Hi Gill

Nice plant you have there. I don't think that red spider are that bothered about which plants they attack, they seem to have a go at just about anything. A good spraying regime usually puts paid to the *5#@dy things, I spray with Provado Ultimate Bug Killer at least weekly with an occassional spray every 4 or 5 days to catch anything that may have hatched between the weekly sprays.

Before taking the drastic action of removing all the flowers and leaves, try 'dunking' the plant, flowers first in a bucket or other large container of warm water (the water needs to be just hot enough to dip your hand in and no hotter if in doubt wear a pair of rubber gloves). Make sure all the foliage is under the water and count to ten, I am not sure why ten but this works (I think spider mite cannot hold their breath for longer than that). It will not affect the plant and after carrying this out you can spray the plant with water to cool it down again.

Hope this helps

Tight....

I find if I leave my Fuchsias in the greenhouse this time of year quite a few would would end up with spider mite. I don't have a automatic misting system to keep the humidity up, just a mister on the end of a hose, so, this time of year my Fuchsias for the most part are moved to a shade house. Also most of the pesticides that would put paid to the little b%##ers have been taken off the market here.
The hot water treatment Tight described is something I have not heard of before. Tight, just to be on the safe side, the warm water, is it luke warm, like if you dropped some on your arm and didn't feel it or is it hot enough that when you put your bare hand in, you are just able to keep it there while you count to ten? Knowing me I'd cook my plants. If you could give us a thermometer reading in either celsius or fahrenheit it would be very helpful. I know I'm not the only one who would like to try this when faced with the problem of spider mites.

A......

Hi A

Sorry but I don't have a temperature reading that I can give you. What I believe really happens is that the water temperature is just hot (warm) enough to cook the mites without damaging either the foliage or flowers. I have always described this method as using water that is 'hand hot', and I suppose everyones 'hand hot' is different?

I don't think luke warm water would have any effect on the mites and water that was very hot would clear the mites and probably the foliage and flowers too.

I know that 41 degree Celsius is recommended for safe bathing so maybe that could be a starting point. It may be worth trying it on a spare plant?

Sorry but all I can say is 'hand hot' and count to ten.

Tight ....

I don't have any spider mite (touch wood) but I do have a few plants that I'm going to toss at the end of the season, that is after I take cuttings. Maybe I'll do some experimentation using a thermometer, just to see how hot they can stand it before they croak. This way I'll know for certain. Thanks for the tip, it sounds like a good one.

A......

Hi A

I hope it helps.

I have found it particularly good to do this before putting plants away for the winter, say in late Autumn when a dose of insecticide can also be incorporated into the water.

Tight...

....mmmmmh, after reading my post it sounds a really dumb question doesn't it? Oh well, never mind! I should have given it a bit more thought and realised plants are usually bred with disease resistance not pest resistance, perhaps someone somewhere may well come up with a plant that is loaded with 'spidermite antibodies' sooner than I think! haha!
Anyway thanks for the tips, I'm off to get some of that Provado stuff after giving the plant a nice warm bath as suggested....anyone know what flavour of bubble bath s/mites prefer?
Gill.