You brought in predatory mites to protect your plants. The question nobody answers is what they eat once the pests are gone — or what they eat if you did the smart thing and released them before the thrips arrived. Without food a mite population starves or wanders off. Breeder's Blend is what keeps it on the plant and breeding.
It is the same diet commercial insectaries use to rear mites by the million, in a bag sized for a houseplant collection. Three ingredients, all of them food: cattail (Typha) pollen for high-energy carbohydrate, decapsulated Artemia cysts for the complex proteins and lipids that drive egg-laying, and inactive brewer's yeast for B-vitamins and micronutrients. No corn grit, no bran, no filler — a diversified diet like this can lift predatory mite reproduction by up to 300%.
Feeding takes about thirty seconds a plant. Nothing to mix, nothing to spray, no residue and no re-entry interval — you dip a dry brush, tap it over the nodes and new growth, and leave a barely-visible snow of yellow dust behind. That is the whole method. It turns a plant into somewhere a mite population wants to live, which is the difference between releasing predators once and having them there when you need them.
One judgment call worth making. If you have a heavy, active thrips outbreak right now, pause the feeding until it is under control — you want the mites hungry enough to hunt the thrips first. At low or early pest pressure, keep feeding.
Field Notes
Breeder's Blend
The product
What it is
Supplemental food for generalist predatory mites — a dry powdered diet dusted onto foliage
Type
Mite husbandry consumable. Not a pesticide, not a live organism, not a fertilizer
Why it exists
A released predatory mite population with nothing to hunt will starve or disperse. Feeding it holds the population on the plant and keeps it laying eggs
Where it comes from
The same diet commercial insectaries use to rear predatory mites at scale
What's in it
Ingredients
Cattail (Typha) pollen, decapsulated Artemia cysts, inactive brewer's yeast. Nothing else
Pollen
High-energy carbohydrate — the everyday calorie source that keeps mites active between pests
Artemia cysts
Complex proteins and lipids. This is the fraction that drives fecundity — egg-laying rather than mere survival
Brewer's yeast
B-vitamins and micronutrients, supporting gut health and adult longevity
No fillers
No corn grit, no bran. Every gram in the bag is food
Effect
A diversified diet like this one can raise predatory mite reproduction by up to 300%
Who eats it
Feeds
Amblyseius swirskii, Neoseiulus cucumeris, Neoseiulus californicus and Amblyseius montdorensis — the pollen-feeding generalists
Does not feed
Phytoseiulus persimilis. It is an obligate spider mite specialist and will not touch pollen or cysts
Not food for
Nematodes, springtails, ladybugs, lacewings, Aphidius wasps, Orius, Cryptolaemus or rove beetles. This is a predatory mite diet specifically
What arrives
Format
A sealed foil bag of fine dry powder, pale yellow
Sold by
Weight — 10g, 25g and 50g bags
Sizing
10g for a collection under 50 plants; 25g for 50–200 plants, a large room or a 4x4 tent; 50g for 200 plants and up
Refrigerate
Yes. Refrigerated it keeps for about 12 months; frozen, two years or more
Contains shellfish
The Artemia cysts are a crustacean product. With a severe shellfish allergy, wear gloves or have someone else apply it
Running it
Applied with
A dry artist's or makeup brush. Dip, tap off the excess, dust the foliage
Where
Nodes and new growth — where the mites congregate. A very fine, barely-visible snow of dust is the right amount
How often
Once every 10 to 14 days while you want the population held
Don't overdo it
Too much food sitting on a leaf can go moldy. Less than you think
Pause it when
You have a massive, active thrips outbreak. Let the mites go hungry enough to hunt the thrips first, then resume once it is under control. At low or early pest pressure, keep feeding
Store it
Fridge or freezer, sealed. Do not leave it in a hot grow tent or in direct sun
Compatible with
Everything in the catalog. It is food, not a treatment, and nothing in it harms another beneficial
Safe around
People, pets and plants — the ingredients are food
What it won't do
Kill anything. This feeds predators; the predators do the pest control
