Spider Mites

[Darkhorse]

So I just comitted spider mite genocide on my little Black Dream plant.  I didn't want to use chemicals so I used the drowning in 110 degree water technique I learned from HVH.  Does this method work on any other hibiscus pests?

Also, a tip for capturing most of the soil in the tub so it doesn't clog your drain and you can put it back in the pot... if you have a fish tank, use your net to catch the soil chunks, sticks, etc.  This works particularly well on the "floaters" that are next to impossible to grab by hand.  This should get everything but the fine soil particles that shouldn't be a problem for your drain anyway.  A kitchen strainer should also work just as well.

[Charlie]

That's creative! Thanks for sharing the experience and the tips.

Charlie

[Cindy]

Hey, Dark Horse, I was committing spider-mite-ocide today too!  I gave one room full of house hibiscus their yearly spider mite bath today too. I think it does get aphids and whiteflies, thrip larvae, and possibly even other impending bugs too, because it sure does keep my plants clean for a long time. But the best thing is the tiny cyclamen mites and minute invisible mites that can trash all my houseplants - it gets every one of every kind of mites.

I like your fishnet idea! I think I'll try it! I use a kitchen strainer for my small plants that fit in the kitchen sink, but was thinking of buying some gauze or cheesecloth to wrap around the bigger pots before I dunk them. I'll let you know if I figure out a way to make that work.

One other thing - be sure to clean the area that you put the plant back into. You don't want spider mites to crawl right back onto the plant from the shelf, wall, or floor. I kind of do a spring cleaning in each room as I go - a pain in the neck but at least it lasts for a long time. I'm far from a virtuous housekeeper, so my house probably likes getting one thorough cleaning a year!

Cindy

[Darkhorse]

That's a good idea with the gause/cheese cloth.  Then you wouldn't even have to worry about cleaning the tub or sink.

*sigh*  Now my little plant is beginning to lose its leaves.  I don't think it enjoyed me holding it underwater for 10 min.  The water was exactly 110 and I waited exactly ten minutes.  I've never done this before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I've gotten it down to one of two possibilities...
1- They weren't spider mites in the first place, and whatever the prob is wasn't resolved by the treatment.
2-  This is a reaction to the treatment.

I'm hoping the plant is just unhappy and will recover... I'm pretty sure they were spider mites.  Although there were no webs on growth tips, there was webbing on the undersides of the leaves, and the webs had little white dots in them.  The leaves were a mottled yellow and "sticky," almost like aphids but I figure it's from the mites sucking the chlorophyl out of the plant.

What do you guys think?  Should it survive if I followed the directions exactly?  Oh forgot to mention, this is an outdoor plant.

 

[Cindy]

Hi DarkHorse,

Don't panic if some leaves fall off. I once cooked a whole bathtub of baby plants at 115 (so now I lower it to 110) degrees for over 30 minutes when I forgot about them (which is why I always use a timer now). Every plant lost every single leaf and I thought the plants were surely dead. But they came back stronger than ever and acted as if they had had a hard pruning, growing tons of new branches. But if you're sure your water was only 110 degrees and it was only 10 minutes, it should only lose a few leaves. You need to be sure to pull off any yellow or yellowing leaves anyway, and hopefully it won't lose very many green leaves.

If you're ever in doubt about spider mites, you can send us pictures. We can spot those little monsters anywhere!

Keep us posted! 

[Darkhorse]

So I just plucked all the new yellowing leaves off the plant.  It has two or three small, green leaves left.  I am hoping for the best.  So far the leaves that are green appear to be healthy.  Maybe I'll be lucky and get lots of new branches from this experience.

[Darkhorse]

I did have an idea, Cindy.  Pantyhose!  They should make run-proof pantyhose by now, right?  Anyway, what I was thinking depending on the size of your pot...

Get a larger pair of pantyhose and cut them into individual legs.  Pretend the bottom of the pot is the "foot" and slide it into the leg.  Tie the top portion of the hose tightly around the base of the plant.  In theory it sounds like this might work.  I don't own any pantyhose but next time I need to dunk a plant I think I might try this out.

Update on the little Black Dream...  Two more leaves fell off, leaving now five small leaves that were new growth before the treatment.  It seems like these leaves are healthy and won't drop off.  I'm crossing my fingers but it looks like it's going to be ok.

[Cindy]

Hi everyone,

I accidentally (and airheadedly!) stumbled upon a change to my spider mite treatment yesterday, and I think I like it better.

I have a new, young and tender Presidential Affair that is all budded up in a 4" pot, and I wanted to try growing it as a houseplant to see how it does. I never bring a new plant into the house without giving it a spider mite treatment first, but I didn't want to make it drop the buds! Then when I inspected it closely, I saw a couple of white specks on it. I couldn't tell if they were whitefly, baby aphids, snowscale, baby mealybugs, or just white marks, but I never want to take a chance in the house. So I decided I HAD to bite the bullet, give up the buds, and do the treatment.

