I am glad I could help Jeremiah. Thank you for being personally accountable and diligent. Sellers and new growers who are expanding their collections are the most at risk, and of course sellers present the greatest risk to the community. New growers are more likely to be responsive and appreciative to the suggestion that their plants are infested and take it more seriously, sellers not always so much since most seem to be concerned only with optics and their bottom line.

FMV has been a point of argument forever, opinions all the way from "it is a non-issue" to "burn your plants". What is most important to me though is none of those people factored fig bud mites into their equations. Throw it all out!

Another factor may be that people got into figs specifically because they wanted a "no-spray" fruit tree. It is their own choice to make and as long as they keep it to themselves it is their own problem.

Sellers on the other hand make it everyone's problem and if they are popular on a forum (where the assumption from buyers is they are more well informed than someone who is not) they can do pretty much whatever they want and get away with it. Some thrive on chaos and drama so thank you for dealing with the situation calmly, I know it sucks.

I did a quick search on spinetoram, a synthetic spinosad compound that is more effective than the organic form, and found a study showing it actually increased the population of pear rust mites by killing off their predators. So it does seem to be very complicated, especially since some people fail to understand the vast difference between eriophyid and spider mites and think a product labeled for either is just as good for both.

Hopefully you can sort things out without too much headache and expense. The best you can do is grow them as fast as you can and select healthiest plants or growths to propagate from and discard the worst. FMV does not seem to be a serious issue when the mite is not a factor, so in a couple of years your trees will probably be looking better than many folk's.

Weird, my response was not added to the forum front page...

I just had the same problem. Houzz must be on the fritz today.

Hoosierbanana,

Thanks for your response---which finally emerged from the digital ether!---and your words of encouragement. It's been a pretty disappointing (and infuriating!) experience, but better to learn about fig mites now than later. I know you had a much harder time---and suffered much more serious damage---with your infestation, so this beginner really shouldn't complain at all. I'm just grateful that you shared your experiences online---and I'm sure I'm not the first person you've helped out by doing this.

Anyway, I've hit everything with spiromesifen and am prepared to watch, wait, prune and, if need be, discard. With any that aren't too bad, I will follow your example and try propagating from healthier growth.

Thanks again!

Jeremiah

p.s.---Judging by your handle, you must be a pawpaw fan!

Hi, everyone, I've updated my thread over at ourfigs and just wanted to give a heads-up here for those of you interested in fig bud mites.

The gist: After three treatments with Forbid 4f (at the rate 1 to 1.2 ml per gallon), I still found a live eriophyid mite on a young leaf and have been noticing a scattering of pale spots on new growth that was not there---or at least not as noticeable---back when I was treating with spinosad.

This seems to indicate one of four possibilities: 1.) I received a fake, expired or adulterated bottle of Forbid, despite the seller's 100% rating on Ebay; 2.) I've encountered a particular strain of "super mite" that is somehow resistant to spiromesifen; 3.) some unaccounted-for factor is preventing the spiromesifen from performing as expected; or, what would be most surprising, 4.) spinosad is actually better at suppressing fig mite activity than spiromesifen, though eradication is difficult with either. (Number 4 runs counter to the experience of Hoosierbanana and a couple of other experienced growers, so I'm leaning toward possibility 1, 2 or 3.)

In any case, it seems like I'm left with sulfur, Sevin (carbaryl; an old weapon against eriophyids), Avid (abamectin), and maybe malathion and permethrin. Maybe I should use an adjuvant? And I suppose I could also throw in a few applications of a neem extract like Azamax, though I don't expect it to do much. And I suspect the things would laugh at diatomaceous earth. Yesterday, having nothing else on hand that's usable at the moment (it's too hot for sulfur application), I mixed Forbid with Conserve SC (spinosad), both at max rates, and hosed everything down again. Maybe it'll suppress them a little.

I'm about at peak frustration here and am sorely regretting going overboard with cuttings and not just restricting myself to a couple of tissue cultures.

Thanks so much for your kind words, Moses, and the much-needed encouragement. I actually owe most of what little I know about fig mites to fellow forum member Hoosierbanana, who did the real pioneering work.

Speaking of the prophet, did you know that in many Latin countries a constant complainer is sometimes referred to as a "jeremías." That sounds even more like me! : )

Jeremiah

Jeremiah,

No, I did not, but now I am a wiser man because you enlightened me. I have a Columbian niece, my nephew's wife, who will never be called a Jeremiah because she is ever cheerful, never down hearted, that I have observed.

