Red spider mites

Watch Reply
More
Mark unread Print Skip to new
tiredwabbit Point Pleasant Beach, NJ(Zone 7a) Jul 31, 2001

ARGGGGGG!!! Can we say scary little suckers!!! Believe it or not I am growing a sunflower indoors and it was doing really well for a while. And being that its a bit tall I hadn't been paying close attention to the upper part of it. I thought it was just lack of water being that it sucks it up like there is no tomorrow. SO I brought it down planning on repotting it to a larger pot, noticed it had buds up top, which means soon it will flower, But I noticed the webbing then, and not just a bit of webbing, a ton of it, and then these little red dots about the size of a pencil tip. So I sprayed it down with soapy water and actually wiped away as much of the little buggers as I could. But do you have any other suggestions. This plant was started by my son in kindergarten and I would love for him to see the whole growing process up till the time it actually flowers. These spider mites have put a bit of a damper on our parade and I am hoping they didn't do any serious harm to the buds themselves. We are definately going to lose some of the leaves and that I can handle. But I would love to see it actually bloom. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Oh and also cross your fingers that they didn't accidently drop into the other plants that where hanging about in the same area!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Thanks for any help you can give.
Holly

Post #9663
Quote
WillCreed New York, NY(Zone 6a) Jul 31, 2001

You have treated the mites appropriately. All you can do now is to be vigilant for their return and do everything possible to provide a stress-free environment for the sunflower, like not letting it get too dried out.

On the positive side, there is an important lesson here for your son: Nature is an amazing interaction of plants and animals (including spider mites). We may prefer flowers to mites, but the mites do have their rightful place in nature. Kids need to grow up with an understanding and appreciation of all aspects of nature.

Post #103492
Quote

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
Back to Forum Homepage

More Indoor Gardening and Houseplants Threads

Go to all Indoor Gardening and Houseplants threads
BACK TO TOP