At least I believe that is what decided to attack my brug cuttings while I was away for Christmas. I really hate these things, does anyone have any suggestions? I've used alcohol in the past but without a lot of success. These cuttings are still in water right now and need potted up ASAP.
Thanks, Kim
best way to combat spider mites?
Bayer rose or bayer tree and shrub . A quick one is a copper , oil , suffer or any dormant spray . That would coat the leaves for a couple of days .
Mites are brought in by wind , leaves , other bugs , birds and even your pets . They will hitch a ride on any thing .
I read somewhere while wife was in hospital that the chewing and sucking of the bugs causes the plants to create more poisons in there sap . I lost my notes so can't remember which book . I am going to tie a clock [ battery operated ] to a couple this year and see what happens .
The worse is I'll blow $10 bucks on 2 clocks , but I'll know what time it is anyway .
Sorry, I don't get the clock thing! does that discourage spider mites?
You can also put them completely under water that is 115 degrees. Keep the water temp constant and leave them in there for ten or fifteen minutes. It will kill all kinds of mites, but your brugs will be fine.
This might be posted somewhere already - so sorry for the repetition - but how can you tell that the brugs have been attacked by spider mites. Do you actually see them or the type of damage done means it was spider mites?
Please do not use bayer Tree and shrub or any imidacloprid when there are possible spider mites. It will increase or cause a spider mite outbreak after using. you can do a google search of the words imidacloprid and spider mite to see all the research on this. You can also call the 1800# for Bayer and they will explain it to you, and they are working on combining an additional insecticide with the imidacloprid to combat the spider mites, but have not yet. Also the bayer people will tell you never to use this indoors. Spraying with water all surfaces daily, especially under the leaves should keep them controlled, they like hot , dry conditions. Good luck!
Thanks for the warning silverkitty....did not hear about that before. I sprayed the leaves down with alcohol for now. I was wondering if it would be ok to remove most of the leaves for now to give less fodder for the mites? These are just rooting cuttings, well-rooted and ready to be potted up. I am thinking to remove most of the leaves, soak the plants in the 115 degree water, and then pot them up and keep them humid until I can sit them outside. Does this sound good? I am also having problems with the mites on some of my hoyas. Many people there use the BTS for mealies, but since it may cause mite issues what else could I use as a systemic to combat these and mealies?
jazmine, spider mites suck the sap out of the leaves, leaving transparent areas. Also, if you tap the leaf over a piece of paper, you will see the little red dots that are the mites crawling around.
Kim
Hi Kim! Yes you can remove the leaves and soak the cuttings, that sounds like a great plan and you'll grow all new leaves in the spring anyway. Keep spraying water on the cuttings daily to control the mites after soaking. I don't know what to do on the hoyas, maybe someone on the hoya forum can tell you if you can soak them too! I do know the Bayer works well on mealies, and pretty much everything except mites, I would be very careful using it in containers though. Sorry to sound like the pesticide police with these warnings, I just happened to talk to the local extension service and call Bayer recently when I had a "problem" gardenia and they both said the same things about the imidacloprid systemics.
Wendy
Use Neem Oil according to instructions. Works on all Mites. Ted
you can do a google search of the words imidacloprid and spider mite
MANY THANKS for this tip!!! It explains a lot.......... :-)
But what was the clock thing about, did I miss a joke or something?
I didn't get the clock thing either... I wish tonyjr would come back and explain..
Avid....
I have battled spider mites many times. Neems oil will kick them back, soaps will do the same as will just about every concoction you can name. I have done it all....from cayenne pepper, vinegar and clove oils.....to pyrthrins. I add that the latter does seem to be the best of all the conventional weaponry if you spray the underside of the leaves WELL every three days for 2 weeks. HOWEVER..... No matter what I did....they kept returning. A friend of mine mentioned Avid....said it was not something you want to put on your tomatoes but for ornamentals....it would be fine. The stuff is outrageously expensive at about 125 dollars for a 6 ounce bottle. A little goes a long, long way. A commercial azalea grower near me mixed a 20ounce spray bottle at 1/8th the recommended dosage(??). I took it home and promptly sprayed my brugs and a few double rose begonias which were just eat up with spider mites. I paid close attention to the undersides of the leaves and also the top level of soil on each plant affected as I was told to do. I also sparayed under and around the bench they were on and the entrance to the greenhouse. That was in October, and I have not seen any evidence of a mite, or mealy bug for that matter.....to date.
