Garden Pests and Diseases: Spider Mite/Scale??? devastation, 1 by cindyy

cindyy wrote:
I have lost 90 % of all my plants in the last 8 months trying to stop these critters. Some of my plants I had for over 20 yrs.These insects killed huge cactus that my best friend entrusted to me before she died of breast cancer. Last fall I bought a couple plants from a lady here in South Austin who has a greenhouse and regular plant sales. I asked her about the spots on the plants and she said no big deal alcohol and a Q-tip.
I tried the alcohol and Q-Tips. Neem Oil. Sterilized garden tools. Repotted everything making sure dirt,pots , tools were all sterilized, Isolated what I thought to be the only infected plants into my temporary plastic greenhouse and did a series of 3 different bombs I bought at the hydroponic store. Scrubed with peppermint soap, sprayed with alcohol, dish soap, and habanero garlic juice that I brewed myself. The grand finale was chemicals . By this point I was ready to kill every living organism in my yard. I read about the Bayer product (blue bottle) some of the lady's on DG used. I rationalized using something so toxic by telling myself it was like chemotherapy. A couple of the plants seemed to recover after a few months. I'll end this by saying I have thrown in the towel they win. What ever this is has killed over 50 plants that I loved and nurtured all of my adult life. I have 6 plants left on death row and it is just a matter of time.
Grieving in Austin,