Plant Pest Control by Category
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Broad Blue Protect Systemic Pest Control - 1L (Makes 40 Litres)
Sale price$239.95
Regular price$309.95
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Green Cleaner Root Wash Natural IPM Concentrate - 240mL
Sale price$56.60
Regular price$62.95
Plant Pest Control FAQ's
Not as a group. Edible-crop clearance sits on the individual label. Green Cleaner, PureCrop1, Nefarious Micro-Kill and the De-Nat diatomaceous range are among the products whose makers state they are cleared for edible crops. Broad Blue Protect and Media Protect Granular are labelled for ornamental plants only, and Vitality Plus says it is not suitable for edible plants. Always check the individual product page.
Magnify the plant and note where the damage sits. Spider mites stay under 1mm, live on leaf undersides and can leave webbing. Fungus gnat larvae stay in the growing medium while the 2–5mm dark adults fly around it. Whitefly are 2–3mm and lift off the leaf when disturbed. A 40x loupe or a 60–200x microscope usually settles it, and yellow sticky traps catch flyers early.
A contact spray only kills where the droplets land, so the undersides of the leaves decide whether it works, and it leaves the plant quickly. A systemic is taken up and works from the inside for weeks — Broad Blue Protect states up to 8 weeks from one application. That staying power is why the systemics on this page are generally restricted to ornamental plants.
Treat the growing medium, not the flying adults. Larvae live in the top of the substrate. Options here are a drench such as T-Drops or Eradicator, a granular biocide like G-Natural watered in, or a physical top dressing such as Gnat Nix that stops adults emerging and deters females from laying. Sticky traps alongside show whether the population is actually dropping.
Use the interval on the label you bought — they are not shared. Kill-A-Mite and Mite-Rid both instruct a second spray 3–4 days after the first so eggs that survived and hatched are treated before they lay again. Zero Tolerance suggests three applications two days apart for spider mites and thrips, and daily media sprays for a week for fungus gnats. Treatments usually fail because the repeat was skipped.
It depends on the product, and several here are sold on that claim. PureCrop1 states it does not harm beneficial insects because its micelle targets the gut bacteria of sap-sucking pests specifically. CX Horticulture states T-Drops will not affect beneficial micro-organisms. Ed Rosenthal's Zero Tolerance is described as compatible with predator-based programmes. Broad-spectrum pesticides make no such claim.
On most of this page, yes. Broad Blue asks you to apply with grow lights off to reduce plant stress, Zero Tolerance asks for lights dimmed until the plants are dry, and Athena IPW asks for high-intensity lights off with 3–4 hours of drying time. Exceptions are written on the label: PureCrop1 states it can be sprayed in direct sunlight without phytotoxicity.