Oil use in summer

[bwaynef]

I had a bout with Spider mites earlier this year and attacked them with Floramite. I'd prefer not to have to don a tyvec suit w/ the stuff I spray so I was pointed to Horticultural oil and Neem oil as possible treatments for spider mites. Lately we're unseasonably warm with temps 95-100ºF that will continue for a few more days before dipping back to ~90º. (Not abnormal around here, but early in the year for it.) There will be a few days in the next two weeks ~85-87º. I've waited until temps drop below 90, but I wonder what your experiences are w/ using oils in Summer. What have you found that works, and what experiences have you had that I can learn from w/o having to suffer thru on my own. Pines and maples are my biggest immediate concerns but I've got a lot of junipers as well.

 

[Firstflush]

Just use the oils when the sun will not hit your tree for the rest of the evening. “Cold Pressed” neem is the only type of that product that works. Don’t by pre-prepared hyrdophobic extract products. When you buy those, the acting pest chemical, azadirachtin, has been removed. If you are worried, mist the oil off in the morning. Cold press neem is like an oily grease so you need a soap emulsifier. I’m in SoCal and own one JPM…no issue with the oil on the foliage. Still if you are worried about it, you can try a pyrethrum spray which is a contact killer. Depends on its creation method, but certfied organic pyrethrum sprays do exist.

Gets hot here too. I have an extensive veggie garden. As long as I spray in the evening….no issues.

 

[sorce]

I hit my Ficus on put out yesterday with Neem, wretched scale.

I'd opt for 24hour full water submersion for mites, especially through this heat!

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Keep them in the shade for 2 days after spraying with neem emulsion just to be safe. The relatively higher humidity there will also help knock down those mites.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Water submersion, or wetting foliage with water or mist, can cause problems, IF the foliage stays wet longer than 4 hours. There are pathogenic "water molds", whose spores require roughly 4 hours of water contact to germinate and penetrate the leaf epidermis. In general, plan to have leaf surfaces dry within a 4 hour period of wetting with water, regardless of the reason for wetting with water.

Rain, continuous rain is the exception, in that if rain is still falling after 4 hours the droplets coming down are likely free of the water mold spores, though it is during rainy episodes that water molds do strike fruit crops. I have seen it as a problem in blueberries, and in orchids. I have not seen water molds as a problem with bonsai in general.

(sold my interest in a blueberry farm a couple years ago, but that is where the blueberry experience comes from).

 

[Jzack605]

I got oil damage on a few trees I made an application to in the late evening recently. I don’t find oil is the best treatment for mites anyway. It’s a good product as a dormant spray in a general program, but on its own I’d say it’s not.

I’d also consider how many applications of a chemical you need to make to gain control. If you need to spray oil 4 times to every floramite application is it really “better” or more bio rational?

 

[penumbra]

With hundreds of plants I have had many run ins with spider mites. This is generally on my tropicals and usually when wintered inside. The one method that works for me every time is to soak the foliage in a bucket of water with a tablespoon or two of DR Bonners Soap. This is the soap you can buy about anywhere. Peppermint is my normal go to but Tea Tree and Lavender work as well.
I hold the plant upside down and hold the soil in place as well as I can while I swish the foliage in the solution a few seconds. When it is not possible to turn the plant bottom up, I spray the solution to thoroughly soak the foliage.
I always have a spray bottle handy for mealy bug as well.
I use oil sprays infrequently and never in hot weather.