Sailfish

My red dwarf is off to its best growth ever!
Big, healthy leaves every 7 days.
We had a solid week of rain and they just looked great.

However just this a.m. I walk by it and say "What the ?????"!!!!
The leaves were ashen in appearence appeared to be covered in dust, and I see what I thought was a very thin film..........which turned out to be webbish.
The dust (upon closer inspection) was MOVING.
Its billions of tiny tiny red looking bugs.


And ideas??

They weren't there 2 days ago.

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bananafarmer

Take immediately action, do not wait!!

The longer you wait the more your plants will be hurt.

Try to wash them off with a water-soap-mix.

When no effect use something stronger, there are many insecticides that you can use, some are very poison some are not.

It is your decision , but you should do something as fast as possible.

sunfish

Spider mites

sunfish

gtrplr71

Neem oil is what I use it seems to work well and it is not expensive or toxic.

bananimal

Tony ---- Malathion solution sprayed on top/bottom of leaves -- all surfaces including soil surface. Especially down into the petioles to the core of the cigar leaf - inside and out.

Check in a week. Still mitey - spray again.

Is this thing potted?

sunfish

Bob3

I'd normally break out the 'tobacco tea' but for an infestation this thick, SEVIN might be in order.
The 'tobacco tea' will kill the crap outta the thngs & finding cheap cigars to cook down should be pretty easy in Tampa:
Home Brew Inscetiscide from Tobacco

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Recipes & links for Cajun, Creole, & other goodies.

sunfish

Red Spider Mites

Broad spectrum insecticides should NOT be used as spider mites are rapidly becoming resistant to most chemical pesticides, which, by the way, also kill off their natural predators. As a result, the spider mite population often increases, rather than declines, following an application of insecticide.

Sailfish

Thanks for the quick ID folks!

I went with this for now since I had everything:

Soap & Water - Mix a dilute solution of non anti-bacterial dish soap and water, and spray (fine mist) the leaves of your plant, particularly the underside where the mites like to live. May require multiple applications depending on how well you can cover each individual leaf of the plant. Make sure to rinse off the leaves with plain water 20 minutes after spraying in order to prevent the soap from clogging up the stomata on the leaves, which will stunt plant growth if not cared for.
Soap & Water Plus Version 1
Gather 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 drops dish detergent & 1/4 teaspoon epsom salt. Take one cup of hot water to dissolve epsom salts and pour into a clean 2 liter container with the rest of the ingredients. Add water to fill to 48 ounces (a 2 liter bottle will be 3/4 full) and shake well. Put into a spray bottle and cover your soil/medium with plastic. With the lights off, mist the plant all over concentrating on the underside of leaves. Wait 20 minutes and sprits off with clean fresh water, shaking as much water off the plant as you can. Solution is alkaline and rinsing is important in order to remove mites and eggs, and to prevent the solution from burning the plant leaves. Test on a small portion of the plant and wait 24 hours to observe before dousing the whole thing. If you see plant damage, dilute with more plain water and test again.

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Sailfish

It wonders me that after 5 years in the banana game, that i've been fortunate to have little issues other than 19 degress for 9 hours.

Out of the blue to have this......odd

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Sailfish

this leaf




Looked nicer than this leaf just 60 hours ago or so.

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