How many leaves on the plant are affected?

Please post a picture of the entire plant.

Thanks

Check the undersides of the leaves with a magnifying glass if you can find one. The bottom picture looks like mite damage to me, and I think I see little spider webs on the leaf that is in the forefront. My guess would be spider mites.

You’re right on the money Humsi, thank you! This morning I read the advice posted on ‘Leaf Disease or Malnutrition’ -about tapping a leaf over a piece of white paper. Sure enough… dastardly mites!

I’ve just been researching the best way to get rid of them. There’s lots of info, neem, rosemary oil, soap, baking soda - I don’t want to do more harm than good. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much, C

I have a hell of a time dealing with mites. I think I get hit with several types at once usually so what may work on some doesn't on others and they're just a giant pain in the...

I would probably start out with neem oil or some soap based spray and hit every part of the leaves you can, focusing on the undersides. Do it either early early in the morning or later in the evening so you don't cause your plants to get burned by wet stuff when the sun hits them. I tend to pull plants and dispose of them away from the garden if I can't get them under control, because they will spread like wildfire through the rest once they really get going. Hopefully someone has some better tips and tricks for you, because I don't have much :(

This is so very helpful! Thank you!

btw, thanks for pointing out the spider web in the photo... I didn't see that before. I'll be on the lookout for more.

A lot of people seem to be having unusually bad mite problems this year, both spider and russet.

One of the growers on another forum who has many decades of experience dealing with mites say that a spray of diatomaceous earth + permethrin works best for him. But it's a problem that's hard to eradicate when weather conditions favor it and that will often come back, so you have to stay on top of it, sometimes being willing to commit to washing and spraying your plants every 2 or 3 days. An infestation that has spread to most of the plant, as in your photo, is hard to control. It's important to recognize the signs of a mite problem so you can get aggressive with it early. Mites are a dilemma because they progress so rapidly and do so much damage, and it's hard to control them except with things (DE, neem, permethrins, etc.) which also harm their predators.

Personally, I would bag, seal, and discard the plant in your photo and get aggressive with protecting your other plants immediately.

Almost everyone I know who has dealt with mites says that they are a problem that does not tolerate procrastination, especially when weather conditions favor them, and that must be treated aggressively if you want to save your plants.

Thank you Gorbelly.

The plant shown in the photo went into a
trash bag 2 days ago - before I wrote in. I wish I had investigated sooner.
None of my other tomatos had spots, speckles or any issues. I’ve never seen
this speckling before, so thought maybe it was specific to that type of tomato
(Hawaiian Currant). Geez, was I dreamin.

I am now trying to save my Yellow Submarine plant, partially
stricken with mites - and also taking precautions to protect the others.

I’ve isolated the YS from the others and sprayed it down
with ‘Eco-Mite - Botanical Insecticide Miticide’, which is a mix of Rosemary,
Peppermint, Cottonseed Oil, soap, water and alcohol. I don’t know if this will
stop the infestation. Those bugs are probably just laughing at me.

In a couple days I’ll try the grower’s recommendation of DE/Dawn/Permethrin
on Yellow Sub

I’m curious about the recommendation…. Are you suggesting I spray
all my healthy plants – or just at first signs of mites?
Thank you so very much for the information. I really appreciate it,

C

C: I’m curious about the recommendation…. Are you suggesting I spray all my healthy plants – or just at first signs of mites?

IMO, it depends on your gardening philosophy, conditions, and practices. I would personally not spray until I see signs that mites are reproducing quickly because I try really hard to nurture beneficial predators and keep things biologically in balance in my garden. But I already have a decent population of beneficials due to work I did last year and earlier this year to create good habitat for them, and my climate isn't really that conducive to mites in most years anyway, so they won't have ideal conditions for spread and reproduction. If you don't have beneficials there yet, there's no way they'll arrive in large enough numbers because mites reproduce so incredibly quickly once they get well established.

You could wait until you see signs. Or you could decide not to chance it. It's up to you. If you decide not to spray, it's probably worth washing the plants vigorously with water (all surfaces, including undersides of leaves) regularly during prime mite weather (hot and no rain, with less humidity = more conducive to spread to other plants and more humidity = more conducive for their reproduction) as long as you do it when plants have time to dry off quickly and well before nightfall. I know people are usually adamant about never getting foliage wet because of fungal diseases, but risk/reward calculations change once mites are in the picture.

Thanks for the practical advice Gorbelly. The plant with
mites is now isolated about 20 feet away from the group - and I’m going to try
the special spray you suggested.

All my healthy plants were blasted with a nice long shower
earlier today and appear dry now. I’ll keep monitoring them. Fingers crossed.

So strange, I’ve never had mites before… I wonder if they
were in the soil or compost I added last spring, or if they snuck in on a seedling...

You and Humsi are superheros for helping me save my plants,
Thanks so much.

Yes, I should’ve asked this group for assistance sooner. I needed quick, helpful advice - and I got it! The Garden Center folks I asked weren’t sure what the problem was and it was my fault I let it go too long. My once beautiful Hawaiian Currant plant was overtaken and had to be tossed in the trash (in photos).

The other partially infested plant, Yellow Submarine, is isolated and has been doused in Rosemary oil spray a few times. It seems to be holding the mites at bay, but not killing them off entirely. There were still a few on the paper test this morning. Continuing to monitor…

The other healthy plants (and I) have had some drenching morning showers under the garden hose... trying to bump off any mites even thinking about living there.

I’m curious which of your tomato varieties seem more susceptible to the mites. Thanks fungus.