Hi everyone,
Well, not only is my comuter at home broken, but (*sobs*) I think I have cyclamen mites. Here is what I saw. I was looking at a darker colored dandy pot and saw a teeny tiny white insect crawling on the pot. So tiny. I have found several on the darker pots, but not seen any on the lighter color pots (I am assuming it is because they don't show up as well). These guys are super tiny. Most of my AVs look healthy. I have several from one seller that don't look quite right, and am wondering if they brought in a problem (I have no way of knowing, just a guess). Do you think they are cyclamen mites? They do not sound or look like soil mealy bugs. HELP : ) Pam
Cyclamen mites?
Visible Insects or Other Pests
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/60100-61004/61000.html
Hi Pam,
Oh my goodness...I hope it isn't.
I don't think you can see cyclamen mites with the naked eye so maybe it is something else that isn't as bad.
Hoping for the best for you Pam.
Joanne
Pam
All I read it says you can't see cyclamen mites with the naked eye.
I don't think you have them ? Did you look at Optimara for insect you can see ?
Do you have any other symptoms ?
I agree with Allison. Although we all dread the CM they are quite rare. Optimara is a great site to try to figure out what to do.
I have looked at Optimara. I haven't found any description that seems to fit other than possibly cyclamen mites. I thought soil mealies are bigger. The trouble is I have only seen a few and they are so small, I can't distinguish characteristics. I did disect a plant and look through the soil and did not see any bugs. Maybe it was baby soil mealies? I don't know. I will keep looking for symptoms. My plants don't look like they are sick. Thanks, guys. I will update when I can. Have a good day!!! Pam
Cyclamen mites cannot be seen with the human eye and seldom with a magnifying glass. You need a good microscope. How do I know? After reading the messages here, I went to the link and saw violets that look like some of mine.
Today I took two affected plants to an entomologist and he gave me the dreaded news - yes I have cyclamen mites. And I have pernicious mites - they are the good ones and eat the cyclamens, but not nearly fast enough.
Tomorrow the Avid spray program will start. This is not going to be fun since I have over 300 plants! The first ones will be the segregated plants that I bought at national convention since they still look healthy and I want them to stay that way!
I have no idea where the mites came from! I always segregate new plants for a minimum of two months and all leaves get soaked in a waterbath that has a couple of drops of clorax added. My shelves also get cloraxed twice a year. Looks like they will get it more often this year.
Wish me luck in getting rid of them.
Nancy
Wow, this sounds serious. Hope the treatment works. I may take a plant to the local county extension agent and see if they can help me diagnose the problem with mine. How did you find an entomologist?
Good luck!!! Thanks for sharing. Pam
I had several plants showing symptoms earlier this year that turned out to be cultural rather than mites (I switched to dechlorinated water, etc, and they started looking better), but I ordered a bottle of Avid anyway so I could have it on hand. If anyone needs some, LMK, as sharing from my bottle will cost less than buying your own ($100 for 8 oz, but it goes a long way). I did use it on a couple of "bargain" amaryllis bulbs that had mites (and went nowhere near my AVs).
I don't think I've seen any suggestion of mite infestation recently, but our house has had so many little insects invading this summer that I may spray all plants with Avid as a precaution before sending out fall trades.
Pam -
Call your extension agent and tell them the problem. They directed me to the entomologist on campus here in Madison.
Nancy
Oh, good. I'll do that. Thanks so much!!!! Pam