With cutting season in full swing, thought this might be useful
Thought I would post this magical recipe here for everyone in case they might be in need of a little pest prevention on your indoor cutting stock. It is the season where we are all going hog wild propagating additional stock of our precious cultivars.
I stumbled on this 2 years ago and glad I did. It works fantastic.
After having an awful aphid problem when I first overwintered some cuttings that weren’t treated first, I tried a few things.
Live and learn, right?
This was way easier on my lungs than the chemicals I got online. Granted I had more of an aphid issue than mites, while I did have some they weren’t a major problem. If you DO have a significant mite invasion, something stronger like AVID might be your best bet.
I always make a batch of this when bringing anything from outside into my home to overwinter.
All cuttings go into in a sealed Ziplock bag with water for an hour, then I dunk them in this mix for maybe 30 secs. I do not dunk them long because of the amount of Isopropyl Alcohol.
I then let them air dry a moment before soaking in fresh water hydrating them a little bit before I start the full rooting process.
Full recipe:
8 cup – Water
1/4 cup – Tea Tree Castile Soap
1/4 cup – Peppermint Castile Soap
1 tablespoon 1% Peroxide (for 3% peroxide I use 1 tsp)
1 cup – 70% Isopropyl Alcohol
Half recipe:
4 cup – Water
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) Tea Tree Castile Soap
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) Peppermint Castile Soap
1/2 tablespoon 1% Peroxide (for 3% peroxide I use 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup – 70% Isopropyl Alcohol
Peroxide and Isopropyl Alcohol are easily found, but I’ve included Amazon links for the soaps below.
Just choose the link for your country.
