I am really mad!!!! Babied these brugs all summer -= they are full of buds and a load of them are infested with mites!!! What can I treat them with now that they are loaded with buds!! I am SOOO sad.....please someone help me...
good grief!!
There are several things you can use for mites, is it just regular spider mites, or could it be broad mites or cyclamen mites?
First of all, get a good strong water wand and spray your plants down completely with a really strong stream of water, top and bottom of all leaves. Do that daily.
Next you can try Neem oil spray, works pretty good for spider mites and they don't build up a resistance to it, but do spray very very early in the morning or late at night when it is cool or you could have some damage to the foliage. I'm not sure how often you should spray, somebody with more expertise can tell you that.
Kelthane is specific for mites, and if you can find that, that is another choice. Follow the label directions, and again, I wouldn't spray during the heat of the day.
You can also strip off a lot of the infested foliage, bag and burn it.
OK my dumb spots are showing. How do you tell if you have mites ? Must you SEE them.
charlotte
From what I have seen, I notice the webbing, and the damage before I look with a 20 diopter lens, and see the little critters.
If you look hard enough, you can see them, but its hard to see some of them, takes patience..pretty soon you see specks moving..then you know.! (then you curse...)
If you feel the underside of the leaves, they will feel gritty if there is a big infestation. Like sawdust or sandpaper. Also, if you rub the bottom of the leaves and end up with a faint amount of redish brown material on your fingers, you probably have mites, but those on your fingers won't hurt the plant anymore. LOL! Takes a long time to kill them by hand. I know....a poor attempt to be funny. Mary has given good information if you can get your hands on those products. Avid is another, but quite expensive.
One of mine was infested badly with spider mites. I noticed the webs, especially after misting the plant. I also felt the grit, and had the reddy brown on my fingers when rubbing the underside of the leaves, as listed above. I've stripped most of the badly infested leaves, bathed the plant in the tub, warm water and dish soap, that helped for a bit. The most luck I've had is with the Neem oil. I haven't tried any of the others, Neem was the only one I could find here. The plant is still living, making and dropping some of the buds. I'm just hoping it will make it. I won't put it together to play with the others until it's not had any spider mites for a month at least.
Hope you get rid of these rotten things quick.
Neem is good, it smothers them and also contains an insect growth regulator that keeps the nymphs from molting so they die too. Another spray you can make at home is 1:1 alcohol and water with a squirt of dish soap(not dawn) in it. Be sure to spray the bottoms of the leaves and the growth tips. With Neem, a few sprays about 7-10 days apart should work, if you use alcohol and water, you'll want to spray every three days for a couple of weeks, maybe more.
Another spray is with tea tree oil, it only takes about 4 drops in a cup of water, this stuff is strong and can burn your plants, so do go easy with it.
Avid and Kelthane are both registered for use on mites.
We used a systemic (spelling) but would have to ask son what it was. It took care of the mites.
I hope this is something that Rose Fertilizer with systemic insecticide takes care of as I use that (carefully) on the brugies. About 1/2 the amount I use on the roses.
woodspirit - funny thing, I have used the rose/systematic stuff all summer. Was patting myself on the back - then they hit!! I hate to lose the buds - they are about 4 in long - I've waited forever for these buds! Thanks for all the info folks - I'll try anything...
Brugie, you are so funny....I had to laugh at your post....
Cala, thanks for posting the alcohol solution, we dont have any neem spray here. and I do have an infestation also.
I have just been de-leafing the brugs....and hope for the demise of the critters....
Not that I have "dawn" here, but was just wondering why not Dawn?
I've had them a lot this summer also, finally bought some neem and it seems to be working. My brugs looked terrible, now the new growth is growing nicely again. The neem didn't hurt the buds at all, and I sprayed them twice 7 days apart. I was worried about losing my buds but they held on and are going to open soon, well maybe a couple of weeks from now.
Dawn is a detergent(not soap) and it will burn the leaves very badly.
I love Neem! i didn't know about the nymphs Susie. Thanks
The Rose systemic does not help for spider mites. Abamectin is very good.
Here is something I found about Abamectin.
Because mites stay only on the backs of leaves, control requires thorough coverage of the backs of all leaves. Because of the difficulty of spraying under all leaves, the most popular miticide in BASF's Abamectin, sold in many areas under the trade name Avid. Growers appreciate Avid, because it is partially systemic. On young foliage, Avid penetrates and is effective through the leaf. This chemical, which is synthesized from a natural bacterium in the soil, cannot penetrate mature foliage or move from one leaf to another. Unfortunately, because of over use, many mites are developing resistance to Abamectin (Avid). Avid has been most effective against broad mites or cyclamen mites. This experience makes sense, because these types of mites tend to attack the youngest foliage, and Avid penetrates the young foliage (and thus kills on the back of the leaves) while it does not penetrate mature foliage (which the 2-spotted spider mites attack). http://www.dahlia.org/BulletinArticles/Spider%20Mites.html
Thanks Shirley, that makes perfect sense. I've been using more Neem this year than Avid so guess I was doing it right. Now if I could just kill all the cats that eat the leaves!
Going out to get some neem tomorrow - thanks everyone = I so appreciate your help..
When I ordered my Avid from rosemania.com they sent a spraying reference chart. It recommended that you alternate miticides to avoid breeding resistant mites. I have both Kelthane and Avid. Also do not use insecticides too frequently because you can kill off the mite predators, which increases the risk of getting a severe mite infestation.
I looked for Neem today,will have to look more,I am getting devoured here,just in the last few days.
Is AVID readily available at like wal-mart?
sounds like this will take care of the mite problem.
Is it liquid, or do granules that you mix
oK, really dumb question from this part of the crowd, but is Neem sold as "Neem", or does it have a trade name? I haven't ever seen anything with a name like that here. Sounds like it is something I need to have in my "bug arsenal" for future use.
Pebble, you won't find Avid sold at nurseries or WalMart that I know of. It costs $100 for 8 oz. at Rosemania. Very expensive, but it does go a long ways at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. I can't answer the Neem question Anna, because I've never used it or even purchased it. Guess I should go looking around and be prepared also.
Eliminator [tm] Ant, Flea, Tick and Mosquito Killer . concentrate can be found at WalMart . Reasonably priced also =)
We use it for perimeter spray around the outbuildings and kennels.
Just read the label under ' directions for trees and shrubs ' . it says
Bagworms , Fall Canker Worms , Leafminers , Leafrollers , Mealybugs ,Exposed Thrips , Spidermites , Whiteflies , Aphids
I know Greenlight sells Neem as "Rose Defense". It's 99% pure Neem oil. I bought it at Home Depot.
Here Lowes has it and Greenlight also makes it but here it is called Neem Concentrate.
Susie, does this have the insect growth regulator in it?
Kell, the neem it'self is the insect growth regulator. Help me here Tracey, what's that active ingredient called?? There has been a lot of work with it, they have derived a lot of new IGRs from Neem.
cala, will this help http://maxpages.com/neemuses/NEEM_OIL ?
Yes, I thought that it was Azadirachtin but then I thought "no, that's Avid, but Avid is abermectin". I stay confused!
Hey Susie, I am a blonde after all! LOL
I'm interested in this product mentioned above:
Eliminator [tm] Ant, Flea, Tick and Mosquito Killer . concentrate can be found at WalMart . Reasonably priced also =)
We use it for perimeter spray around the outbuildings and kennels
Is it sold year round?
is it harmful to the pets? I would like to spray something like this around my house, and would it help with the kamakazee cockroaches? (the cockroaches arent the pets....lol)