Sevin is one of the most toxic home garden chemicals, BUT it is also actually draws spider mites, they love it.

Need a miteicide

Go to the nursery, get a couple bags of ladybugs, also praying mantis eggs. Unless your other plants are heavely infested, the predators should keep them from becoming so.

Rick

in general mites are usually not a problem outdoors. the natural enemies of mites keep them in check. but they are incredibly bad indoors or in greenhouses. but now that you are outdoors you might be fine after getting the major infestation under control. since the mites are in a pot. you should be able to shot them off the plant with a strong water spray. try using plain water in a hand sprayer. take the pot where you dont mind the mites landing like on a driveway. you might also take some off or kill them by rubbing your fingers over them. not sure on this one. You might rub them off onto your fingers but they might not be dead.

alcohol will kill them but it will also kill the plant. however, if you get them on your fingers a quick dip in alcohol will kill them and let your fingers dry before rubbing the plant some more.

dormant oil spray is a miticide. I think you can substitute any oil. since you only have the one plant.

take a very small amount of oil like cooking oil and put it into some water so it floats. dip the plant top down through the oil and back up through the oil. hopefully this will coat the plant and then let it sit and dry.

it would help to shake up the oil and water but it will separate quickly. you might shake and spray it on. might work.

neem oil is used for this. also a super fine emulsion of parafin wax or oil is used in this way. except they will mix with the water better.

you can also try spraying it onto the plant. the idea is to give the spider mite and its eggs a light coating of the oil. when the water dries off, the mite will have a coat of oil that will kill it. so spraying every hour is better then spraying it all at once. you want it to dry onto the mite.

you might also try spraying some ivory soap and allowing that to dry. then washing it off. of course you mix the soap down with water. if you use a strong dishwashing detergent you might want to wash it off the plant after allowing it to dry.

all the above methods are experimental. You might risk killing the plant. so go forward at your own risk. the commercially sold miticides are neem oil and super fine emulsion of parafin wax sold as a super fine oil. I am not sure how cooking oil, or dish soap might effect the plant. ivory liquid should be much gentler than a harsh detergent.

other miticides are extremely poisonous and dangerous to use.

Previous reply was correct, Sevin will make the problem worse. You need Kelthane or some organic solution.

Thanks for your replies. I will certainly discontinue Sevin. Just wondering though, can anyone tell me what it is about the Sevin that perpetuates the problem??

I'm using a strong stream of H20 right now. Will watch them closely. I had aphids last year on Lupine and used Dawn dish liquid w/ H20 on them and it worked well Never saw mites before. And on PEPPERS......well naturally that makes is so much worse!! Does anyone have any idea about the worms?

d

I dont think they actually enjoy the Sevin. I believe it is more of an issue of destroying thier predators. I am not an organic grower, but have developed a respect for the concepts based on my own experiences. Your garden is a ecosystem and very sensitive to upsets in balances of insects. Last yr I waged chemical war from the get go with preventative spraying sechedules for malathion, and sevin. My idea was that I would have perfect tomatoes/peppers abnd not have any insects. Then came the spider mites and I learned too late that they required Kelthane. This yr I am tolerating pests until they are a real detrimental problem. I am spraying less, infact just once. I do still spray regularly with copper and daconil. The results are that i dont have one massive infestation. At home I have netted plants and have to use control mesasures because no bugs can get into the nets except the aphids.

Sorry been too many years, I saw the infor in an early 80's USDA home garden booket and an early 80's issue of Ortho home gaden books. Both say that spider mites like Sevin. They have a different digestive system than most other insects, Slugs are in another class.

Last year I posted some questions about spider mites and seem to remember being told they were too small to see.I can't find that post, but here's on of four I posted last year.

Here is a link that might be useful:

this thread included a good link about spder mirs.

Here is a link that might be useful: not spider mites

one more; what looked like red spiders to me.....Here were a few posts I got in response

Hi Nanelle,
I am not sure but I don't believe spider mites would be on metal like that--the ones we are concerned with feed on plants. Take a look at brochures of mites--they have a picture of mites under their webbing--they are very very tiny. They also have a picture of reddish-colored beneficial mites--you would need a microscope or hand lens to see them clearly. Finally they have a picture of the damage they cause.
I would guess that your picture may be of some sort of spider but it is a good idea to post where they know insects. There are other insects that are found under webbing but they would be found on plants not metal--spiders are the only thing I can think of that build everywhere to "catch" prey. Hope you ID your insect. Farkee

Here is a link that might be useful: Spider Mites
(you can search for my thread entitled "final bug photo; red mites?"if you want that link)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RE: final bug photo; red mites?== clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

Posted by farkee 10 B South Fl. (My Page) on Fri, Jul 8, 05 at 22:29

Here is a clearer picture of beneficial mites.
What do your insects look like--can you see eight legs, what is their shape, etc. you just can't tell from the photo--only that they look very red. They also look big (compared to spider mites)--what size are they?.

'bad' mites can also have a reddish coloration at times--but I don't remember if it is the females and during which part of her life cycle.

Here is a link that might be useful: