Aculus lycopersici-tomato russet mite

StrongPlant · July 8, 2016

Well I wouldn't call this a common pest as there is not even a separate thread for this pest.That is,until now,but I just had to do it because the greenhouse is absolutely saturated with them.They're killing my tomatoes faster and faster as time passes by.I've begun investigating and reading about this perticular mite,but there's not much information out there.I've never used pesticides and I don't want to start now,so I've tried several things.
Yesterday I gassed the entire greenhouse with smoke from burning dried up grass and branches for a couple of hours.Some plants were a bit harmed by it,and have dried up top leaves,as the smoke was thickest at the top.But to my surprise,after taking a leaf and looking it under magnification I could still see plenty of mites alive...I've also tried exposing them to UV light from a UV tube to see if it kills them,but it did nothing.
Today I wondered if water could wash them away,so I took an infested leaf,and looked it under magnification just to make sure there were plenty of mites on it,and of course there were.Than I took a hose and sprayed it with water,not too strong,for a couple of seconds.After looking at the leaf again,I couldn't find any mites.It seems water can wash them off,but it certanly doesn't kill them.
I'm now thinking about washing all of the plants with strong shower of water once/day,and after some time applying mice trap glue at the base of the stems to prevent them from climbing up(at least some of them,because apparently the wind can transfer them as well).From what I read it looks like they can't handle too much cold,so I will till the soil in the greenhouse in the middle of the coldest month here to allow it to deep-freeze.
Well,these were all experimental methods to see if they might work.I would very much like to hear if anyone else had a problem with them and how did they deal with it,or if someone has any effective way to kill them without using pesticides.Any texts found on the internet about them would be appreciated,too.

July 8, 2016	#1
StrongPlant Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Europe/Serbia-Belgrade Posts: 151	Aculus lycopersici-tomato russet mite Well I wouldn't call this a common pest as there is not even a separate thread for this pest.That is,until now,but I just had to do it because the greenhouse is absolutely saturated with them.They're killing my tomatoes faster and faster as time passes by.I've begun investigating and reading about this perticular mite,but there's not much information out there.I've never used pesticides and I don't want to start now,so I've tried several things. Yesterday I gassed the entire greenhouse with smoke from burning dried up grass and branches for a couple of hours.Some plants were a bit harmed by it,and have dried up top leaves,as the smoke was thickest at the top.But to my surprise,after taking a leaf and looking it under magnification I could still see plenty of mites alive...I've also tried exposing them to UV light from a UV tube to see if it kills them,but it did nothing. Today I wondered if water could wash them away,so I took an infested leaf,and looked it under magnification just to make sure there were plenty of mites on it,and of course there were.Than I took a hose and sprayed it with water,not too strong,for a couple of seconds.After looking at the leaf again,I couldn't find any mites.It seems water can wash them off,but it certanly doesn't kill them. I'm now thinking about washing all of the plants with strong shower of water once/day,and after some time applying mice trap glue at the base of the stems to prevent them from climbing up(at least some of them,because apparently the wind can transfer them as well).From what I read it looks like they can't handle too much cold,so I will till the soil in the greenhouse in the middle of the coldest month here to allow it to deep-freeze. Well,these were all experimental methods to see if they might work.I would very much like to hear if anyone else had a problem with them and how did they deal with it,or if someone has any effective way to kill them without using pesticides.Any texts found on the internet about them would be appreciated,too.