Spider mites? CO2 bag! Let's see if this works.

[rosemadder]

I have some spider mites on a couple of my plants. I've been spraying them with various things for a while (insecticidal soap/neem, water, pyrethrin) and it's knocked them back but I keep finding them again.

Now I'm seeing them on my Fdk After Dark. I'm starting to wonder if they have anything to do with the fact it didn't bloom this year.

Problem: the After Dark is dormant right now. Dunking it frequently in water is not an option for at least another month or two, not until it's actively growing.

I was racking my brain and then it hit me:

I have a planted aquarium, into which I inject C02.

So, all I need to do is grab a bag, stuff the orchid in there pot and all, and then take my C02 hose and fill up the bag real good and tie it off for a while (minutes? hours? the plant won't care!). I will need to be careful about the temperature I suppose-- canned C02 is not exactly a block of dry ice, but it still comes out quite cold.


I FEEL SO SMART RIGHT NOW.

Only trouble is, right now my C02 canister is empty. Time for a refill! Will post updates.


THE FUMIGATION!! IT SHALL BE RIGHTEOUS!! ...And remarkably non-toxic.

[lepetitmartien]

Catasetum and the like are spidermites magnets, so you'd better find a workable strategy to fight them each time if needed.

IMHO you can try, it won't harm the plant if it's not too long (more than some hours) but you'll have to reiterate, spidermites have a cycle to break, and it may not kill the eggs so new emerging SM will have to be killed.

[rosemadder]

Yeah, all those convenient layers of dry leaf stuff on the pods must make for great hiding spaces.

If this works it will probably be effective for all sorts of pests, and cheap and pretty easy. You're quite right about the eggs though, I'll check the incubation time and probably hit it with 3 treatments or so, and watch for more in case it gets re-infested from adults wandering the house.

Headed home now with my refilled canisters! Hoping a kitchen garbage bag will be airtight enough to hold for a while.

[rosemadder]

Around 70 degrees, the spider mite eggs hatch in 3 to 7 days. So, I'll re-treat in a week.

Also, turns out the two-spotted mite (the most common one) turns orange when it is dormant, in winter. Mine are orange right now, so either they're not two-spots, or they're dormant, so they might not even be laying eggs or feeding right now! That would make this a great time to hit them.

[rosemadder]

Doom!

[rosemadder]

After the first treatment, I did see a few live ones on the little palm that shares the After Dark's shelf. I've hit them with the second treatment. It's only been a few days since, but so far so good. Will probably hit them again next week.