13 replies to this topic

[Crystals]

Well, like every fall, it gets colder outside and I get spider mites coming inside and infesting my house plants.  My Coleus, vines (jasmine vine, white potato vine), and seedlings are hardest hit.

Any idea how to get rid of spider mites?

 

I love plants, and I have dozens of them in a miniature green wall.  I am tired of tossing most of them outside every fall and starting from a tiny cutting when spider mites show up.  Some of the plants I have now don't take cuttings easily or at all. I already lost my Moringa tree seedling.

 

If I have to, I will cut back my Jasmine vine (it is almost ten feet long and bushy).  The only plant that the mites don't like seems to be my Lavender plant, which isn't deterring the mites, despite being in the middle of my plants.  Most of my plants are too sensitive for chemical sprays (and those sprays don't seem to kill the mites either).

 

The source of the infestation is a massive flower bed just outside the window.  It gets spider mites badly every year, most noticeably on the Morning Glory and Scarlet Runner beans - those plants are almost half dead from the mites by the time July ends.  There are hundreds of other plants out there, impacted by the mites to various degrees.

 

Any tips or ideas?

[Billy]

Have you tried introducing some predatory mites?

[dermy]

Soapy water? or is it too harsh?

[William. T]

I got mites before. Hard to kill unless you kill your plants. Bet bet is to dispose of the current plants and disinfect the area and bring better plants.

[Crystals]

I got mites before. Hard to kill unless you kill your plants. Bet bet is to dispose of the current plants and disinfect the area and bring better plants.

I was doing that for several years, but I have some now that I may never get again or are very slow growing.  For example my elm tree seedlings, my mango seedlings, a certain native vine that I spent 4 years looking for a small plant whose roots were not embedded in solid rock that is only found in a location much further south of me...

 

Dermy, soapy water is my next plan.  Probably in a spray bottle.  I will likely start the 3 week battle after this weekend, washing and spraying the plants every 2 days.  Wish me luck.

[Nes187]

Pretty sure I found a couple of these mites in one of the wifes nests yesterday when I was playin with the microscope, will they cause any problem with ants?

[Billy]

I don't know about Canada, but here in the UK you can get predators that eat spider mites for pretty cheap. Here's an example: http://www.amazon.co...rds=spider mite

[Nes187]

I just did some looking into it and seems like what I have looks more like the predatory mites we have here, still don't know where it came from or if it should be worried about though,

[Billy]

I just did some looking into it and seems like what I have looks more like the predatory mites we have here, still don't know where it came from or if it should be worried about though,

Are there any mites clinging to the ants? If so, that kind of mite can destroy ant colonies.

[Nes187]

No they weren't on the ants at all just noticed 2 roaming around in the nest

[Billy]

That's probably not a problem, then.

[Mannomorth]

We had a major mite infestation on a plum tree this summer, soapy water works wonder, just make sure what kind of soap you use. We used a evergreen soap that are all natural so no harm to the tree itself. (note the tree was not "cured" since its huge, but the areas we treated responded well.)

[Crystals]

I have tossed the plants that I can easily replace, and took cuttings from the ones that easily root.

 

But that still leaves a handful of plants that would be next to impossible to replace.

 

I am trying the mite spray and soapy water.  I hold the plants on their sides above the sink and spray the mite killer on the leaves.  After 10 min I spray the leaves with soap water until they are soaked, ensuring to target the underside of the leaves.  After 15min I gave them a quick rinse off with plain water. 

 

Supposedly, if I do this every 2-3 days for 2 weeks it will get rid of all of the mites.  Assuming there aren't any hiding anywhere else.

 

The reason I rinse off the mite killer is because this Schultz stuff seems to kill the plants along with the mites.

I lost most of the plants I tried it on but didn't rinse off (the instructions say nothing about rinsing and only warn about using it on 3 different plants).  So I am down to 8 plants now.  I may have to try a different brand, but it is not easy to find insectide soap spray this time of year.

[dermy]

Well I wish you luck in the war Crystals!