bloomhjelm I am working with cool spectrum lights 6500K, due to budge
Since I am using lights only for rooting dahlias there is no advantage for me to use a wide-spectrum light. Dahlia cuttings only need the blue spectrum so I buy the cheapo LED cool spectrum shop lights.
bloomhjelm originally it was to deal with yellow leaves in transplants
I purposely under-fertilize my mother plants and cuttings to help avoid a Winter jungle. I fertilize with a rapid acting fertilizer (Peters or similar soluble) 2 or 3 weeks before planting out.
bloomhjelm I tried (not at the same time) Avid, thyme oil, Neem, horticultural oil, d-Limonene spray, soap spray, and sulfur-
You probably know to not spray sulfur and oils within a month of each other. Broad mites can be tough to deal with. I doubt they are coming from your potting mix, more likely they have come inside on a houseplant or other plant from the outside. If you are going the pesticide route I would use another good miticide in rotation with Avid I use Oberon 4SC in rotation). Also, since the mites are hidden in the new growth, I would "dip" rather than "spray" the cuttings. DO NOT dip your cuttings in any of the oils, including NEEM. I would also look into the possibility of using water spray and beneficials instead of pesticides but I have had no experience.
bloomhjelm I made some indoor rooting and potting soil by oven-baking Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil
I was going to sterilize soil for some of the California natives I am planting but chickened out after reading about the possibility of creating toxins if the temp went over 200F. I never researched it beyond a cursory Google search so don't know if I should have been concerned.
