I can't say I've ever seen evidence of spider mite on my broms. As for fungus gnats, crushed mosquito dunks either in the water or on the soil kills their larvae even if you keep the soil too moist.

tj

Hi everyone.

Bunny – First of all lets discus the idea of using tobacco as a repellant to insects. Being an old orchid grower, at the mention of using “tobacco with plants”, the alarm bells start ringing. The reason is that tobacco has been traced as the source of mosaic virus diseases in orchids.

The following excerpt from an article on Mosaic Virus informs us, “There are no cures for viral diseases such as mosaic once a plant is infected. As a result, every effort should be made to prevent the disease from entering your garden. ... Avoid working in the garden during damp conditions (viruses are easily spread when plants are wet). Avoid using tobacco around susceptible plants.” The key words here are “susceptible plants” – of these it is widely known that orchids and bromeliads are susceptible to contamination from viruses, therefore this should answer your question, “How successful do you think the tobacco tea might be, particularly on these little air plants?”

To read the article about mosaic virus in its entirety go to: https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/plant-disease/mosaic-virus/

The thing is; there are other alternatives with the two most accepted methods being prevention and treatment. Myself, I prefer the prevention over treatment simply because I don’t want to go spraying insecticides around my yard where it may harm friendly garden creatures such as frogs, fish, lizards and birds.

To do this I use an insecticide but not as it is intended, i.e. I don’t spray it over my entire collection of plants. I just spray it on and around the individual pots and I find the repellent properties in this product keep the insects away, even grass hoppers, which are very destructive and were a real problem until I found this product. The product is called “Clensel”and it is an insecticide made from natural ingredients.

See: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3857331/katydids-and-clensel

In conclusion I would say this product will meet your requirements inside the home just as effectively as it does in the garden; and what’s more it’s non-harmful to humans and pets and doesn’t have an offensive smell. If you aren’t able to buy this product in your area you could probably get the same result by just using the Citronella Oil which is the active repellent ingredient in the Clensel insecticide.

All the best, Nev

Thank you! I've checked it out and that's the route I'll go. I really appreciate the knowledge.