Mother Freaking Spider Mites!! Argh!!

[RandomGemini]

So... I have been busy. I got a puppy. I forgot to water my orchids for like a month. I've forgotten before, but they usually survive this all right and I almost always end up with a couple of spikes when this happens.

Today, I decided it was time to assess the damage and I went up to my office and found three plants infested with spider mites. My lower shelf seems unharmed and undamaged, but the upper shelf, I am sure is fully infested.

I found a video on youtube from a gal with birds in her home also (my daughter has parakeets, so no pesticides here) and I am going to try Hairspray and manual removal of the pests to see if I can at least take the population down a peg. I started this thread so that I can share the process I'm going through with everyone and so that I can have a record of what I have done and not done.

Sadly, I believe that my Phal Lioulin Orange and my Phal Violacea are both goners. I'm going to attempt to save them both along with a NOID Mini Phal that has very light damage to one leaf. I did lose Dendrobium Pretty Doll to this infestation.

My first step, is going to be increasing humidity in the room. I'll start by cleaning and refilling the humidifier in there with distilled water, so I don't have to clean it as often. I'm considering getting a shower curtain to hang around my orchid shelf, which should, in theory, increase humidity around the plants. It will limit space somewhat, but at this stage, I'm all right with that.

Step 2 will be to water the plants throughly, which I am doing right now and to get back on a regular watering schedule. Puppy is now at an age where she won't destroy everything if I leave her alone for 15 minute intervals, so I can make time to water the orchids.

Step 3 is cleaning. The shelving and equipment will be sprayed with a mixture of Dawn, rubbing alcohol and water. I'll try to remove as many as I can from the trays and shelves this way, if there's anything there, I should know it in short order. I will also thoroughly vacuum and dust the room, just to add to whatever removal of stray bugs I can find. I'm treating it kind of like a flea infestation in that regard.

If anyone has any suggestions, or advice to offer, I'd love to hear it! I'll let you know how the hair spray works. I am going to isolate the plants that I know are infected in another room, just to add another layer of security.

[judith_arquette]

Ugh, sorry to hear
Good luck!

[jason45244]

It can be a full fledged war. Sometimes they always come back! Lol. But seriously the eggs they lay always seem to get people. Remember to reapply treatment after about a week to get the eggs.

[estación seca]

I don't think you should freak out. The're not as hard to eliminate as a nest of zombies or relatives staying with you who lost their job. It takes a little diligence. The puppy can sit in a box in the room and watch you kill mites.

Submerge for 3-4 hours the affected phals and any other plants you can in 1 Tablspoon / 15ml dishwashing detergent (sink detergent, not dishwasher) per gallon / 3.78 liters of water. This will kill all the mites and their eggs.

Spray the remainder of the all the plants in the room every 3-4 days with rubbing alcohol. Cover the entire plant, including the undersurfaces of the leaves. Do this for 2 weeks.

The mites don't live long off the plants. The eggs hatch in less than a week. You don't have to sterilize the inanimate objects.

I once had a wonderful dog who killed the tomato hornworms in my garden. So dogs can be gardeners, too.

[RandomGemini]

I'm not freaking out so much as I am annoyed. The Phal Lioulin Orange is in a bad way. Is it safe to completely submerge the phals? Isn't that inviting rot? I suppose it's better than losing the plant to the mites, but if the goal is to save them, I'd like to avoid inviting rot if I can. We're about to go into a cool period here and I don't know if it will be warm enough for them to dry out completely.

My puppy's version of gardening right now, is chewing on the leaves of my Oncidiums. LOL! My other two dogs seem to love my plants and will sit in the room and watch them.

[estación seca]

It's only for a few hours. In habitat, when it's raining or there is a lot of dew, the entire plant is encased in a thin layer of water for many more hours.

Do the submersion during a warm part of the day, and make sure they dry fast and completely afterwards. Maybe put a fan on them to dry faster. If you're using indoor heat your air will be quite dry. If they're too far gone, they're too far gone. This is the quickest way to get all the spider mites off a plant.

[NYCorchidman]

Underwatering always bring in spider mites.
One month!!!!

Anyways, spider mites are relatively easy to eliminate without using harsh chemicals if you are willing to do some tedious work. Do you have time now? lol

I don't know how many plants you have affected, but the most effective way I find without using chemical sprays, is to wash down with soapy water manually.
You will dislodge the mites as much as possible this way. Not all will come off.
Basically you wear those thin clear plastic gloves for kitchen use, then apply soapy water on the leaves paying attention to the underside.
Gently rinse them off.

The cycle can repeat in just a few days when the conditions are favorable to them, warm and dry, so you want to repeat this every four days, and after about three washing, you are done!

The thing is the plants with sever damage, it can be hard to tell whether or not there are mites present because of the color of the damaged area.

I hope you have good eyes otherwise it is hard to fight against these pests.

Good luck!

[camille1585]

I've had mites a few times, and rubbing down each plant leaf by leaf with rubbing alcohol has always worked for me. 2 or 3 applications a week apart does the trick.

Me too I'm guilty of neglecting my orchids for weeks at a time, in some periods when I was super busy they were also getting watered once a month (and still doing ok!) I'm glad that orchids are such resilient plants!

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Underwatering always bring in spider mites.
One month!!!!

Anyways, spider mites are relatively easy to eliminate without using harsh chemicals if you are willing to do some tedious work. Do you have time now? lol

I don't know how many plants you have affected, but the most effective way I find without using chemical sprays, is to wash down with soapy water manually.
You will dislodge the mites as much as possible this way. Not all will come off.
Basically you wear those thin clear plastic gloves for kitchen use, then apply soapy water on the leaves paying attention to the underside.
Gently rinse them off.

The cycle can repeat in just a few days when the conditions are favorable to them, warm and dry, so you want to repeat this every four days, and after about three washing, you are done!

The thing is the plants with sever damage, it can be hard to tell whether or not there are mites present because of the color of the damaged area.

I hope you have good eyes otherwise it is hard to fight against these pests.

Good luck!

You have no idea what it's like with a Labrador puppy in the house. OMG... Every time I open my office door to go check on the plants, she's in there trying to eat them. I love her, she's actually a really great puppy, but she really doesn't stop. Now that she's learning some manners, I have a bit of time again. Thank God. My poor orchids!

[Leafmite]

I remember the puppy days with the American Eskimo. She was worse than all three of my kids put together. At eleven months, though, she figured it out and she has been a perfect angel since. Loving, patient (but firm) training really pays off.

Sorry about the spidermites. I found an infestation on my indoor mini garden and used a spray bottle with soapy water to put an end to it. The soapy water did take out the 'Pot Marigold' seedlings (but I had plenty more). Thankfully, I found it before I started to bring in the plants.
Good luck!

---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 PM ----------

PS. I hope you can save those Phals.