red spider mite protection help

Forum rules
General HTUK rules apply. This section is for tips, hints and discussion on growing that is not related to any specific group of plants.
LONGK

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by LONGK »

nige pook wrote:I've also had serious probs with Red Spider Mite this year and from the word go havn't had any knockdown with provado at all! Ended up cutting off the worst affected leaves, keeping the humidity above 85% and with indoor stuff meticulously brushing tops and bottoms of each leaf with a medium bristled painters brush.Most seed raised cannas and musa pups overwintered from last year got it bad and levels dropped considerably when they we're put outside in May. Still got low levels,wish 'joe public' could buy an effective acaricide like I used to use on nurseries years ago. Nige
I used a sponge as it collects them - laborious as you need to plunge it in a bucket of water regularly, but very effective on large leafed plants.

Does anyone know how long you can store parasitic mites for, as I'm thinking about buying some just in case........
User avatar
Chad
Posts: 1194
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:33 pm
Location: Inland Cornwall UK

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Chad »

I'm glad you've mentioned biological control.

We discussed it here.

Phytoseiulus persimilis is voracious but lazy [won't find isolated plants in a greenhouse] and needs to be warm to keep eating.

Amblyseius californicus is a little less hungry, but wanders about the greenhouse a bit more and still eats at cooler temperature.

With both in a greenhouse you shouldn't be troubled by Red Spider Mite, but it is a bit late in the year to introduce them now.

I think they survive in the packaging for about 5 days if not liberated.

Chad.
LONGK

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by LONGK »

Thank you Chad - a case of buy "when" then and not "just in case".
sanatic1234

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by sanatic1234 »

water and one drop of fairy liquid worked first time on my Alocasia frydek. I sprayed the top of the leafs, the undersides of the leafs and the stems and they haven't been back since. :-)
nige pook

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by nige pook »

Hi guys,I used to use these beneficial biological agents on a huge scale and developed the use of these for use in poly and greenhouses for a very large nusery and gc chain some years ago. They are great from a commercial point of view as they do work. From a standpoint of a private hobby there are some drawbacks,for one they are not cheap! Also if used,the leaves of the crop need to be touching to enable good predator mobility. Also at this time of year they are not so effective with lower temps. You can also get to the stage where the predatory mites die as they've eaten all the Red Spider Mite and then more Red Spider Mite eggs hatch and the problem returns unless more predators can be introduced,although less likely at this time of year. Just a note,obviously most of you probably know that these Red Spider Mite only look red to the eye as we go into autumn and these are overwintering adults that seek out cracks and crevices in which to hide over the winter. Most of the time they look clear with two dark spots,hence the other name two spotted spider mite. There is also a third predator,theradiplosis or orange gall midge,if my memory serves me right. This is a tiny midge that lays it's eggs in a mite colony which hatch into tiny orange grubs with a voracious appetite for mites. I have found this naturally occuring this year on my outside cannas and which probably helped considerably to clean them up. Obviously if your using these beneficials on no account use any chemicals as this would do great damage to predator populations! Hope this helps. Yes,also they will survive in the packaging,usually vermiculite inside a plastic bottle,for a few days possibly a week but better to broadcast them through the crop asap. Nige
Vagetarian

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Vagetarian »

nige pook wrote:wish 'joe public' could buy an effective acaricide like I used to use on nurseries years ago. Nige
You can now buy Abamectin based products. Dynamec is a commercial Abamectin product which can be purchased by the public through allotment clubs, etc, and I have known some shops to sell it in small quantities (it comes it big bottles and you only need a few ml, literally). Abamectin is a very effective acaricide but not systemic to my knowledge.

Failing that, the product which I mentioned in my previous post, Westland Plant Rescue Bug Killer for Ornamentals contains Abamectin and a secondary systemic pesticide which lasts up to 12 weeks. Would definitely recommend using caution with this product and testing before treating everything but it is a one application product, spray once and you will likely not see any pests for a long time.
Ian Cooke

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Ian Cooke »

I keep plugging away on here about Bugclear ultra spikes but nobody responds - has anyone tried them?
Bug Clear.JPG
Bug Clear.JPG (22.97 KiB) Viewed 64218 times
Buy on line http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bug-Clear-Ultra ... B0017RPHV2 or locally from Homebase.

