Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old May 22, 2018   #1
oakley
Tomatovillian™
 
oakley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
Default Now what...spider mites?

Oh good grief. But maybe not. I can't find in searches this one.

I stepped out this morning after so much rain and damp soggy weather...70-75 days,
55-60 nights. Garden mites seem to like it hot and dry.
Weather cleared late yesterday so I was searching for any mold PM spots. Reached for
my spray and the sprayer and a 4inch pot seedling together were covered with a
couple hundred tiny spiders. This happened overnight since I was out just last night
before dusk potting up a few.
Including the plant covered.

Hope I did not destroy a beneficial. But they were well on their way to completely webbing
the entire seedling.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg spider mites?.jpg (364.3 KB, 98 views)
File Type: jpg spider mites-2.jpg (108.0 KB, 96 views)
oakley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 22, 2018   #2
MissS
Tomatovillian™
 
MissS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,145
Default

Those look rather large for spider mites. Perhaps those were just spiders of some sort.
__________________
~ Patti ~
MissS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 22, 2018   #3
oakley
Tomatovillian™
 
oakley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
Default

Still searching and I think you are correct. Too large. Yet so many so fast.
oakley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 22, 2018   #4
Salsacharley
Tomatovillian™
 
Salsacharley's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 2,051
Default

Those are not spider mites. Those are spiders and probably beneficial.
Salsacharley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 22, 2018   #5
TexasTomat0
Tomatovillian™
 
TexasTomat0's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Central Texas - Zone 8A
Posts: 196
Default

Those are spiders. They probably just had hatched.
TexasTomat0 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 23, 2018   #6
peebee
Tomatovillian™
 
peebee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Southern CA
Posts: 1,714
Default

Definitely not the dreaded spider mites. Great news.
peebee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 23, 2018   #7
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Baby spiders.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 23, 2018   #8
Nan_PA_6b
Tomatovillian™
 
Nan_PA_6b's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
Default

A nest of baby spiders! Nice!


Nan
Nan_PA_6b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 24, 2018   #9
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
Default

I get nests of baby spiders hatching in the greenhouse every year and setting up on the tomatoes. They were at the farm greenhouse last year too. The ones around the tomatoes are a really small spider - they never get large. Based on their size, I reckon they are eating really small stuff - ie the darn mites, thrips and similar tiny tomato pests. The spiders come around early in the season and are a bit of a nuisance to work around, but they're doing a job. After a few weeks they just disappear from the scene - I presume when their work is done and there's not a pest population big enough to feed on.
Oakley when I first saw these spiders I had the same worry - are they spiders or mites. Eventually figured out they are too large to be mites, but just the right size to eat em instead.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 24, 2018   #10
oakley
Tomatovillian™
 
oakley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
Default

Yup. they are not microscopic. Just so many so fast. I spritzed them off the seedling and moved everything
off the table. (it is supposed to be for dining anyway) It has been full of potting-up paraphernalia for
a month now.
spring is definitely here, (but not there)
oakley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 24, 2018   #11
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
Default

Yeah, it's not yet baby spider season here (and for sure not in Bonavista!).
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 24, 2018   #12
oakley
Tomatovillian™
 
oakley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bower View Post
Yeah, it's not yet baby spider season here (and for sure not in Bonavista!).
We hired a neighbor's son to keep up with the lawn mowing this year. Looks like we will be saving
a few bucks...
oakley is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:41 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★