Category: Knowledge
Date published: August 18, 2021

Swirski-Mite Helps You Stay in Control

If you're fighting thrips and whitefly, then Swirski-Mite is an excellent partner in crime. The product contains Amblyseius swirskii, a predatory mite that's not all that picky when it comes to its daily meal. It eats many species of small insects and mites, which is ideal when different types of pests occur simultaneously. Swirski-Mite is available in various formulations, so there's always a tailor-made solution.

The swirskii predatory mite likes nice weather. But it can survive many climatic conditions, provided it doesn't get too cold. This makes swirskii suitable for use in many different climate regions.

The combination of all these characteristics makes swirskii the benchmark of predatory mites. The effectiveness of other predatory mites is always compared to the effectiveness of this species: do they score as well as swirskii or do they fall short?

This predatory mite can reproduce in the crop, so there's no need to apply new mites on a regular basis. Several factors determine how quickly this happens, such as how many prey there are and whether other food sources such as pollen are available. The microclimate – the temperature and humidity around the leaf – is also very important.

Other circumstances, other possibilities

As a grower, you are often also a strategist – and fighting pests requires a different strategy in every situation. Sometimes responding quickly to a pest is a must, other times you want to slowly build up a standing army of predatory mites that is ready and waiting when problems arise. Swirski-Mite has several formulations that are aligned with these different strategies.

The regular Swirski-Mite is contained in a bottle with a handy dosing cap, making it very easy to scatter the predatory mites in the crop. Blower dispersion is also an option for some crops. This method is very suitable when rapid response is needed because a pest is gaining more and more terrain in your crop. You can easily introduce many predatory mites in one go.

If you want to gradually apply predatory mites, the Swirski-Mite slow-release sachets are a better choice. These bags contain the predatory mites, food, and bran for protection. The mites reproduce in the bag and move from there into the crop. Ultimately, three to four times as many predatory mites come out of the sachet as it originally held!

There are three versions: Swirski-Mite Plus, Swirski-Mite LD, and Swirski Ulti-Mite. The second has a slightly different composition, as there are two types of food in the bag.

The Swirski-Mite Plus and Swirski-Mite LD slow-release bags are made of paper, making them ideal for use in greenhouses! But if your crop is grown in tunnels, in the open air, or if it's always very humid, Swirski Ulti-Mite is a better solution. It has the same composition but is supplied in a, 100% industrial compostable foil that better protects the predatory mites against moisture as well as drying out. It is a unique, patented system that has more than proved its effectiveness in practice. This means that integrated crop protection is even possible in suboptimal conditions. In short, there is always a solution that fits the chosen strategy and circumstances. Swirski-Mite helps you stay in control, in any situation!