really bad case of spider mites

[camille1585]

I'm so glad I went home to France for Easter weekend, because my cymbidium is on the brink of death. My mom did a good job with water/fert, but it has the worst case of spider mites I've ever seen. Nearly every single leaf is totally silvered underneath and full of webs and little yellow mites. The new growths barely grew since I was home for x-mas. I just gave it a good spray down to kill the nasties. In a bad case like this, how many times should I treat the plant? What else can I do?

[Ross]

Spider mites are pretty difficult to eradicate in these days of lack of proper chemicals. I'd plan on respray every third day or so till the webs quit appearing.

[Tindomul]

I agree on the regimen, but In my limited experience spider mites are the easiest of pests to kill. I also rely on manual killing of the pests. i go in there with a paper towel and alcohol and clean every last leaf, then I spray with a mix of neem oil and soap water. I keep doing it till I haven't seen them in a few weeks.

[Ross]

Kelthane used to be the accepted way to eradicate spider mites (in fact the only chemical specifically registered as a miteicide.) But hard to find nowadays.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ross

Kelthane used to be the accepted way to eradicate spider mites (in fact the only chemical specifically registered as a miteicide.) But hard to find nowadays.

I've never heard of that one. I have two products that can do the job. One contains bifenthrine, a general insecticide/miticide, and the other contains difocol. I'm using the difocol, since it's specifically targeted at mites and supposedly really effective. It's registered as a miticide in the EU I think. Normally it's intended for roses, shrubs, and trees, but I took the risk of using it on my cym. I treated outside since this stuff is pretty toxic!

[gmdiaz]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I've never heard of that one. I have two products that can do the job. One contains bifenthrine, a general insecticide/miticide, and the other contains difocol. I'm using the difocol, since it's specifically targeted at mites and supposedly really effective. It's registered as a miticide in the EU I think. Normally it's intended for roses, shrubs, and trees, but I took the risk of using it on my cym. I treated outside since this stuff is pretty toxic!

Lady bugs LOVE spider mites. . .maybe put it in a screened container and let loose a bag of lady bugs to have em for lunch.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Normally it's intended for roses, shrubs, and trees, but I took the risk of using it on my cym. I treated outside since this stuff is pretty toxic!

Any registered miticide is pretty toxic and should be used outdoors.

[Pippin]

Avid and Floramite are doing a pretty good job.

[Ironwood]

I have found Neem Oil to be very effective on spider mites. This also makes the leaves look good.

[Pippin]

I killed an "Angraecum sesquipedale" with neem oil. Since that happened I stopped using oils and soaps.