Spider mites on Catasetum

[hanzy08]

I have been having a problem with spider mites on my Catasetum. They only seem to like this plant cause they don't spread to my other plants. I have to wipe alcohol or spray neem oil on it every week but then the problem eventually comes back. The yellowing leaves are the spider mite's damage.

I also took pictures of the little clovers that grew on the medium which I think is cute!

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[silken]

The treatments are just controlling, not eradicating the problem. If you are willing to use a chemical pesticide, you could drench it with Malathion, including the media. It seems to work well, any time I have had spider mites . It stinks so you may want to do it outside on a calm day, or in a plastic bag. I would follow up for a week or two after to get any eggs that may have hatched. Your plant is beginning to show a lot of damage from them.

[rbarata]

I also took pictures of the little clovers that grew on the medium which I think is cute!

Not related to the spider problem but I use clovers in my phap as a watering and moister indicator.

[estación seca]

Your Catasetum has severe damage already; you need to do something right away before it is injured fatally. Though you don't see damage on your other plants, the mites are there, so you need to treat all your plants.

Spider mites rapidly become resistant to any pesticides used. For this reason a lot of people use non-pesticide methods to control them. They prefer conditions of low humidity, warm to hot temperatures and no air movement. Provide your plants opposite conditions to make the environment less hospitable to spider mites. For Catasetum, provide the highest humidity you can to prevent spider mite attack.

Spider mites live mostly on the undersurface of the leaves, so you have to spray there as well as the top surface. Many of us use isopropyl alcohol 70% and spray every 2-3 days when we notice an attack. In the US this is sold in drug stores as "rubbing alcohol." Spray your other plants even if you don't see the mites. A solution of 1 tablespoon (15ml) of standard dish detergent (not dishwasher detergent) in a quart (1 liter) of water also works, but don't get it on roots.

If you are diligent, plain water in a forceful spray will knock the bugs off the leaves, and they will not be able to climb back on. This does not kill eggs, so you need to repeat it every 2-3 days.

Remember, treat all your plants, not just the ones with damage you see.

Some plants are attacked first by spider mites, and can be grown as indicator plants. In my experience such plants include true lilies (Lilium); cacti in the Lobivia and Rebutia group; jasmines; Brugmansia, Petunia, and other tobacco relatives; sweet potatoes; the desert rose Adenium and relatives in the milkweed and dogbane families; cotton relatives like Bombax and Pachira; anything in the sesame family Pedaliaceae such as Pterodiscus; and orchids with wide, soft leaves.

I keep a spray bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol in my growing area and use it regularly on plants I know to be spider mite magnets, even if I don't see the mites. I also use the hose to spray all my plants several times a month. If this is a houseplant, take it into the shower and use the forceful stream to spray both sides of the leaves, taking care not to dislodge the growing medium.

As for the Oxalis - it is cute, but it is like a litter of kittens. Soon it will grow up and invade all your pots. It has explosive seed capsules that spread seeds widely through your growing area. It makes underground rhizomes that can lie dormant for many months. Pull it out now, while you can. The top of the plant often breaks off, leaving the rhizome to grow again, so be sure you get all of it. I guarantee if you keep buying plants grown in greenhouses you will get this Oxalis in your collection again, so don't mourn its loss. There are plenty of other Oxalis for you to grow that are prettier, have better flowers and are not invasive at all.

[hanzy08]

Thank you guys for all of your input. I had put a humidifier with visible mist near it to raise the humidity and i also wiped the leaves with alcohol. I would do this everyday and hopefully slows the spider mites down...

[bil]

Good advice about the Oxalis. I have two invasive strains, no, three and they are a swine to control.

As for the mites, I am a great one for chemical megadeath. If you want to love everything and hug spider mites, fine. Me, I will whip out the acaricide and CHAS 48 without a second thought.

Malathion too.

[hanzy08]

Originally Posted by bil

Good advice about the Oxalis. I have two invasive strains, no, three and they are a swine to control.

As for the mites, I am a great one for chemical megadeath. If you want to love everything and hug spider mites, fine. Me, I will whip out the acaricide and CHAS 48 without a second thought.

Malathion too.

My last and final resort would be this. If what I'm doing right now does not work, I will have to resort to this. I'm just not too keen about these chemical pesticides.

[bil]

Originally Posted by hanzy08

My last and final resort would be this. If what I'm doing right now does not work, I will have to resort to this. I'm just not too keen about these chemical pesticides.

Well, when I moved here, I too was like that, and as a result the garden was soon HEAVING with pests. I now realise that the garden needs a certain amout of pesticide or I get no fruit.

So, at first sight, SLAMMO!

EAT CHEMICAL MEGADEATH!

ME CAGO EN SUS MUERTOS!

Or words to that effect.

[hanzy08]

Originally Posted by bil

Well, when I moved here, I too was like that, and as a result the garden was soon HEAVING with pests. I now realise that the garden needs a certain amout of pesticide or I get no fruit.

So, at first sight, SLAMMO!

EAT CHEMICAL MEGADEATH!

ME CAGO EN SUS MUERTOS!
Or words to that effect.

LOL you are funny!

[bil]

Originally Posted by hanzy08

LOL you are funny!

I wish it were a joke. We have cushion scale. I have to carefully dose the citrus trees that have finished fruiting while watching the pest multiply on the trees that are still in fruit.
When the fruit is over, I will have to treat those trees, then re treat every single tree all over again at the end in case it has got onto the others. Then I have to spray everything else that can harbour them, which includes houseplants, of which we have three terraces FULL, the geraniums, the roses, bourgainvilla, Dama de noche, succulents, elephant ears, etc etc etc. Then in a year or two it will be back.

That is just one of the four White Plagues that we have. I have to hit them so badly that tbh, I seldom notice aphids, because they are wiped out as colateral damage!