The entire basis of my IPM protocols are essential oils. The basis for my essential oil mixes is rosemary oil which (for whatever reason escapes me at the moment) is hell on spider mites.
The quality of the essential oils is paramount, but that doesn't mean you have to spend top dollar. The Wal Mart oils in my experience are crap but I typically get the Radha? brand from Amazon and they work just fine.
I typically make three mixes with the base oil of each being rosemary. There are many other essential oils I utilize in different proportions in the mix including but not limited to lavender, geraniol, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, peppermint, clove, citronella and others.
Here is the base recipe
#1 | | | | #2 | | | | #3 | | |
| ml | tsp | | | ml | tsp | | | ml | tsp |
rosemary | 20 | 4 | | rosemary | 20 | 4 | | rosemary | 20 | 4 |
lavendar | 15 | 3 | | geraniol | 15 | 3 | | eucalyptus | 15 | 3 |
cinnamon | 10 | 2 | | lavendar | 10 | 2 | | lavendar | 10 | 2 |
eucalyptus | 10 | 2 | | clove | 10 | 2 | | citronella | 10 | 2 |
peppermint | 5 | 1 | | peppermint | 5 | 1 | | peppermint | 5 | 1 |
to make the spray I use a gallon of hot water and add
1 TBSP Essential Oil Mix (rotate the mixes each time you spray)
1 TBSP Canola/Vegetable/Olive Oil
3-5 drops of Dr Bronner Soap
agitate extensively to emulsify and spray immediately. Keep the unused portion in a cool, dark place and use within a month, discard after that and mix fresh.
I usually spray this once or twice a week depending on pest pressure and once a month I substitute Neem oil for the canola oil since it acts as a growth regulator. If the bugs get really bad, I will start to add in spinosad, then the next time pyretherin.
Spray the underside of the leaves (this is where the little bastards live) and make usre you get full coverage from the top to the bottom of the plant.
Remember these sprays will burn your plants if they are sprayed and then exposed to the light so if indoors, spray just after lights out and if outside spray at sunup or just before sundown.
This will not kill all the bugs but will do an amazing job of keeping them in check. I use these sprays in flower up until the week before harvest.
They wash away in the rain and quickly degrade in the light but their main form of damage is suffocation due to the oil coverage.
The rosemary oil has something in it that will degrade mite eggs so they hatch out at a reduced rate.
It's labor intensive but it's the best way I've found to harvest pesticide free flower in a place where the bugs rule the world.