). Unfortunately he didn't know what they look like, but understandable since it's the least-known among pests being encountered by cactus growers. No biggie, and he suggested Bayer 3-in-1 because he's found it highly effective against red spider mites. What got me excited was when Craig told me that 3-in-1 spray is safe for all cacti, including the plants that tend to get disfigured by IPA. Even better, it lasts for up to 30 days. Now, I do have a question...I read through the Bayer 3-in-1 label, and it says that the product is effective on spider mites. However, I don't know if it covers only certain pest mites or all of them. Does anyone know for sure whether or not the 3-in-1 kills flat mites? (They're also called false spider mites in case you haven't heard of these tiny nasties before.) If you don't know, the active ingredients listed on the product label may help to give you the answer:
If I get responses in the affirmative, I'll ditch the IPA in favor of 3-in-1. I realize that I'll never be able to totally eradicate the flat mites that vex me from time to time, but if Craig's advice bears out, it could be worth its weight in gold (so to speak). Please let me know what you think ASAP!
However, mites develop resistance quite quickly, due to their short generation time, so if you really want to eradicate mites, you need to use at least 2 different miticides, but preferably more.