As we’ve done before, we’re sharing a bit of potentially exciting news from Brian Spencer, General Manager of Applied Bio-nomics, Ltd., BC, that’s fresh off the presses, so to speak. This one, we must confess, took us a bit by surprise. It involves using Hypoaspis miles against spider mites of all things. This is not the usual recipe!
Here’s how it was put to us in the report:
Every one of your customers should be getting a bottle or two of Hypoaspis miles to put at the bases of their [bench] posts and around the perimeter of their greenhouses. We have seen excellent reductions in returning two spotted spider mites [Tetranychus urticae] in the following spring. They should double up the amounts in areas that had significant spider mite pressure this year. — Brian Spencer
Matter-of-fact, it is. There was one paragraph in the report that was devoted to this topic and that was it. Granted the report lacked citations and recorded data, but we do trust the source enough to share the info. So while it’s anecdotal, H. miles are always a worthwhile investment — attacking fungus gnat eggs and larvae, thrips immatures, and other pests — so the advice is sound anyway, and if you get better control of spider mites next year as a result, on top of all of the other benefits, you can consider it a bonus.
We suggest you try this out and, please, let us know. We’d really like to get some feedback about this.
