Spider Mite Question

15 years ago

I bought a 15x magnifier and I am trying to figure out if that is enough to spot mites on my plants. I have searched ad nausem all the images of mites I could find but none of them would either tell me the magnification, or I knew it had to be substantially higher than 15x. If the female is .4mm, 15x would make it about 6mm, so I would be able to see that, surely, no? I treated all of my brugmansia and hibiscus with Forbid 4F, followed up a week later, and then used Safer's insecticidal soap and sprayed everything, making sure to get the bottoms of the leaves, and I soaked down the stems, all the way to the soil, which also got a good soaking from the run-off. I don't want to haul them inside until I am sure I am mite-free. Once inside, it will be almost impossible to control the things, since the plants are fairly large and spraying will be an issue, plus the humidity is VERY low, so predatory mites probably wouldn't work, either.

I have never had success checking for mites with the sheet of paper test, and I think the things I AM seeing could be the carcasses of DEAD MITES(what a wonderful sight, if so!).

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Comments (6)

taz6122
15 years ago
I can see adult females without magnification. Finely ground pepper or the size of this period "." on a 15" screen after submitting.
I recently brought in several Alocasia's with spidermites and after rotating neem with Joy and water can see no sign of them. I bring spidermites in every year and have no problem controlling them inside. No reason to use toxic substances.
A 10x magnification is enough to see their eggs.
This was a hot dry year for us and they got a chance to multiply big time on some volunteer tomatoes in one corner of my yard. Next spring I'm going to order some green lacewings to see if I can get rid of the spidermites in that part of the yard. They never really get out of control except for that hot, dry SW corner of the house. I'm surprised that they overwinter outside here.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years ago
Spider mites can readily be seen with a 15x magnifier or considerably less powerful. Truthfully, they can be spotted with the naked eye, so even a little bit of help will bring these little pests into focus. The trick in finding them on your plants is to look for any little 'dust' particles that move!

I keep a 10x jeweler's loupe handy and it's plenty strong enough to identify spider mites.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years ago
By the way, I thought that Forbid was for professional use only.
SirMatthew
Original Author
15 years ago
rhizo - I ordered it from someone on ebay. I got a tiny tiny tiny amount - because it sells for some outrageous price - $250+ a gallon or something. I have tried EVERYTHING - the rubbing alcohol method, the dishsoap method - Joy - neem oil, some kind of clove oil spray I got from Planet Natural, even. I have more plants than furniture in my house, which is part of the problem, and it seems like the mites LOVE them all. That is why I got desperate and used Forbid - I just know you can't use it in the house.

I would MUCH prefer to use beneficials. I've been BEGGING the lady bugs to come inside. The little witches won't do it.

Thanks for the info, rhizo and taz! I can rest easy now that I know it is CARNAGE of mites. But I will still check for them every other day.
Daniel gamble
9 years ago
I have had a very bad spider mite infestation on some indoor plants that I had and it took forever to get rid of them. I even tried making a habanero spray that they came back stronger from. They were killing my plants so I ended up releasing 300 ladybugs on it. Once they eat the mites, they leave so don't get too attached. They were literally the only thing that saved my plants. Amazon is where I have bought them twice so far and haven't had any problems with dead bugs when they arrived.
kimmq
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Problems with Spider Mites, and other insect pests and plant diseases, can often be traced to the plants growing conditions. Very often spraying some insecticide to control the pest is counterproductive because that spray will also often kill off any predators of the pests. Perhaps this article may be of some help.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html

Buying insects on line is not a real good thing to do since the sellers do not tell you if the insects are gathered in the wild or raised in an insectary. Far better is to create a habitat that will attract the insect predators.