Thanks!

Moses

Hi Jeremiah, It might be that because spinosad and spiromesifen are translaminar that new growth does not get the residual effect, this is peak growing season. The chlorotic spots are caused by mites feeding on the leaves when they are still in the bud or just emerging, but they only show up as the leaf expands, if they feed on leaves that are already grown they won't cause any new spots. The spots kept developing on new leaves for about 10 days after all the mites I could see were dead, the spots do become more noticeable as the leaf matures. If the affected leaves formed in the past 2 weeks that would be weird. Forbid does expire, mine had a date on it, it did still work a year after that date 2 years ago when I had a minor outbreak.

I did see lots of predatory mites, very spider like and fast moving, as well as a few red grub things that ate the mites, so maybe natural predators helped to finish them off in my case?

Hoosierbanana, thanks for your response. I thought that perhaps that was the case---that they had a sort of last bastion in the buds and the spinosad/spiromesifen wasn't reaching them. The new spots---and they're not numerous, maybe one or two on a leaf---have reappeared on some of newest leaves; and typical of mite mottling, they do become more noticeable as the leaves grow. The hot weather is probably increasing the activity of the survivors in the buds. Did you use an adjuvant/surfactant when you sprayed? I think I will next time---might help it get in there better.

I've also thought about removing terminal buds and maybe wiping out a lot of them that way, but would hate to arrest the growth of these young plants at this juncture. Perhaps that would be the lesser evil, though?

Expiration date, applied via sticker, was okay on my bottle---if the seller was honest; and as they've apparently been selling this stuff for a while, you think somebody would've noticed if they were passing off bad product and left appropriate feedback. Anyway, it did kill aphids over the course of a few days---which spiromesifen is supposed to ---, so it's probably okay.

Unfortunately, I'm yet to see any predatory mites---just the very bad kind---or much else in the way of life on the leaves. Some folks have suggested purchasing some predators, and that might be worth looking into. They might've indeed been the deciding factor in finishing off your infestation: Avid and Forbid maybe weakened the mites and the predators dealt the final blow, perhaps getting any holdouts in the buds.

There sure are a lot of variables involved in fighting a fig mite infestation! If I come through this with any healthy plants, I don't think I'll ever bring in any new ones again. Then again, if I'd wised up earlier and given my cuttings a Forbid/Avid soak before starting maybe I would've nipped them in the bud(s). Who knows? (I know the 1955 Flock and Wallace study used sulfur to 'sterilize' cuttings and plants of mites, but do you suppose they were sure? I wouldn't think a dusting of sulfur---no matter how deadly to eriophyid mites---would reach all those ensconced in the buds.)

Sorry for going on at length. Thanks again for taking the time to help out a frustrated new fig grower.

Jeremiah

I've wondered the same thing about sulfur. With figs as neglected as they are no-one would have been double checking their work. If you are going to try freezing them you might as well try heat too, grape cuttings are treated in a hot water bath of 125 for an hour to kill eriophyids.

A further update: I'd speculated before that maybe some of what I was seeing might be another species of eriophyid that had blown in. The figs that I've found the last two mites on are right next to a little Asian pear orchard. Well, some of the pears are looking rough---so I took a microscope to them this evening. Found eriophyids on them, which I believe to be pear and/or apple rust mites. They seem stockier---more spindle-shaped---and faster moving than the fig mites I initially saw (which were indeed fig mites---because I observed them indoors at the end of winter/beginning of spring). Also a little larger---though still microscopic. These were more like the last two "fig" mites I saw.

And perhaps there's also another explanation for the sprinkling of "mite" spots I've seen recently on foliage? There's been a bumper crop of leafhoppers this season; and they've been all over my figs. Perhaps a leafhopper sucking on a very young leaf could produce a similar spot as the leaf grew?

Could it be that I was wringing my hands over nothing? Could it be that both spinosad and Forbid 4f work just fine against Aceria ficus?

I'm not certain---but I remain hopeful. I'll probably apply spinosad + adjuvant once more, wait a few days, then release one of the fig bud mite's natural enemies, the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii. I've ordered a better microscope---one with which I can (hopefully) take pictures; so maybe I can visually document what I see (if anything) from here on out.

(Well, I'm certainly not the sort of guy you'd want running your rigorous scientific study, am I?)

I'm off to spray some pears, I guess!