neem did take care of the mites.

 

[boxofrain]

cutting off the food source for the mites is more likely what got rid of them.
Neem only kills with a smothering agent (oil). Once it dries, it is no longer effective for the new hatchlings that are surely present.
Avid, for example is a contact killer as well as a short term (2-3 weeks) larvae killer, as it is translaminar, and resides within the upper layers of plant tissue. Any bug that chews the plant within that time will die as well, thus breaking the life cycle/chain of the mites.
Mites are as tenacious as they are damaging.