lady bugs

Lady bugs will eat spider mite??

Yes they will: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnmc-OZR93g

However ladybugs will also need a constant food source (aphids, spider mites) otherwise they could vanish. I have never tried indoors though. Outdoors they appear by themselves.

Yes lady bugs are great for out doors or green house but maybe not a good solution in the house because they are flying? I thought more about predatory mites. They are as invisible as the spider mites. And they stay on the plant. Or so I hope

I tried them in my greenhouse a few times but they disappeared in a few days.

Cory the predatory mites disappeared? I just found that there are different types of mites and different climate requirements. Could this have been the problem for the disappearance?

Unless your climate is just right and the environment also, they will, 'predatory mites' vanish unless you are talking a huge greenhouse with lots of food.

Why not try a good all around spraying method? Trust me, no matter what you do, they will appear. The key is to have your arsenal of products available at the helm as soon as you see anything, and to just control them. Growing more than a few plants together is a common thing with them and any other pest. It's the risk we take when sticking them outdoors or having open windows, or prior issues from the years past.

Like brushing your teeth, take preventative measures so that the problem does not come back to begin with or start, like cavities... Treat even if you do not see a pest at all before the come in for a few weeks leading up to their demise indoors..

The scary part for me that I can not see this spider mite. Only after some damage is done

Susanne, that is why you can either wait until you see signs of damage. Know what to look for before it even gets out of hand. Usually the very first leaves to be affected are the very young or newly emerging ones.. They will start to distort or not look flat. They will also start to look limp and loose their very dark green appearance, as if they need watering although the soil is moist. You can usually tell right away before it's too late.

Or do what I do. I don't even wait for a problem, for I am certain almost any plant I bring indoors could have mites, spray them all with a good horticultural spray as Silica uses weeks prior to bring them in and keep them separated from perennials and annuals that can come in close contact with your trees. Keep them apart from all other outdoors plants as you spray away for at least three weeks then bring them in clean. That's what I do..If I am good about spraying with F.E prior, I usually can skip all of this and just bring them inside..

If I kept my Marigolds, petunia, pepper plants, tomatoes or begonias anywhere near mine before they came in, you can be sure they would be infested..

Your trees kept near roses risk the chance of getting thrips, very hard to get rid of.

White flies can hitch a ride on your trees from being around fruit trees and or roses..

Mealy bugs, god knows?

That is why I always treat them before coming inside. 3 weeks is plenty of time to kill nymphs, emerging possible hatching eggs in your home, and the adults of pest seen and unseen

Would it be possible to see a spider mite with a 40x magnifying loupe? I got one with a pretty good quality lens off amazon of Amazon for about 10 dollars but haven't seen any mites yet so I don't know for sure if they can be detected with 40x. I've seen some reviews claim that a 16x lens is enough but I went for something stronger seeing how tiny mites can be. I'm using it to monitor my Meyer and figs outside. You can even find a 60x magnifier for inexpensive too!

I can see them on the surface of leaves with some difficulty without using a magnifier. They are easily seen when they form webs between petiole and leaves and crawl about the webs. Yes, you can certainly see them with 16X and 40X magnification.

When I finally realised my lemonade tree could have mites (after first thinking the mottled stippled leaves were a nutrient issue and spending countless fruitless hours looking at images of deficiencies...) I checked by holding a piece of white paper under the leaves while shaking/tapping them.

Then I stared at the little specks until one started moving. So the mite was visible to the naked eye like fine ground black pepper but not identifiable until it moved ie. it just looked like a dot, I couldn't see legs. Then when I squashed it it left a reddish smear, not just brown like the specks of dirt.

You wouldn't need much magnification to make out more detail, but seeing them while still on the leaves would be a lot harder than against a white paper backdrop. And I only found a couple in an advanced infestation so I don't know that relying on seeing the actual mite would be the best way to monitor for an early warning.

If you had a problem last year I'd stick with a tried and tested method like the series of preventative horticultural oil sprays Mike and Silica suggest, rather than try predator insects. You can always experiment with that another time! I'm loathe to spray any chemical insecticide without an identified problem, but it's a bit different with more physical insecticides like hort oil, alcohol, insecticidal soap.

Yes I was planning on spraying everything before moving in but this would not guaranty that mites will stay away the whole winter??

I grow in an indoor greenhouse with T5HO lights and lots of fans- 7 citrus and 40 plumeria. Every 2 weeks I spray preemptively with neem oil for potential spider mites, something another indoor gardener taught me. Does the trick, and leaves always have a nice green sheen too. Smell dissipates after a couple days.

Robin

I guess that the lemonade tree you are growing is a variety that grows best on the north side of your house. I have a grafted Meiwa kumquat tree but it does best on the south side of my house.

Steve

I just check for any tiny black dots robin. I don't use the magnifier each time I visit my tree but if I see something on its leaves with my naked eye, the loupe is very useful for zooming in to know what it is. I'll mostly use it as a precaution before they come into the house and for any new plants I buy and quarantine. Super useful for inspecting new plants too!

Susanne, good point. Maybe I've been lucky but so far I've only had to deal with pests when they've been brought in on new plants. Assumed that if you got rid of them then that was that. Don't know about ongoing infestations from your own environment.

kvetchlambkin, thought you were asking how to see a spider mite, you asked whether you needed 40x to see them, but now sounds like you already know?

Steve - what? Nope.

May I just add that there are mites not seen on white paper..They are white as a ghost and very hard to see with a magnifying glass unless you stare under the leaf at the same spot for quite some time. They move very very slowly...So the white paper does not always work for the mites when they are white unless you use black paper. I had to deal with in the past. Water does not even wash them off. They stick to the leaves....Ugh

Also, rinse the leaves off as frequent as you can with water..This breaks up their life cycle alone..

Robin sorry it was hard for me to explain clearly. I'm still new to citrus, started this summer so I've read all about mites and detection but I've yet to see one through a magnifying glass. I have no previous experience to confirm if it will work or not. I just plan to use it that way but since I haven't actually seen one yet, I'm probably searching blindly for them lol

So, went to bed, dreamed about spider mites, and awake at 4 and not able to fall asleep again. I think it is easier to control those buggers if there are only a couple of trees. Wonder how it is working if every thing is crammed in a tiny spot???