Ahhh!! They're taking over!!

[FloridaChris]

Hey guys,
So I started my self-watering rain gutter system two days ago. Put plants in the potters yesterday. I was checking out my system this morning and come to find they have been taken over by spider mites (I believe). How can I remedy the problem!??!? You can see the soil looks red, that's because there is a thick layer of these little bugs over everything!

[keith_r]

i'd try hosing off as many as possible..(but not when it's sunny because the refracting light will burn the plant)
rubbing alcohol mixed with water (50:50) will kill bunches but you have to be careful with the spray, you don't want it getting in your ft
my first choice is to usually look for a predator
http://www.buglogical.com/spider-mite-predator/

[FloridaChris]

Thanks Keith. These plants aren't hooked up to my AP system, just filling the rain gutter manually every day until I figure out how I want to hook it up. Was thinking of connecting it to my sump. Do you know if lady bugs would eat these? It looks pretty pricey on that website, $30 just to buy more spiders.... Not a fan of spiders to begin with, don't want to spend $30 on more!

[Basil1]

Look around your yard, bet you have plenty of spiders for free. I personally am not the biggest fan of spiders but seeing the benefit let most of them be and have a fair amount of crab and green orchard spiders around.

[JCO]

I don't know about where you are from, but from all my experience, those are not "SPIDER MITES". Spider mites actually have a web which if left unchecked will eventually cover the entire plant and they are very tiny and usually brownish to white in color.



I believe what you are seeing are " Leaf-footed bug babies".



Am I mistaken?

If I'm right, I don't have a better way of getting rid of them than hosing off, but I myself like to mash them to goo because they don't come back from that.

[keith_r]

i couldn't see the original pic's, just assumed spider mites.. you definitely want to know what you are fighting before you throw the first punch..
leaf footed bugs don't have many natural enemies (i think there are some parasitic wasps, maybe a type of nematode that goes after eggs).. i haven't looked to see if DE or BT (diatomaceous earth or bacillus thuringiensis) are effective, but might be something to research..i don't use many things in ap, but these are fish safe - but since this isn't a part of the ap, i think neem oil would be good...

regarding the cost of the good bugs, i just threw out a quick example.. there may be a nursery or greenhouse type business near you that has "good bugs", or you can shop around till you find something that sounds reasonably priced to you (my wife can ALWAYS find a deal)

[FloridaChris]

JCO - Unfortantely, the bugs your think they may be are not the same. These things are tiny little red/brown dots that just crawl all around. They have been the same size since I've seen them originally. I believe they burrow in the soil during the day and at night and early morning come out. They were there again this morning. Tried taking a closer picture, the camera just can't zoom in on it any better.



If this image doesnt show, you can use this link as well:
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad22 ... 7f716c.jpg

My tomato plant and other plants seem to be doing fine, whatever they are. Guess they are not spider mites though, because I haven't seen a single web yet.

[keith_r]

if there aren't any webs, it could be aphids...(can't see photobucket from work)
ladybugs will take care of them,, my last batch was from home depot, shipped right to my door

[JCO]

I can't get a good enough look at the to tell anything about their body. Try putting one or more on a white piece of paper and do the best close up you can.

I looked around and this is the next best answer I came up with:-

These are actually little red mites. They sometimes look like spiders.

They suck the life out of your plants and are commonly found on azaleas, rhododendrons and roses. Check the plants around your house (in the vicinity of where you found them) - they'll usually be on the underside of leaves or all over the stems. Check leaves for dry, pale patches (not brown) that look like they've had the color sucked out of them.

We usually treat plants with lightly soapy water (dish washing detergent) in an ironing spray bottle and and spray the underside of affected leaves. You can also buy a mite-specific spray from gardening/hardware shop which works well and doesn't harm your plants. You do have to repeat this every few months though - they're stubborn little buggers and will come back after a while!

[FloridaChris]

They look like some of the pictures of mites, but they just dont have legs like that. I can't even look that close, no magnifying glass. Maybe I'll bust out the Nikkon camera and try to zoom in really good.