I too have spent a lifetime in horticulture, from the time when we sprayed some obnoxious and highly toxic chemicals, through to using biological control, which is highly effective but as others say, expensive. Now that I am semi-retired and don't have either the arsenal or budget that I used to have, these Bugclear spikes are to my mind the best thing on the market. Easy to use - just push them in, they feed and supply a slow stream of a systemic pesticide (that means it continues to protect the plant not just kill the current pests.) The active ingredient is acetamiprid which is commercially used for some edible crops so has a low toxicity making it quite safe to use in a domestic situation.

I have used them on cannas, bananas, Brugmansia and various other exotics with almost 100% success. I'd be interested to know if I've just been lucky or whether it is the wonder product that we all need!
flounder

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by flounder »

Trudytropics wrote:Is Red Spider Mite something you only get in greenhouses and conservatories? or are only particular types of plants affected? I have no experience of this at all, having read the article Kata posted it made me curious. I have seen individual Red Spider Mite, teeny weeny red dots moving very quickly on the ground before, although never noticed any where I am now. :D
thats probably some sort of trombidium, a velvet mite of sorts icon_study
I remember these being called brick spiders, incorrectly ofcourse icon_scratch
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Dave Brown »

Ian Cooke wrote:I keep plugging away on here about Bugclear ultra spikes but nobody responds - has anyone tried them?
I looked for them but could not find a supply. As I didn't know the product name it was difficult to search. Thanks for the link :wink:
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
LONGK

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by LONGK »

Ian - as I'm a little at risk having bought my Sutherlandia frutescens in for the winter (it had an infestation earlier this year) I'll buy some and give them a go.
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Cheers Ian for the link,

I'll get some of these for back-up.

icon_thumleft
nige pook

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by nige pook »

Sorry Ian,must have missed your post about these,must say if they are available close by I think I will give them a go and report back.
Vagetarian-Dynamec! thats the one we used to use on the nurseries and pretty effective if my memory serves me,couldn't remember the bloomin name as its been so long since I used to do large scale commercial spraying! As you say though,not readily available. To be honest,as most of these colocasias etc will be inside the house I do think I'll give the bug clear sticks a fair go first. Many thanks, Nige
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Ian Cooke wrote:I keep plugging away on here about Bugclear ultra spikes but nobody responds - has anyone tried them?
Bug Clear.JPG
Buy on line http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bug-Clear-Ultra ... B0017RPHV2 or locally from Homebase.

I too have spent a lifetime in horticulture, from the time when we sprayed some obnoxious and highly toxic chemicals, through to using biological control, which is highly effective but as others say, expensive. Now that I am semi-retired and don't have either the arsenal or budget that I used to have, these Bugclear spikes are to my mind the best thing on the market. Easy to use - just push them in, they feed and supply a slow stream of a systemic pesticide (that means it continues to protect the plant not just kill the current pests.) The active ingredient is acetamiprid which is commercially used for some edible crops so has a low toxicity making it quite safe to use in a domestic situation.

I have used them on cannas, bananas, Brugmansia and various other exotics with almost 100% success. I'd be interested to know if I've just been lucky or whether it is the wonder product that we all need!

Just had a closer look at this and there is no mention of Red Spider Mite on the packaging?

From memory the regular spray does not mention Red Spider Mite either but the Organic bug clear does.
nige pook

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by nige pook »

Kris,sorry,where is the organic bug clear available from,must have missed that one? Had noticed with the provado that there's no mention of Red Spider Mite control. Nige
User avatar
Yorkshire Kris
Posts: 10163
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Rural South Wakefield, Yorkshire Lat 53.64 Long-1.54

Re: red spider mite protection help

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

I got mine from wilkos or B&Q
Post Reply