Controlling Mites in the Home & Garden

 

 

Microscopic view of Dust Mites

Effective Controls For Mites are:

  1. SaferGro Pest Out Miticide An easy-to-use, concentrated miticidal and insecticidal spray that kills eggs, nymphs and adults of aphids, spider mites and whitefly on contact. Useful on flowering plants, woody ornamentals, fruit trees, houseplants and vegetables.

  2. Lady Bugs:The appetite of lady bugs is quite remarkable. An adult female may consume up to 60 aphids a day while the smaller male may consume up to 40. One larva can eat up to 350 aphids during its development.

  3. Horticultural Spray Oil

    Advantages of Horticultural oil includes safety, effectiveness and limited effects on beneficial insects.  Kills overwintering insects and mites

  4. Malathion Kills aphids, bag worms, mites, mealy bugs, whitefly and other leaf-eating insects. Highly toxic/ non organic , see all applicable restrictions, read label carefully

  5. Cedarcide Non toxic , enhances microbial activity in soils, establishing healthy plant life. Repelling the egg laying insect and its offspring , future generations of insects. useful against mites

 

 
Mites : Common name for over 20,000 species of minute, oval-bodied arachnids (Little critters).


There are several species that attack plants. Often known as spider mites, red spiders, red mites, or spinning mites. Mites are barely visible to the naked eye .

No matter what types of plants you grow – it's likely something spider mites will eventually attack In heavy infestations, they may spin a protective web over the surface of the foliage where they are feeding.
Infestation should be controlled immediately, If house or green house or greenhouse plants are involved the plant and nearby plants should be isolated / quarantined. If garden plants are involved the infested plant should be destroyed and neighboring plants treated.
 They attack a wide variety of garden and house plants, damaging plants by sucking sap from the foliage.

Light infestations will usually go unnoticed. Heavily infested plants take on a spotted appearance, and the plant gradually yellows.   In many cases, the leaves will drop off after the characteristic fading or yellowing. Badly infected plants will usually have a fine cobwebby appearance on the leaves or needles.
 
Checking for Mites

If you believe you have mites , ...plant foliage begins to take on an off-green ..yellow color and mites are suspected. You can do a simple foliage examination in several ways
As mites are barely visible to the naked eye but under a magnifying glass they are easily visible . They look like small red spiders. If you look carefully you will also be able to see eggs that look like microscopic pearls.
In addition they make a visible webbing that looks like a dusty debris on the underside of the leaf.
If they are translucent, and have two dark spots on their backs, you probably have two spotted mites, or a close relative.

Always check on the underside of the leaf, that is usually where you will find them.
Place a white piece of paper or cloth under a branch suspected of having mites, shake the branch hard several time. This should dislodge the mites and , you should be able to see the oval mites against the white background.  Your first step should a treatment with Horticultural Spray Oil

 

 

Spider Mites    <Back


These pests are a close relatives of spiders and ticks. Several species are plant pests. They are also commonly known as red spiders
Most are about the size of the period following this sentence . Adult mites have four pairs of legs and no antennae. They use a pair of needle-like stylets to rupture leaf cells when they feed .  Because they are nearly microscopic and difficult to see, spider mite problems are often misdiagnosed .

 

Twospotted Spider Mite   <Back

 

The twospotted spider mite is an example of a 'warm season' mite. This pest has been reported from over 180 host plants including field crops, ornamental plants, house plants and weeds.

 

Spruce Spider Mite   <Back


The spruce spider mite is a common 'cool season' mite. This pest can be found on all types of conifers from spruces and pines to junipers and arborvitae.
 

 

Tomato Russet Mite     <Back

These critters are microscopic, not quite as small as an amoeba... you can see them under a magnifying glass.
They have cigar shaped bodies and two pairs of legs.

In addition to tomatoes, the tomato russet mite also infests eggplant, pepper, potato, and petunia.

Damage stems, leaves and fruit of tomatoes and related plants, by insert their mouthparts into plants and sucking out the plant juices. The most obvious symptom a cinnamon colored "dust" on the leaf margins the cinnamon dust is actually masses of mites on the plant surface.
Plant injury starts at the base of the plant and spreads from the stems to the leaves and fruit. On tomatoes, injured leaves turn brown and paper-like and may fall off infested plants. Injured fruit turns bronze and can crack longitudinally.

They also produce an iridescent sheen on the leaves. They do not produce a web and seem to appear more on the upper side of the leaves then on the bottom