Mite ID?

[Hakumin]

So, I found a bunch of these on one of my potted orchids today when examining it. I noticed that there was the characteristic mite webs, but only between the roots and the sphagnum.

This one is about .3mm wide and .6mm long. They're white and somewhat shiny, and while I wouldn't call them fuzzy, they have visible hairs.

All of these were crawling around on the exposed portion of the roots and nowhere else on the plant, and the webs were also confined to the roots and sphagnum.

None of the other nearby plants have them as far as I can tell.

Curious thing is, before I photographed this little bugger, I dunked it into a droplet of 91% isopropyl, and to my surprise, after it dried up, it started crawling around again! So I guess isopropyl isn't going to help cure the problem...

What are they and how do I get rid of them?

[Bud]

try this:

10 drops dish soap(any kind)
1/2 teaspoon cinammon extract
2 cups tepid water(hotwater on the sink will do but make sure not to boil the plant)

put it on a spray bottle and spritz the plant and soak the pot for 5 min in the mix to get rid of the eggs

[Hakumin]

Originally Posted by Bud

try this:

10 drops dish soap(any kind)
1/2 teaspoon cinammon extract
2 cups tepid water(hotwater on the sink will do but make sure not to boil the plant)

put it on a spray bottle and spritz the plant and soak the pot for 5 min in the mix to get rid of the eggs

I'll try that---I guess I'll have to go find some cinnamon extract somewhere--I think i've seen it in the cake section at michaels before...

No idea on the type of mite though?

[Zoi2]

It looks like a spider mite.
Joann

[Judi]

Bud, I'm curious about the cinnamon extract. I keep reading to be careful with powdered cinnamon--to only use it on cut roots because it can desecrate live roots. How is the extract different? Obviously you used it without damaging the roots. Do you rinse the medium after you soaked it in the cinnamon extract solution?

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Judi

Bud, I'm curious about the cinnamon extract. I keep reading to be careful with powdered cinnamon--to only use it on cut roots because it can desecrate live roots. How is the extract different? Obviously you used it without damaging the roots. Do you rinse the medium after you soaked it in the cinnamon extract solution?

This concerns me as well. I know from experience that cinnamon is not good on the roots. I've not tried Bud's solution because while it sounds good and I feel confident to use it on the main part of the plant, I'm not yet convinced why it would be OK on roots when cinnamon isn't.

[Starla]

yeah thats a spider mite...

horrible little things!

[Merlyn]

I don't believe in home remedies. Insecicidal Soap works just fine, Safer Soap or Garden Safe brands. Been using it for years.

[Hakumin]

I was doing some research on the cinnamon extract and here's what I found on a quick wiki search.

Cinnamaldehyde is the organic compound that gives cinnamon its flavor and odor...The essential oil of cinnamon bark is about 90% cinnamaldehyde

Cinnamaldehyde is also used as a fungicide. Proven effective on over 40 different crops, cinnamaldehyde is typically applied to the root systems of plants. Its low toxicity and well-known properties make it ideal for agriculture. Cinnamaldehyde is an effective insecticide, and its scent is also known to repel animals like cats and dogs. Cinnamaldehyde has recently been recognized as a very effective insecticide for mosquito larvae. As little as 29 ppm (parts per million) of cinnamaldehyde kills half of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae in 24 hours.

So in light of that and other suggestions elsewhere that it is the powder itself, rather than the extract and chemicals that desiccates roots, I've decided to try Bud's remedy. We'll see what happens. The particular plant isn't expensive or rare, so I think I can take this chance.

Cinnamaldehyde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Hakumin]

Also I found this from a summary from a research paper:

The acaricidal activity of cinnamaldehyde and its 11 congeners against adults of Tyrophagus putrescentiae was examined using direct contact application and fumigation methods and compared with that of benzyl benzoate, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) and dibutyl phthalate. On the basis of 24 h LD50 values, the compound most toxic to T. putrescentiae was cinnamyl acetate (0.89 μg/cm2) followed by cinnamaldehyde (1.12 μg/cm2), benzaldehyde (1.93 μg/cm2), 3-phenylpropionaldehyde (2.08 μg/cm2), cinnamyl alcohol (2.12 μg/cm2), salicylaldehyde (2.75 μg/cm2), and (E)-2-hydroxycinnamic acid (4.32 μg/cm2). These compounds were more potent than benzyl benzoate (10.03 μg/cm2), DEET (13.39 μg/cm2) and dibutyl phthalate (12.87 μg/cm2).

ScienceDirect - Journal of Stored Products Research : Acaricidal activity of cinnamaldehyde and its congeners against Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae)