Presume Spider Mites?
 

I think I have spider mites but would like confirmation from the community. Photos show leaf and plant. Current problem is a Brandywine growing in PA. Thanks

You presume correctly.

I'd have to see the underside but I agree with Ray. It looks like spider mite damage.

Flip a leaf over and look really closely for any movement. They're tiny tiny red little notes that move around on the leaf.

I have, unfortunately, been fighting them for months now. I use the same formula as Bill does on here. Some permethrin, a few handfuls of DE and a shot of dawn dish soap. Put that in a sprayer and have at it. It works great but doesn't stay effective for long so you have to keep reapplying. I think he did mention that the addition of the DE made the mix effective for longer than just permethrin alone.

Good luck, they're tough a tough little adversary.


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The two-spotted spider mite is often not red.

Good to know, the ones I get are red.

Planning attack. I have been using a stash of Cygon but will switch to the Permithrin mix. Presume DE is Diatm. Earth. What is the proper concentrate ratio of Permethrin/DE/Dishwash for a good sprayer.

I feel your pain as I had spider mites on my herb plants (photos in another thread). They took down the entire plant and started invading the neighboring pot.

I am wondering if anyone has had success (if the foliage is not as lush) by spraying them down with a hose. I see this mentioned as a remedy in literature but find it hard to imagine how a spray of water could dislodge something that is suckering and intent on piercing the leaf.

I'm armed with the recipe above on stand by , its just too darn hot to chase after much now.

- Lisa

Keeping the soil moist at all times will help with the advancing speed of the mites (just having basically a higher humidity around the plants). Dry and hot and they will kill your plants really quick.
From the studies I've seen they are quite resistant nowadays to Permethrin and co. There are also newer solutions and is generally recommended to try at least two types of spray from a different 'family' to avoid creating resistant populations.
DE is definitely a good idea, but I've personally never been able to spread it nicely mixed with water. The best way is to mist finely that DE water mix from a distance, so the water droplets never get together and start running off. If this happens, the DE just goes at the bottom of the bigger droplets and the coverage is poor. If possible I'd try to use a pulverizer with dry DE, but it's not always feasible, for example for me on the balcony, everything would become powdered white.
Also observe which plants are most affected. Mites multiply faster or slower depending on what they eat. For example if they eat steak, they make lots of babies, if they eat cucumber salad, not so much. In this case the steak is some varieties. Year after year I've seen same variety becoming quickly infested no matter the place, and touching plants that were barely affected. Removing those varieties from your planting is just necessary. I have found that Berkley Tie Dye Pink to be quite unappealing to mites, while Galina and Tomatoberry are absolute magnets, I've never managed to keep those alive more than a month into the producing season.

Also try to limit places they can overwinter onto. Not sure how hard your winters are, but they are not deterred by occasional -10C, and will bounce back in the spring really nicely. Try removing any vegetation that is affected at the end of the season, and that includes a lot of things, they even moved onto wild strawberries and onions.

[QUOTE=solkster;656855]Planning attack. I have been using a stash of Cygon but will switch to the Permithrin mix. Presume DE is Diatm. Earth. What is the proper concentrate ratio of Permethrin/DE/Dishwash for a good sprayer.[/QUOTE]

I mix their permethrin per recommended dose on the bottle and throw in 2-3 good sized handfuls of diatomaceous earth and a quick squirt of dawn.


Ps. Don't store your rock dust next to your DE or else you risk doing like I did and hosing everything down with rock dust instead..../puke