Mother Freaking Spider Mites!! Argh!!

[katrina]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

The real pain is when I have this other mite, red and a bit slower moving than red spider mites, and much much smaller than red spider mites, say, 1/10 of it? It literally looks like a tiny little red brown dot.
Most people probably won't even realize that they are living things but dust particle.
That's exactly what I thought when I first saw them on my oncidiums and dendrobiums years ago, until...one day there were so many and they left some typical white/rusty marks on the underside of the leaves.
Now, I have a paph in bud and unfortunately I see a few of these little specks again. I can't spray on the bud as it will most likely blast it.
I've been just trying the get them off using a toothpick, but I'm aftraid doing this on a daily basis might upset the bud and cause it to drop off.
I don't see these bugs on the leaves or near plants or anywhere, but they are there every day right on the bud. How strange! I'm sure they walk not fly. lol
It is definitely not a running red mite, they do move but not at running speed.
Gosh! hate these super small pests. Such pain.

If they are damaging the leaves then, yes, yours are the harmful kind. If you don't want to spray chem controls then take the plant(s) to the sink/shower and hose them off every day. Honestly, hosing the plants down daily w/just a good, strong stream of water (making sure to get the undersides of the leaves really well) is as effective (if not more effective!) as some of the soapy/home remedies out there. The water knocks them off but it also increases humidity (which for reasons I don't understand) at the plant and that seems to slow spider mites down. High humidity and warmth seems to put them to sleep. ?? Anyway...a good blast of water daily will go a long way in helping to limit the damage and limit the population explosion.

I found some spider mites on 3 Ctsm recently and I washed the leaves w/dish soap to get the sticky sap off and now I'm showering them off every day. It happens every fall/winter w/the Ctsm - I spray w/a miticide before bringing them inside but w/the temps as they are this time of the year the windows are open and they always get inside.

As long as the problem doesn't affect more than a few plants, I will continue w/the water sprays. And, I check the others in the area daily for any signs - mag lens in hand. If I stay on top of it then it never gets bad...if I drop my guard then it explodes this time of the year and I'm forced to carry them all outside and hit them w/the miticide again.