That is a lot of money for a diluted essential oil mix that you could make yourself for 15$ or so. I know very little about hydroponics, but still it seems silly to me to pay so much for something you could make yourself.

If you are interested in trying this for pest control I suggest going to a natural grocery and buying some rosemary essential oil and mixing it up yourself. The EO should only be about 10-15$. You will also need water and some sort of emulsifier. I don't know what you would use as an emulsifier with plants, I only use EO's for aromatherapy. When working with people I generally start with 2-5% EO and make it stronger if needed. Not sure what the dilution would be with plants.

Hopefully some of this is useful to someone.

Lol, spider mites are a big pest for rosemary. Just try growing some inside! But that's different from an oil made with rosemary extract. It's like citrus oil, which is known to be good for pest management. You'll still find all kinds of critters feeding on every part of a citrus plant.

I'd be willing to experiment with the rosemary oil. Keep on reporting your findings, Mike.

I have found a bottle of Rosemary Oil, the pure stuff for 6 dollars at GNC..lol I made my own concoction..

So far so good with my plants at work. Not a mite to be found and I have had many tell me they love the smell.

We shall see...

I treated my mite infested plants with it 3 times over a two week period and I have yet to see any..I'm curious to see if anyone else has had success with it.

No mites to be seen on my ;'Osmanthus' either treated with it. It's been 2 weeks.

Rhizo....You are too funny asnd I hope you are well! Will chat soon.

Mike, Hello.
How did you mix your concoction??
One teaspoon to a spray bottle with a few drops of oil soap, in a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of water and alcohol?
This is how I use neem oil. It seems to work well also.
Stush

Hey Stush! How have you been?

I use 1/4 teaspoon in a 32 ounce spray bottle and a few drops of a emulsifier such as natural soap, or Pro-tek

I am amazed at the lack of participation here for ridding mites..lol I suppose I am the only one other than you with a problem this year and so far a solution for the ones I have had to deal with.

Neem does work, but it's more expensive and seems to distort many of the new leaves on my plants at times.

Mike

I've seen some webbing on a couple plants but just gave them a thorough washing with the spray thing in the shower. I lay plants on their side to do that, with the pot at the high end away from the drain, so I'm not flooding the roots with frigid tap water. Not appropriate for all plants, but china doll tree and palm trees look fine now, no webs. I think I just get lucky because it stays pretty humid in here, and I never use prophylactic measures for pest control, so nothing to compare to.

Mike,
I got that tip last year and have been using it at times thru the summer. And again befor bring in the plants for winter. I still don't see any problems as of yet. I think Al post about the Neem oil thing. Works for me.
Stush

Hi Mike,

I also use the mix that Stush uses... I believe that is Al's recipe, but I'm not sure. It sure works for me and I haven't had any issues with spider mites. ( not like last year!). I would love to hear about the Rosemary oil and how it works too! It sure would make it smell better when I spray inside.

Thanks for the interesting new recipe Mike!!! I did see them talking about this over at the citrus forum... Please keep us updated with your findings!

Thanks for sharing!

Take care,

Laura

been fighting with spider mites for 3 weeks with rubbing alcohol and soap with no success.

will head out to find some Rosemary oil for cheap and add it in..

where would be a good place to find rosemary oil for a good price?

did anyone try mixing rosemary and neem oil together?

Nice reading took a while for someone to bring up mites Now that they've been seen, where did they come from ?

Do they fly ?

got Rosemary form my local pharmacy, fairway also has it at 5$ per ounce =30ml in the aromatherapy and vitamin section.
CVS, Rite aid, waldbaums, stop and shop do not have it.

Mixed it as such...
500ml=1/2 quart=2cups water
15 ml=1/2 oz rosemary oil,
2 ml dawn dish soap to emulsify

sprayed it all over.. and hereby I see one of the new plants I just brought in from someones backyard to my hydroponics system is the source.. as I am spraying I see the little things on it going crazy running around.

I almost used all the 16oz I made in one shot I washed out every thing in my system with it I will do a light spray in 2 days and another heavy wash in 7 days again, I even put 2 drops of the oil in my hydroponics water system..
I am optimistic about it for now