Red Spidermite damage & other photos

[honu]

These plants were so pretty and healthy last week. How quickly things change...

Red Spidermite infestation on Japanese Black Triefele:


Faux Red Brandywine infested too:


Sophie's Choice has spidermites as well as blight & powdery mildew problems, and like everything else I have, leafminer damage. If you look closely, you might see the webbing and small dots that are the red spider mites. Several sprayings will ultrafine oil, thyme oil, and water over the last couple of days may have damaged the leaves, but I still see the mites moving around. Now trying Neem.

Spots on Snow White Cherry:

Suspect fungal, even though I have been spraying w/ Daconil. Our weather had been humid, sunny and hot during the day, and raining at night.

Sudden wilt of sweet baby girl...

Suspect Sclerontinia sclerotiorum. Found the white powdery stuff on the stem near the soil-line. As my luck would have it, after I cut away all the foliage and finally saw the white powdery mold on the stem, a blast of wind dispersed it in the direction of adjacent tomato plants. Would appreciate any suggestions to prevent this infection from spreading to other plants.

[Suze]

How quickly things change...

Ann, I've never had much luck with the ultrafine oils or neem for the mites. And yes, they can decimate plants in a very short time (I despise the little buggers). Soap sprays do a little better for me, but I've really had the best results with pyrethrin (I use PyGanic). It is expensive, but a little goes a very long way, and frankly I don't wish to use the rotenone and accelerants that pyrethroids are frequently bundled with, so I just suck it up and spend the $$ for the 'pure/natural' stuff.

What really sux is that some folks will tell you that if you just increase the humidity then you won't have problems with the mites. I wish that were the case, but as you know, it doesn't always work that way in the warmer climates. What I've found is that when I tried to do that by hitting the plants with frequent sprays of water, I still had the mites *and* also got fungal disease to boot for my trouble.

What I do now is to alternate my Daconil sprays with my Pyganic sprays, and that seems to work fairly well.

I have also mixed the two (I know, not recommended by Ortho) with great results.

[honu]

Thanks Suze!

I've never had much luck with the ultrafine oils or neem for the mites.

I am finding that to be so true!

What really sux is that some folks will tell you that if you just increase the humidity then you won't have problems with the mites. I wish that were the case, but as you know, it doesn't always work that way in the warmer climates. What I've found is that when I tried to do that by hitting the plants with frequent sprays of water, I still had the mites *and* also got fungal disease to boot for my trouble.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for posting that, because that is EXACTLY my experience. Mites don't like humidity? Somebody forgot to tell our mites here. It's HUMID here ALL THE TIME! And rains often too. And yes, wetting the leaves just results in more blight!
I am so glad you posted this... often I feel like such an oddball.

Thanks for the info on pyrethrin products. That is eye-opening to hear of the rotenone in pyrethrin products. If I had seen rotenone on the label, I wouldn't have bought it. Thank you for the information on Pyganic. Good news to hear you had good result mixing Pyganic w/ Daconil and that I don't have to wait days after Daconil application to use it, since I often need both at the same time.

Have your plants ever fully recovered from decimation like mine? My Japanese Black Triefele looks mostly dead, but it's still drinking water, so I'm hopeful.

[feldon30]

Suze,

I'm guilty of repeating that suggestion as far as misting to get rid of mites. Maybe it works in Arizona.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by honu

Good news to hear you had good result mixing Pyganic w/ Daconil and that I don't have to wait days after Daconil application to use it, since I often need both at the same time.

When mixing the two, it might be best to err on the side of caution and spray early in the day and/or not use in direct mid-day sun. I've used Daconil a multitude of times in direct sun with no problem; scared to try it with the mix.

Originally Posted by honu

Have your plants ever fully recovered from decimation like mine? My Japanese Black Triefele looks mostly dead, but it's still drinking water, so I'm hopeful.

Yes, I've had plants recover. I think it is probably good to go ahead and remove the worst of the damaged leaves, though.

[honu]

Thanks Suze!