A Spider Mite Story (Pix Heavy)

18 years ago

Don't wait on this one to get the spraying started. I lost a large amount of the foliage. Anyhow, here's some signs to look for.

It starts like this - the mites plunge their probiscus into the leaf and drains the moisture from the individual cells.

This causes the first symptom which is the little light colored areas.

When it gets worse, and there are thousands of the little critters, you start to get more light spots and some debris

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When the thousands become millions, you'll see signs of debris everywhere on the fruit and the leaves.

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I also found these little guys (next two pixs). I haven't taken the time to identify them. Maybe someone here knows.

They're quite tiny. That's my finger they're setting on.

And, yes, that's the ribbing of my fingerprint you see.

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The solution for me was Spectracide. I'm sure that other folks will chime in with solutions that are more organic.

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Comments (6)

jean001
18 years ago
The critters are aphids.
jean001
18 years ago
Sorry, but I'm not convinced the original problem was mites. The carcasses are too large.

Instead, may have been aphids -- not mites -- from the beginning. If you have high humidity, the debris is likely dead aphids -- a fungus took care of many of them.
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containerted
Original Author
18 years ago
Jean001 - After I got the report from the Extension Service, I did what I should have done in the first place. I took a microscope that I have left over from my electronics repair days and took a look for myself.

At about 30X, I could see the spider mite infestation with the little critters at all stages from egg to larvae to adult, and very much alive. I had never seen them for real before - only drawings. I even got to watch one "drill" down. The microscope will be a key tool in my future gardens. LOL :>)
jean001
18 years ago
I'm pleased to hear that you took the time to verify what you were told.

But my suspicious mind is still questioning. For instance, if you had that many mites, where's the webbing? Your plants should have entirely wrapped in the stuff.
containerted
Original Author
18 years ago
Jean001 - Nearly so for two plants. The tops were bad enough that I thought at first it was regular spiders. (I've got a resident population that helps me with the mosquitoes.) :>)

Anyhow, when I looked thru the microscope, in an area that was less than 3/8" square, there were 6 six legged, 5 eight legged, 2 adults, 6 dead, and about 15 little white eggs. I actually only had the aphids (in any numbers) on 3 plants. The siberian plant in the picture was the worse case. I am still fascinated with the tiny size of all of these critters that can do so much harm in so little time.

Anyhow, I will be spraying again this evening because of the rains we've had for the last two days. I was outside just a moment ago and saw an aphid on the plant in the pictures. I intend to do what I can to save it. I'm angry about this whole thing - mostly at myself.
jean001
18 years ago
Well, gardening is a series of live-and-learn lessons.

So now that you've learned how rapidly some of the critters can develop, I'll bet that your eagle-eye will be on the lookout more frequently than previously.

Enjoy your garden.