Spider Mites
Spider mites are extremely small sap sucking creatures (spider family) that can and do an extremely amount of damage to infested plants. There are over 1000 species of spider mites and do damage to hundreds of species of plants. On deciduous and broadleaf plants, you will often find them on the undersides of leaves and on many conifers they will form in masses on the needles. A female spider mite can lay about 20 or so eggs/day and will live for approximately one-month. Spider mites can hatch in as little as three days. Although they will form silk webs, they are so small that the web is often overlooked unless you are specifically looking for them. The web is easiest to see when the light is just right. The opportune time for finding them is when the weather is quite warm, typically above 85degrees or warmer. When left unchecked, they will kill a plant and do so in a relative short period of time.
Common here in the Treasure Valley is the red spider mite and the two-spotted spider mite. Most spider mites are approximately 1/50 of an inch in size and as you can see, they are quite hard to see. They seem to prefer plants such as dwarf Alberta spruce among other conifers, and you can find them on many woody-stemmed plants including house plants. When plants are receiving adequate water and fertilizer, it’s wise to check for mite damage. Leaves that have yellow to brown spots may be an indicator of mite damage. Because of their extremely small size and difficultly in seeing them, we take a white sheet of paper and hold it beneath the damaged area on a plant and then shake the branch vigorously. This tends to dislodge a few of them. What you’re then looking for is specks of dust with legs! Hold the paper still for a short time as I have seen them sit still hoping you will discard the paper without seeing them.
We were recently asked if water would kill them. The answer is no, however since they like dry, dusty conditions, you will certainly disrupt their habitat and perhaps if done often enough, it may encourage them to move to another favorite plant in your garden.
So there are many products that claim to have some type of control on spider mites, we have found only one product that truly works. We use Bonide ‘Systemic Insect Control’. The availability of this product may go away soon, so if you’re in favor of using this product, you might consider buying an extra bottle just in case the reports we are hearing are correct.
Spider mites are extremely small sap sucking creatures (spider family) that can and do an extremely amount of damage to infested plants. There are over 1000 species of spider mites and do damage to hundreds of species of plants. On deciduous and broadleaf plants, you will often find them on the undersides of leaves and on many conifers they will form in masses on the needles. A female spider mite can lay about 20 or so eggs/day and will live for approximately one-month. Spider mites can hatch in as little as three days. Although they will form silk webs, they are so small that the web is often overlooked unless you are specifically looking for them. The web is easiest to see when the light is just right. The opportune time for finding them is when the weather is quite warm, typically above 85degrees or warmer. When left unchecked, they will kill a plant and do so in a relative short period of time.
Common here in the Treasure Valley is the red spider mite and the two-spotted spider mite. Most spider mites are approximately 1/50 of an inch in size and as you can see, they are quite hard to see. They seem to prefer plants such as dwarf Alberta spruce among other conifers, and you can find them on many woody-stemmed plants including house plants. When plants are receiving adequate water and fertilizer, it’s wise to check for mite damage. Leaves that have yellow to brown spots may be an indicator of mite damage. Because of their extremely small size and difficultly in seeing them, we take a white sheet of paper and hold it beneath the damaged area on a plant and then shake the branch vigorously. This tends to dislodge a few of them. What you’re then looking for is specks of dust with legs! Hold the paper still for a short time as I have seen them sit still hoping you will discard the paper without seeing them.
We were recently asked if water would kill them. The answer is no, however since they like dry, dusty conditions, you will certainly disrupt their habitat and perhaps if done often enough, it may encourage them to move to another favorite plant in your garden.
So there are many products that claim to have some type of control on spider mites, we have found only one product that truly works. We use Bonide ‘Systemic Insect Control’. The availability of this product may go away soon, so if you’re in favor of using this product, you might consider buying an extra bottle just in case the reports we are hearing are correct.
