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sandy0225 · 11-12-2011, 01:44 PM

Also, make sure you aren't killing the same mites over and over on your plants. You know they don't fall off or anything once you kill them. they stay put. So if you don't wipe or spray them off, you might think that they are new mites. Your leaves won't recover in looks after the mites are dead, so you might just be fighting harder than you need to.
I did that the first few years. I thought I had mites, which I did. So I sprayed them. Well in a few days, I looked at the plants and sure enough, the mites were still there. So I sprayed them again with something else. and so on and so on for most of the winter. Well, one day I noticed that those mites I kept on spraying were not moving. And the new leaves didn't have any damage, and weren't getting any. I'd probably killed them the first time or two that I sprayed.
I like to use 2T suave shampoo + 2T cooking oil in one gallon of warm water. You can spray this until all the leaf surfaces top and bottom are dripping wet. Try not to miss any spots. This will usually take care of them in a spray or two if you're real thorough. But then wipe them off or check to see if they're moving before you kill them again!
We sometimes see them outdoors here too in late summer, especially if it's been real dry like it was this summer at times. They start on the back sides of the leaves and then if it's real dry, they spread to the tops. Even on plants that haven't been sprayed with anything. It's worse if you have soybean fields around because they are full of spider mites, and if you're upwind, they blow in. If you have corn fields around in a dry year, the spider mites aren't as bad.

11-12-2011, 01:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 355,487 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: Battling spider mites every year. Also, make sure you aren't killing the same mites over and over on your plants. You know they don't fall off or anything once you kill them. they stay put. So if you don't wipe or spray them off, you might think that they are new mites. Your leaves won't recover in looks after the mites are dead, so you might just be fighting harder than you need to. I did that the first few years. I thought I had mites, which I did. So I sprayed them. Well in a few days, I looked at the plants and sure enough, the mites were still there. So I sprayed them again with something else. and so on and so on for most of the winter. Well, one day I noticed that those mites I kept on spraying were not moving. And the new leaves didn't have any damage, and weren't getting any. I'd probably killed them the first time or two that I sprayed. I like to use 2T suave shampoo + 2T cooking oil in one gallon of warm water. You can spray this until all the leaf surfaces top and bottom are dripping wet. Try not to miss any spots. This will usually take care of them in a spray or two if you're real thorough. But then wipe them off or check to see if they're moving before you kill them again! We sometimes see them outdoors here too in late summer, especially if it's been real dry like it was this summer at times. They start on the back sides of the leaves and then if it's real dry, they spread to the tops. Even on plants that haven't been sprayed with anything. It's worse if you have soybean fields around because they are full of spider mites, and if you're upwind, they blow in. If you have corn fields around in a dry year, the spider mites aren't as bad. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website! Last edited by sandy0225 : 11-12-2011 at 01:48 PM.