Problems with spider mites and country restrictions

Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441441

By BugZix -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 3:11 pm
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sun Oct 29, 2023 2:56 pm

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 3:11 pm #441441

Hello everyone, it's my first time posting here and I have a pest problem with my venus flytrap.I was noticing small browning dots on my otherwise extremely healthy flytrap(fully red leaves, good and healthy growth) and when I looked close I found tiny barely visible red bugs that I recognized as red spider mites. The fly trap is in a 15 inch pot and covers the whole surface so there are multiple plants in it probably. I repotted it 3 months ago when I bought it and it looked awful.I had it around my sarracenia and other fly trap but I quarantined it for now and the others seem okay.But im really struggling with finding a solution to my problem.I live in Greece and there are not many options. I had to order soil from Italy and I can't find any of the brands that people usually recommend. I also don't know if I can trust the local products I find. I saw neem oil as a solution but then again it's not very effective. Another person recommended submerging the plant in water/neem mix and that will take care of the problem but another person said that I will have to repot afterwards and with dormancy coming up and the recent repotting I dont want to stress it out... I spray it twice a day since I saw that that helps. I'm kinda helpless and I really put so much care in my plants and don't want them to die... Any help would be appreciated

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441443

By ChefDean -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 5:08 pm
Location:  Clarksville, TN
Posts:  9813
Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 5:08 pm #441443

Neem, in my opinion, is next to worthless. Submerge the plant completely in just water, making sure no air bubbles are trapped that the critters can use for scuba. Leave it there for a few days, let it sit out of the water for a few days, then repeat.
That should take care of it, but monitor it just in case.

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441450

By BugZix -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 8:17 pm
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sun Oct 29, 2023 2:56 pm

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 8:17 pm #441450

ChefDean wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 5:08 pm Neem, in my opinion, is next to worthless. Submerge the plant completely in just water, making sure no air bubbles are trapped that the critters can use for scuba. Leave it there for a few days, let it sit out of the water for a few days, then repeat.
That should take care of it, but monitor it just in case.

Won't I need to change the soil like others told me?

Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441456

By ChefDean -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:51 pm
Location:  Clarksville, TN
Posts:  9813
Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:51 pm #441456

Probably not.
At 70°F, spider mite eggs take ~7 days to hatch, and, also at 70°F, a spider mite takes about ~10 days to reach maturity from hatching.
If you submerge it for 5 days, that should kill the adults and likely many eggs. Make sure there are no trapped air bubbles. Take it out of the water and let it sit for a week. Submerge it again to kill any that may have hatched and you should break the egg cycle. Repeat a third time if you really want to be sure.
If they're all dead, no new eggs, no need to change the media.
Another option, look to see if you can purchase predatory mites. I get them once a year in late summer/early autumn because I always get spider mites that time of year. I never get too big of an infestation, but I can get ~1,000 predatory mites for about $12. I apply them, let them do their work, then put the plants to bed for the winter.

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that I make bad decisions.

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441457

By BugZix -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:54 pm
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sun Oct 29, 2023 2:56 pm

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:54 pm #441457

ChefDean wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:51 pm Probably not. At 70°F, spider mite eggs take ~7 days to hatch, and, also at 70°F, a spider mite takes about ~10 days to reach maturity from hatching.
If you submerge it for 5 days, that should kill the adults and likely many eggs. Make sure there are no trapped air bubbles. Take it out of the water and let it sit for a week. Submerge it again to kill any that may have hatched and you should break the egg cycle. Repeat a third time if you really want to be sure.

wow I didn't expect that they could be submerged for soo long. I'll try it

Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441458

By andynorth -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 10:01 pm
Location:  Federal Way, WA
Posts:  1658
Joined:  Fri May 12, 2023 9:08 pm

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 10:01 pm #441458

ChefDean wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:51 pm Probably not.
At 70°F, spider mite eggs take ~7 days to hatch, and, also at 70°F, a spider mite takes about ~10 days to reach maturity from hatching.
If you submerge it for 5 days, that should kill the adults and likely many eggs. Make sure there are no trapped air bubbles. Take it out of the water and let it sit for a week. Submerge it again to kill any that may have hatched and you should break the egg cycle. Repeat a third time if you really want to be sure.
If they're all dead, no new eggs, no need to change the media.
Another option, look to see if you can purchase predatory mites. I get them once a year in late summer/early autumn because I always get spider mites that time of year. I never get too big of an infestation, but I can get ~1,000 predatory mites for about $12. I apply them, let them do their work, then put the plants to bed for the winter.

So I have a question about this in case it ever happens to any of my plants. When you say to submerge in water, do you mean the entire plant and the media it is in or do you "bare root" them and then submerge in water? I want to be prepared just in case.

Thank you:
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Andy North

Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441470

By wcrosman -  Sun Oct 29, 2023 11:53 pm
Location:  Front Range Colorado
Posts:  520
Joined:  Thu Apr 14, 2022 2:03 am

- Sun Oct 29, 2023 11:53 pm #441470

andynorth wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 10:01 pm
ChefDean wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:51 pm Probably not.
At 70°F, spider mite eggs take ~7 days to hatch, and, also at 70°F, a spider mite takes about ~10 days to reach maturity from hatching.
If you submerge it for 5 days, that should kill the adults and likely many eggs. Make sure there are no trapped air bubbles. Take it out of the water and let it sit for a week. Submerge it again to kill any that may have hatched and you should break the egg cycle. Repeat a third time if you really want to be sure.
If they're all dead, no new eggs, no need to change the media.
Another option, look to see if you can purchase predatory mites. I get them once a year in late summer/early autumn because I always get spider mites that time of year. I never get too big of an infestation, but I can get ~1,000 predatory mites for about $12. I apply them, let them do their work, then put the plants to bed for the winter.
So I have a question about this in case it ever happens to any of my plants. When you say to submerge in water, do you mean the entire plant and the media it is in or do you "bare root" them and then submerge in water? I want to be prepared just in case.

Entire plant leaves and all.

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441476

By ChefDean -  Mon Oct 30, 2023 1:47 am
Location:  Clarksville, TN
Posts:  9813
Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am

- Mon Oct 30, 2023 1:47 am #441476

^^^^ What he said, but potted. You may have to get creative and be very gentle if using peat:perlite as your media, but everything is submerged.

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#441490

By Panman -  Mon Oct 30, 2023 2:42 pm
Location:  Atlanta, GA USA Zone 8a/8b
Posts:  6708
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm

- Mon Oct 30, 2023 2:42 pm #441490

Just to add on, the plants seem to tolerate the soaking better in the pot than bare rooted. Discovered that the hard way.

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Re: Problems with spider mites and country restrictions#442019

By Gary -  Fri Nov 10, 2023 2:55 am
Posts:  525
Joined:  Fri Jul 08, 2022 3:23 pm

- Fri Nov 10, 2023 2:55 am #442019

I can vouch for the subversion method. My Cape sundews got infested with white spider mites last year and I submerged the plants for about 4 days. No more mites, but it took about a month before the sundews would speak to me again.

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