So.... thinking it might save the buds if the water weren't quite so hot, instead of 110 degrees, I filled my sink with nice warm, bath-temp water, probably only 90-100 degrees. I didn't check with a thermometer. But it felt warm and nice on the inside of my wrist. Then I popped the plant in the water, weighted it down with a plate, looked at the time........ got distracted, forgot all about it, came back AN HOUR LATER! Yikes!!!!!!!! Remember how I always say to "set a timer so you don't forget?" I didn't!!!!!!!!! The poor plant was completely submerged in the water for an hour and 3 minutes!

I was sure the plant would be badly damaged, whipped it out and stood it up. It looked great! There were none of the signs of waterlogging in the leaves that I usually see with the hotter water. This morning it still looks good! The couple of white specks are gone, the plant looks pristine, and the buds are still there. I'll let you know how it does over the next couple of weeks - whether it loses any leaves and buds.

I got our original drowning spider mite treatment protocol from a university professor who is an expert in spider mites, so I thought I should follow it exactly. But for hibs, now I'm thinking the less-hot water for longer time might be better, with the added advantage of possibly killing any other pests that could be hanging onto the hib. I'll watch this plant and let you know how it does, then experiment some more, and keep you posted.

Cindy, THE EXTERMINATOR!

[Nievesgirl]

I will have to try that Cindy , I think I have spider mites my poor cinnamon girl is in bad shape its has thrips and mites I think. I see not webs but the leaves are turning Yellow !!!!

[Nievesgirl]

I found this interesting !

http://homeharvest.com/beneinsspidermites.htm

I also found this for Thrips
http://homeharvest.com/beneinsthrips.htm

[Charlie]

Beneficial or predatory insects are very tempting to use to control insect pests. I've tried them a few times with mixed results. I know of at least one big commercial nursery that uses them instead of chemical pesticides but because they must be successful the nursery releases literally millions of predator bugs throughout the year. It is wishful thinking to hope that one release of a few predators will be a permanent fix for pests. It takes a lot of releases but if it can be made to work it will avoid the use of chemicals. One problem is that the predators must have food to eat, so if there are not pest insects they will starve or leave. If there are pest insects it is easy to have their levels climb too high before the predators can do the job on them. At home it may not matter as much if there is some small insect damage to the plants as long as the predators keep them pests from going out of control.

Anyway, if anyone tried out the predator insects please relate your experiences to us!

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

I don't have any experience in the realm of predator insects (although I have heard of them being used on horse farms to control fly populations, apparently it helps), but I do have another question about the appearance of spider mites.  Do they normally cause the veins to yellow first, then the rest of the leaf?  I have several plants that are displaying these symptoms, and most of my others are showing classic spider mite symptoms despite my best efforts.  I'm just too low on space to quarantine, but I'm wondering if there may be something else going on with the yellow vein thing.  I did bring my Island Girl inside as a control and gave it Cindy's bath treatment, so that should have taken care of all pests.  I put it on top of my entertainment center where my cats can't eat it. 

[Charlie]

Hmm- yellow veins are a lot less common than green veins surrounded by yellow leaf tissue. The latter is usually solved by applications of iron and/or magnesium. If the veins themselves are yellowing that would imply low nitrogen but that would be unlikely if you are using fertilizer regularly. Heavy watering without fertilzer could cause it I suppose. Can you post a photo?

Spider mites do suck the green chlorophyll out of cells but usually it is all over the leaf and affects the area in between the veins mostly.

We will be interested to hear how long the washed and isolated Island Queen goes without getting new spider mites. The most likely way for it to get infested is for you to touch it with mites on your hands from dealing with other plants. They also are so tiny that they blow in the wind and drift onto plants, as well as come inside on pets. Makes it hard to keep them out forever!

Charlie

[Nievesgirl]

I am getting more concerned with my cinnamon girl , it's leaves keep turning yellow dispite how many times I am srapying it with neem oil.

the first week I used spinosad and then 5 days later neem oil , then neem oil again 5 days later. The thrips look like they are dying ( no more scratches on flowers) but cinnamon girl is the only one that has yellow leaves. I have sprayed everything to makes sure the other cv's do not get spider mites ( if that) I have them all close together so it makes me wonder how come my other plants are fine ?

[Charlie]

Hi Kerry,

This is where a magnifier comes in handy. The only way to really know if spider mites are present is to examine the undersides of yellowing leaves for the mites. Under sufficient magnification they look like little crabs running around. You could also try the "dunk the plant in the bathtub" routine described somewhere in the forum, or just lay the plant on its side and use a forceful spray of water from the hose on the undersides of all leaves. Might not be practical in your situation though. Remeber that mites have to travel between plants in order to infest them and if the plants are not touching it is much harder for non-flyers like mites to spread.

Yellow leaves can come from pesticide applications. Just something to keep in mind.

Charlie