Hi,
My plants are being attacked by some very minute creatures (I cant see them) some plants developed cobwebs. Should I plant garlic will that help rid these creatures. I also see some houseflies around the plants. Are these houseflies bringing these creatures by any chance?
Spider mites.
Try the garlic, let us know. I sure could use a non-toxic option like that!
House flies are not linked to spider mites.
spider mites... spray them off , there are many non-toxic solutions, just search the forums
here in UK, in my conservatory I have had Spider Mites due to the dry heat, so I send of for a small insects that ONLY FEEDS on Spider Mite, they are so small you would NOT see them with the naked eye, anyway, they work for me,
The company is called Defenders, address (defenders,co.uk) the insect is called Phytoseiulus, it's pronounced FY-TOE-SOO-LUS, a mouthful eh.
While I'm awaiting the arrival of these cures in a test tube, the company advised me to constantly mist the plants, the underside of the leaves as well as the top side and stems, even the pot and top soil, the idea is this spray / misting with water wont kill the mites BUT as they hate dry conditions as it prevents them from breeding, it slows down the reproduction till you can find a cure or in my case, wait for the arrival of the insects.
I dont think they ship to other countries BUT they do give a lot of helpful hints and tips, they may even be able to forward you some other companies that do work in this field.
The company I use is totally environmentally friendly and dont use chemicals in any way.
They may even know a company that is able to help you out as they do make sprays etc but are chemical free.
IF you start to mist with water, and you decide to use anything natural, make sure you dont use any chemical items first or you wont know what is helping and what is NOT.
Good luck and hope something works soon.
Best Regards.
WeeNel.
https://greenmethods.com/californicus/
Here is a site that offers several species of mite predators. Read through the descriptions of how the predators live, how they work, and see which will suit your situation best.
There certainly might be other places that sell similar pest control predators.
Remember that when you are using beneficial bugs to control bad bugs you will continue to see some bad bugs, or else the beneficials will starve or go away to where there is more prey. Some beneficials can also eat pollen or nectar. If you get some of this type, make sure to have the alternate food supply available.
spider mites cannot and will not live in a constant humid environment. they thrive in dry, windy conditions. the easiest way to get rid of them is to mist the plants every morning and evening taking care to get the undersides of the leaves. use a nozzle with a mist setting. the reason i say mist rather than totally blast with a hose is so the plants don't become waterlogged...especially young plants. it will probably take at least a week of twice daily misting and then let up and watch. if they come back, start the process again.
Thanks a lot all. I have started misting more than a few times, the heat and dryness could be a problem as it goes up to 104° here in the afternoon.
I'm a little conservative about watering my plants everyday as I had killed many tomatoes due to over watering last season.
I'll keep u posted
Spider Mites are a constant pest in the summer in Tx due to the hot dry conditions. That is the environment they need to survive so by simply keeping the environment a little more humid they will not thrive. I hear from so many people in Tx. That the summer heat has killed their plants. I take one look and can see it's SMs that have sucked the life out if the plants. You don't need to wet the soil just the foliage. Try to do it in the evening, before it gets too late. The plants also need some time to dry. If they aren't allowed to dry off they could get fungus problems. Tomatoes, bean and cucumbers are especially susceptible to SMs.
Good luck!
Yes I have been misting them all regularly now. Thanks. And I do think it has helped.
If the SMs haven't killed the plants it is helping. I've seen them take out a batch of bean plants overnight. If you aren't seeing new growth you could try using Neem Oil (the directions will be on the label). Good Luck.
Yes, along with misting I have been using neem oil spray. because I have this other problem of some insects sucking out certain portions of the leaf. Not sure what that is now.
All I can think of is aphids.....what kind of plants are these?
The sucking is on the leaves of two plants the curry leaf tree and a sapodilla which is just a few inches. Here is a picture of the sapodilla leaf. The curry leaf also has a similar problem.
hard to see but from the pattern it seems to be Tea Scale or something similar that would be in your area. scale is a little harder to "fix". you really need to spray with a light garden oil, not a heavy winter oil. if the plant doesn't produce anything edible, a systemic might work but the oil is safer. plan on losing some leaves since there will be sunburn.
You can see if you have spider mites by tiny dots on the underside of the leaves and ofcourse see the web. Gently blow on the leaf and if you see something move, it is a mite. By the time you see cobwebs, the mites have been there for awhile. Mites suck the life out of plants in time.
I add dishsoap to the spray of water to make it stick on the leaves. If you can bring the plant to the sink, rub the leaves with your fingers dipped in soap solution to remove the mites. It needs to be done every week to get the eggs and lava.
If like me you don;t have a problem with a spray, I use Malathion 50% insect spray diluted as per container. It will kill every garden bug. I spray making sure I get under the leaves then place the plant in a large plastic bag, another spray then close the bag and leave over night. You can do it out in the yard.
Hi bloma, luckily I have the mites under control (hopefully) as I didn't find similar symptoms after regular misting. However, I have lost a few plants in the past due to mites. Next time I'll try washing with dishsoap to see if I can save the plant. But I don't use much harsh chemicals as grow a lot of edibles around. Thanks anyways.
hi trackinsand I think you are right about the scale. It is some sort of scale and it is all over the branch too (I read somewhere and tried scraping it and it came off revealing a green branch underneath - earlier on I mistook it for a hardened branch - silly of me! I'm still learning). It is a small plant so hopefully I may be able to save it. Will read more to see what I can do.
Thanks a lot for mentioning scale (I think I finally found whats bothering it).
If you keep the plants misted the mites won't come back with such a vengeance. They need a dry environment to survive and flourish. Before I knew the early signs of SMs I'd lost many veggie plants, especially beans, to them. Now I can spot them immediately, I try to keep the plant's foliage washed off but then I have fungal issues...this summer we have had rain on and off. The only place I've had problems with mites is on the plants under the covered patio. Insecticides will not kill mites, you need a miticide ie neem oil. I do not have a clue abt scale!
I wouldn't feel comfortable using Malathon in the house....but that is just me. I'm not talking about washing the SMs off. Their natural habitat is a dry dusty environment so by keeping the plant damp the SMs wont flourish. We have had more rain this summer then normal and, like I said above, my only plants that have been bothered by SMs are the plants protected from the rain.
