I don't know anything about Floramite, though I do know that miticides aren't necessarily the best against spider mites. I've had great results controlling spider mites culturally; they hate humidity and free air flow.

So...I prune affected bushes back enough so they're not crowding against one another/the wall, and then I give them a nice hose down, especially focusing on the undersides of the leaves. I use the highest pressure I can without damaging the plant. Spider mites HATE this! Do it every day for a week or so; you should start to see the plant improve pretty quickly. My Chicago Peace was truly almost dead before I figured out what was wrong with it, and it recovered with this treatment.

I obviously don't know what your blackspot/mildew pressure is; mine is pretty low so I'm a bit cavalier about hosing off my roses. However, you should be fine if you give the leaves time to dry before nightfall.

If you have good airflow and humidity, check to see what else could be improved for the rose; spider mites do the most harm to already stressed plants.

Hope this helps!

Lara

I can vouch for using water to control spider mites. Basically, you only need to spray the undersides of the bush three days in a row to break the breeding cycle. After that, you just need to spray once a week. I find this the quickest and easiest way to control these little beasties.

Aphids are just as easy. They don't have lungs, so spraying them with water serves the death note for these bugs, too.

Smiles,
Lyn

Ditto Lara.

Also, if you are using any kind of insecticide on a regular basis, either systemic or otherwise, stop. It is killing off the beneficial insects that are predators of the mites.

I think in a small garden that the "water cure" is a good idea. I did once use Floramite. My garden is too big and on a slope to use water. One thing about Floramite is that it only harms mites and is low down on the toxity scale, plus you only have to spray twice. Thank goodness we haven't had a problem for years now.

Greetings - I have Ultiflora available and will have Tetrasan also very soon. These are both commercial products and meant to be used once or twice in the season as part of a rotational spray program. These two products have different MOA's which is very important when doing any spray program. The Ultiflora is used at about 1 TSP per gallon. Anyone interested in a small quantity can e-mail me at m-mohr@sbcglobal.net. Mulegemama

I have tried the water method, but it hasn't worked very well for me. I just pruned yesterday opening up the bushes themselves. I am looking to get rid of them. Please help!

Ferti-lome will get rid of mites, and it's not that expensive.

Where do I get it?

You'll probably have to go to a "feed n seed" store. The
big box stores don't carry it.