Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Photos of Plumeria Infected with Broad/Cyclamen type mites, 1 by davidwv

davidwv wrote:
I just started growing Plumerias this year, but I have been growing and hybridizing Brugmansia for many years. About three or four years ago I started to have problems with a new insect pest on my Brugmansia; Broad and/or Cyclamen type mites. Before then the only type of mite that I had a problem with was Spider Mites.

Even though Spider Mites can seem to be hard to control and the damage they can do to plants be extensive, they can not hold a candle to the Broad/Cyclamen Mites. (This is just my humble opinion after having to deal with Broad Mites).

Keeping the humidity up on plants infected with spider mites goes a long way in helping to control them. This is not the case with the Broad Mites, they are TRUELY a pain the a_ _ to deal with. I consider broad mites the most destructive and hardest to control insect pest of any pest that I have to deal with.

After having to deal with broad type mites for awhile the symptoms are easily recognized. You will notice some of the leaves to "curl" under, the leaves will develop a thick, brittle feel to them and finally, they will destroy any new growth at the growing tip of the plant infected.

Also, with spider mites you can see the webbing they make and the mites themselves. This is not the case with Broad Mites, they are microscopic. You need a microscope to see them and they are so small that they can be transmitted to nearby plants on the feet of whiteflies!!!

For those of you who are growing brugmansia along with your plumerias please be on the look out for these pests, especially if you have purchased or traded for brugmansia in the past year or so. Many brugmansia collectors and growers have had to deal with these pests in the past few years. It almost seems like they have become the new plague of brug growers.

I am going to post a couple of pictures showing what Plumerias look like when infected with the Broad/Cyclamen type mites. I'll come back in the next day or so and post more on the subject of Broad mites and how to deal with them.


This message was edited Aug 26, 2007 11:56 PM