I've turned my house plant hobby into a major project thanks to my place in Florida and my home in New York. In New York, my plants thrive with tons of sunlight, but in Florida, my outdoor container plants are flourishing yet attracting every pest under the sun. I've been researching pest control and it's really frustrating. I recently found out that imidacloprid, which I was using for thrips and scale, actually speeds up spider mite reproduction! I've heard neem oil can work too, but when I tried it as a soil drench, it harmed some plants instead of helping. Plus, I'm grappling with powdery mildew and using copper fungicide, which I discovered is mainly preventative. Why are so many brands like Bonide misleading us about their products? I'm venting a bit, but I'd love any tips on dealing with these specific issues!
1 Answer
About imidacloprid, it primarily targets spider mite predators, which is why their population might explode when it's used. I had success dealing with spider mites by using a pyrethrin and oil spray. It worked wonders on my infected plants!
That's really interesting! I didn't realize that it mainly affects their predators instead of targeting them directly. I'll have to try the pyrethrin approach, thanks for the tip!