I lost some plants to spider mites also. They are tough to beat.

socal,

The best 2 products I've found to use on spider mites are pictured below:

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Azatrol modifies their digestive system over time to kill them. Take Down seems to work more quickly. The fact that Azatrol costs about 4 time more than the Take Down ($16.00) is also another factor to consider.

Raybo

Or, if you don't want to kill all the good insects along with the bad, you could send out your own little soldiers by buying beneficial spider mite predators next spring. You can google it for prices, but here is one place in Orgeon which ships them:

Carla in Sac

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.marchbiological.com/beneficial-insects/spider-mite-predators.html

Neem and a soap & water mix will take care of spidermites. Make sure to get the Neem oil for insect control and Joy or Dawn (non-antibacterial) dish soap.

Here is a link that might be useful: does this sound like spider mites?

Green Lacewings. Say goodbye to your mites. About $10. Easy. Cheap. Works.

Don't forget the shipping and food if you don't have a decent flower bed for the adults after 2-3 weeks. $27 with food, shipping and the universal release box.
Not bad for totally organic control of aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, caterpillar eggs, scale, thrips, and whitefly if they really work.

I pay about $11 and just wet the plants and scatter the lacewing eggs. They arrive in a little container and their food is in there already. Some have hatched in transit and I guess that's why the food. What's a universal release box? I get the mail, water the plants if needed and scatter the eggs every few yards. I time shipment for first or second week in June here. Takes less than 5 minutes really...

Are these Beneficials effective against the Tomato Russet Mite, which is the species that is impacting many California tomato growers. This is what they can do along with Psyllids, left untreated:

Raybo

The release box is only $1 and it keeps the eggs safe from predators until they hatch and crawl out. The food for larvae is not the same food as for the adults. Adults eat and need pollen to reproduce and start a new batch. Without the pollen or adult food the life cycle will be broken.

taz, that is interesting about the box. I get mine from GA and never used a box nor have ever heard of one, just spread them out all over on wet leaves and of course the food is spread as well. And the food for larva are soft bodied insects. Mine must be doing OK because I see they grow up to adulthood and I see them all summer...

Raybo, I remember you asking this before and really I researched it for you but could not find a definitive answer if the lacewings work on russet mites. I think it worth a try though. And yeah spidermites only take a few days to a week to destroy their host plant under a heavy infestation. It pains me to see perfectly good tomato plants like yours were get like that...:(

Thanks for the post Raybo. I have these on my plant here in Colorado. I wasn't sure what they were. Fortunately they hit so late in the season, they are affect the plants too much. But it's good to know what they are.

(Oops, this was supposed to be a reply, not a new post)

You could always try(nearly) boiling water (but not too much). I did that recently on my (container) potatoes with no ill effects, but for grubs, not mites.

Nearly boiling water would do worse damage than the mites themselves. Your screen name is fitting.

I've used Safer's Insecticidal Soap, or my own recipe: 2:1 water:rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol 70% with a tbsp of liquid or shaved soap as a surfactant. Spray everywhere, especially the undersides of leaves. Do a few repeat applications. Very effective, particularly if you catch the problem early. Once they look like the picture above, your a** is grass. Gary