Broad mites and brugmansia - help please?

I bought three young brugmansia suaveolens from a wholesale nursery back at the end of April, this year. Brought them home, watered them well every other day. Repotted them when I saw roots coming out the bottom and on top of the soil into 2-3 gallon pots in a mix of peat moss and garden soil (the garden soil had chunks of bark and wood -got it at Home Depot). In May, I noticed the leaves turning yellow and curling up. I thought they were getting too much sun. Then I found someone who grew them, and they told me .... BROAD MITES. Yikes. I tried the OTC Bayer insecticide they suggested, but it didn't work. So then I stripped my poor plants bare and hosed them down with insecticidal soap.

And the leaves grew in crinkled and curled and I knew I still had the beasts.

So I bought a small amount of Forbid off Ebay. June, I hosed them down good with it. And it seemed to work. Yay! But in July, they were back again. So I did the hose them down, wait and on the third day hose them down again. And in August they were back. And now they're back again. And they're dropping healthy leaves and young buds on top of that.

Instead of posting photos, I'm going to link you all to the (somewhat glitchy) video so you can see (I hope) the difference in my plants. I'm really at a loss here. I'm so tired of hearing "it's broad mites", whether it is or not. The video is unlisted, but allows comments. I don't usually share my videos (I generally keep them unlisted and don't allow comments or anything), but photos don't always show everything. The video may not either, but it's worth a shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_j05_rtGg

I went ahead and sprayed my brugs today with Forbid. I've been asking around everywhere, and ... I'm getting discouraged to be honest. I don't want my plants unhealthy, and I've done everything I can fertilizer-wise and soil-wise according to a brug cultivator. But I'm wondering if the mites are resistant to Forbid now.

I don't know much specifically about either Brugs or broad mites, but I know Brugs are tropical plants that are usually given full sun when outside. I think yours are likely not getting enough light there, which could weaken them. And did you know you carn prune them? I have often found when I have a insect problem, using a systemic (like Bonide )granules, cutting back severely, then the new growth is protected. People cut back their Brugs back so that might be an idea., Also getting more shop lights.

My room-mate didn't realize how big the plants were when he put up the light, so yes there will be more light put up. They do well in full sun to part shade, but if it's too much sun they will wilt (I found that out the hard way).

As for cutting them back, I don't know enough about them to do that safely, which is why I kept them potted and brought them inside to overwinter them. They have to be cut a certain way if you want to keep them alive, and the cuttings have to be soaked a certain way before you can root them, and it's just more than I can do right now. You can't just prune them back like you would any other bush or tree - it'll kill them.

I don't know if you're speaking from experience or reading, about that pruning and rooting. I have two stems rooted right now, no prep at all, and a friend up here does it too. She finds that fat stems root better than skinny tips.

I cannot say I am vastly experienced with Brugs but I have grown a couple kinds, for several years, and while growing they seem so vigorous, I'm surprised they can be killed by pruning.

I agree they aren't getting nearly enough light right now to really thrive. And a 2-3 gallon pot seems very small for a brug. Soil is another potential challenge for them. Anything labeled 'garden soil' is probably not ideal for a pot. I've had them in full or partial (Maryland) sun- ample water seems important.

Up here I take cuttings and just keep small plants for winter, or, dug up the plant and let it dry down over winter and lose all leaves, then revive it in spring. But I have lost the big ones a few times, they dry- rotted and nothing sprouted.

These are my first brugs I've had any luck with. My previous ones died. Also, they have been repotted into 5 gallon pots - the cultivator I've gotten the majority of my information from has instructions on repotting (don't repot until you see roots on top), what soil mixture(small pine nuggets, compost, perlite, peat moss, vermiculite, osmocote, potting soil), that sort of thing and I'm following their advice on that. And yes, I am well, WELL aware that they aren't receiving quite enough light right now compared to being outdoors but there is little I can do about that until the room-mate (who owns the house I rent a room in) gives the okay for another light. However, I also know that this isn't the problem with the leaf curl and yellowing and the leaf drop. I've tried asking the cultivator, and gotten zero response. I've tried asking another cultivator, and gotten zero response. This is sort of my last resort - asking in a forum.

It is the leaf curl and yellowing and the dropping of anywhere from 7-15 leaves per day that has me worried. I keep hearing it's broad mites, and I keep spraying for them, but it isn't solving the problem. They were doing this in FULL SUN outside, and bringing them inside hasn't affected anything. I'm wondering if the Forbid has quit being effective, or if this is something else entirely. I'm told Forbid is the only thing that will kill them (the cultivator I spoke of, who has grown brugs for many many years). I suspect this isn't mites at all, considering my larger plants are healthy and don't have the leaf curl associated with the little beasts. The larger plants - which bloomed their heads off all summer long into the fall, and still have a few blooms going - are losing leaves for no reason I can detect. The edges are a bit yellow, they look to be a paler green than normal, but other than that there are no other clues. The baby plants that are just now growing the Y are the ones with bad, horrible leaf deformities. And I have one large plant that's growing in a manner that makes no sense at all. The growing tips just died, and now it's sprouted branches in every direction. Again, these are all issues I was having BEFORE they were brought inside. And I am at a loss.

OK, thanks for your patience explaining ll that. I wasn't quite sure about those details. I'm at a loss too, having maybe no more, or even less, experience than you.
I had some weird leaf curl on a pink one outside last year. I think it was confined to one branch.