Miticides serve one primary purpose: keeping crops safe from pests. However, if your miticide is also wiping out beneficial insects and predators, it may only be exacerbating the mite problem in the long run. 

Beneficials consist of both insects that help crops thrive and predators that control the mite population (for example, western predatory mites and six-spotted thrips). Beneficials are key players in promoting healthy crops and higher yields, so ensuring their survival during miticide applications is necessary.

The miticide conundrum

Growers are in a tough spot when it comes to controlling pests. If there aren’t enough predators to take care of harmful mites, broad-spectrum miticides are often the first resort. However, many of these miticides will kill off both harmful and beneficial mites — and with beneficials out of the way, the harmful mites might come back stronger than ever.

That’s why many growers are turning to miticides that are soft on beneficials — in other words, they target pest mites only, leaving the predatory mites and helpful insects unharmed. With this kind of focused attack, the population of pests is knocked down and predator populations may take over in keeping the mites under control. This serves as a “checks-and-balances” situation for the mites. It also means fewer miticide applications throughout the growing season — and thus less likelihood of resistance. 

Soft on beneficials, tough on pests

UPL miticides are some of the softest on the market, keeping beneficials largely intact while effectively knocking down common pests and harmful varieties of spider mites.

VIGILANT® Miticide (IRAC 20D) and ACRAMITE® Miticide (IRAC 20D) provide outstanding protection from spider mites at all stages. Both miticides have a short 14-day pre-harvest interval for grapes and a reputation for going easy on predator mites and beneficial insects. For most programs, VIGILANT and ACRAMITE can be used throughout the season whenever spider mites are present and populations begin to build, offering a solution that seamlessly fits within the framework of your integrated pest management regimen.

KANEMITE® Miticide (IRAC 20B) offers exceptional control, rapid knockdown and long-lasting residual activity on two-spotted spider, Willamette and Pacific mites while going easy on predator mites and beneficials. Additionally, its unique active ingredient, acequinocyl, makes KANEMITE an ideal member of your resistance management program.

OMITE® Miticide (IRAC 12C) offers swift relief from mites using a unique active ingredient and fuming action. It provides fast and powerful knockdown of a wide range of mites at all life stages while allowing for great coverage everywhere these pests like to hide. OMITE is also rainfast for lasting control and is an excellent rescue treatment throughout the year.

UPL offers advanced products and customized solutions to meet the needs of each grape grower. For a complete line of reliable protection and a staff dedicated to keeping your vineyard going strong, contact your local retailer or visit www.upl-ltd.com/us.