For about a month I saw very few insects but only around the treated plants....that was a down side I know but that is back to normal with the odd exception of spider mites and mealy bugs which still have not returned. That reprieve of nearly 5 months now is a first. I plan to give this a try on my verbenas next year which live outdoors and see what gives there since those the little critters seem to adore so much.
And I used a truly unoticeable amount of mixture from the 20 Oz spray bottle mixture....I expect this bottle will last for some time especially with the results lasting this long.
I suggest that anyone check into these things and make a determination based on what they are growing and such relevant things as it's half life. From what I could determine....for my situation, it's pros far outweiged the cons....but I personally will not use it on anything other than ornamentals even though the HMDS sheets claim it is harmless after a short period of time.
Anyway, I thought I would pass that on as I truly hate spider mites. They can be ruthless if you live in hot dry regions.....absolutely ruthless. It gives me great pleasure to find a "nuclear" type weapon to oblitirate the little bastidios!!
OldSCPmedic
I have bookmarked this site for natural home-made recipes to compat many garden pests. Try the garlic spray and the orange peel spray. It may work on your spider mites.
http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html
Deborah♥
Sorry to take so long to get back - wife was sick - in Hospital twice at 10 days each time and Mac computor show was last week , people visiting - etc .
Anyway the article said that chewing insects sent vibrasions into root system and it produces more toxins to protect plant . Said maybe a clock would have same effect - so unusal I remembered it .
Unfortunly , I had a nephew bring 2 books every day and take 2 back home . By the time I realized I lost a couple of pages of notes , he had already put books back .
I ended up with 6 pages of notes on computer and plants .
I buy books at a store called 1/2 price books and tell / told relatives birthdays and Xmas gives should be old garden-plant books they find at thrift stores , garage sales , flea markets - cheaper for them and I get hard to find books .
If I hear about a good book , I will look on ebay and used section of Amazon .
I just bought 5 with info on Vitamin K - it makes your blood thick and is in all most any green veggie . Wife's problem was with heart speed - blood thickness - thyroid .
Tony, so hope your wife is better now, and no more trips to the ER. Jeanette
If you don't want to spray, try these things. I did and they work.
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/predators/phytoseiulus_persimilis.html
This is a shade-house Brug plant about a month after predatory mites were released. They take a little while to multiply, but you can (I hope) see the difference between the 'bleached' older leaves which had heavy infestation and the new growth which is perfectl;y healthy. These plants had NOT been sprayed with anything. This is one of hundreds of plants of several cvs all reacting the same way.
I also released mites into field-grown plants which were so heavily infested that mites were forming seething balls on the leaf tips. These plants are now at acceptable levels of infestation (i.e. hardly detectable). I did cut off most of the leaves of the very heavily infested plants before releasing the mites.
WOW!!!! I am so impressed, Alistair. I wonder if it is too cool here especially at night. We can be in the 50s at night in the summer. And we do not have much humidity. But I may just try it. I will have to find a source and then wait for the mites to hit. LOL. Right now there is not a brug leaf to be seen, things are pretty sad around here.
Kell I do feel for you guys having unnaturally cold conditions - so depressing. Hope not too much irreparable damage......
I think these may be worth a try when you come round to warmer weather again. They are not all that expensive (here anyway: about $50US for 10,000 mites which was enough for about 120 plants in the ground plus several hundred in pots). I keep the plants close together a) so that the predatory mites can disperse and b) to help maintain a humid microclimate which suits them and doesn't suit the spider mites (plus daily damping down).