Spider mites...again

[BrassavolaStars]

I had thought that I had gotten rid of them last fall but I was wrong. Awful, web-spinning spider mites have once again attacked my plants.

Strangely, they completely ignore most of my plants but grievously attacked a few. In this case it was my favorite non-orchid, a 5 foot tall sambac jasmine that I’ve had for many years and a Dendrobium golden blossom marginata.

The Dendrobium is variegated but you wouldn’t know it anymore as all the leaves look completely silver. Thankfully it has the start of two new, untouched, canes or I would probably have to replace it. I have broken out the Bayer 3-1 and the Azamax.

I would post pictures, but the damage is so severe it might give someone nightmares. Oddly, the spider mites seem to have a distaste for cattleyas and vandas (good because that’s 70% of my collection). They don’t even bother my Phals, Paphs, or Catasetums. So far, they’ve only shown interest in the Den. nobiles, the citruses, and the jasmine.

I guess the bright side is that damage to Dendrobium nobiles isn’t permanent because they lose their leaves anyway. The jasmine is another story.

Thankfully I’ll be able to bring it outside this week and that should be the end of mites.

Sorry to the admins. This double posted for some reason. I erased the posting in the other accidental thread so it can just be deleted without merging. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful in rectifying my mistake.

[SundayGardener]

I'm not sure that Bayer or AzaMax are effective on mites. These products did not work for me on mites. I did the 3 rounds of Bayer and a round of Azamax without any success. I know their labels state that they work, but my experience and what I later read about mites says otherwise. Insecticidal soap seems to be more effective.

I'm currently using a mix of water, rubbing alcohol (not easy to come by nowadays!) and dish detergent to knock them down and manage the population. They're awful. I don't think I have spider mites, but something mite-ish that looks like a small fruit fly at maturity.

The soap mix is more effective, costs less than Bayer/AzaMax and is less toxic. I do use Bayer/AzaMax for other insects (indoors, not outside because I like bees).

[thefish1337]

if you have a known mite issue you might want to consider a prophylactic approach once you beat them back. spraying azamax biweekly or monthly will keep the populations low. some plants are mite magnets as well and in some cases plants that are nutrient deficient or stressed in a particular way may become susceptible as well.

[Clawhammer]

Bayer and Azamax work for me.

Keep those catatsetum at a distance. Mites take one hit of that stuff and they become catasetum fiends.

[ghuylar]

Hydrogen peroxide has been a life saver for me! Pour a little in a spray bottle and cover the affected surfaces, repeat every couple days and you should see results very quickly! I was even able to rid one of my calatheas in a week using this method! Kills spider mites, mealie bugs, snails, etc

[hypostatic]

Fight fire with fire! Kill the mites with MORE MITES MWAHAHAHAHA

Organic. Free-range. Natural. Gluten-free. Non-GMO. Nut-free!

Feltiella acarisuga | Spidermite Destroyer
More biological pest control

I've seen people use mites in other hobbies to control/eliminate other mites in insect cultures. The only real drawbacks to this would be if you're allergic to mites (eg dust mites), you would want to be wearing some PPE when you release them; and unless you have a huge greenhouse, you're probably gonna get wayyyyyyy more than you need. In the latter's case, this can be resolved by giving/splitting some with local fellow gardeners and hobbyists.

[SouthPark]

Recently, one of my juvenile paphs got attacked by spidermites. The small leaves started getting brown patches. Noticed the spidermites and their webs.

A spray of my 'Yates Mancozeb Plus Garden Fungicide and Miticide' (that's what the label is called) ----- sorted it out very nicely. I bought azamax quite a while ago, but haven't used it yet. It's waiting in the wings. I might try it out on catasetums for the upcoming growing season - as a spidermite deterrant.