Ready to wage war on spider mites - Orchid Board

jocierk · #1 09-09-2015, 02:14 PM

OK I need some opinions. I have a spider mite problem that is getting worse. It started out with a few (small but visible to the naked eye) mites and some webbing. I set up the humidifier, started misting every morning (they all get rinsed once a week when I water), and did two rounds of spraying neem/bayer. After the bayer they were gone. Then a few weeks later I noticed that some of the leaves on my phal hybrids were not looking good and I realized the accompanying "rusty powder" was more freakin mites. I have continued all of the above but its not getting rid of the new ones (which are MUCH smaller and red instead of grayish), and they are spreading. I have a jewelers loupe on order so I will know for sure but I think they have to be a different kind (or maybe life stage) of spider mite...which brings me to my question: What methods of mite control/products have worked best for you guys?

Some background info on my setup: All the orchids are located in sunroom addition on the back of my house. One whole wall is windows which is where they sit, the other three walls (and the window sills for that matter) are not water tight so I can't just go spraying a hose everywhere. That said all the orchid shelves sit on tile and I do mist them heavy every morning. I keep the humidity about 60-75 and the temp is around 80 with a 5-10 degree drop at night. On really hot days it is warmer. The room has one ceiling fan and a smallish window on the opposite wall from the orchids. They get natural light from the windows but they also get supplemental light from hanging T5s. There is also a door that leads out to my back porch. The whole setup is kind of somewhere in between having a greenhouse and keeping them indoors. I can't really get the humidity any higher than it is without worrying about rotting out my windows and I can't cool the room off any more than adding a box fan would do. However as the outside temps drop the room temp will also because three of its walls are exterior facing and one of them is all windows.

Like I said the bayer worked good on the small grey mites but doesn't seem to work on the tiny red ones. I have considered lots of different pesticides as well as introducing predator mites but I want to know what has worked well for you guys.

Sorry this post is so long...just wanted to give as much background info as I could. Thanks so much for any advice you have to offer!