indoor Indoor Spider Mites Win

[Poisonette]

I tried that pepper spray mix, OTC sprays, etc. and it all did work for a while but I couldn't keep up with them. They'd move from plant to plant, finding the closest strong one to infest. It didn't matter to them that I'd spray all the plants equally. They loved it inside.

So... All of my plants are now outside. My "Pepper Room" is going to get cleaned and bug bombed.

I will start new seeds indoors next season. I'm not afraid, I'll be prepared next time around. I love watching them grow up.


As far as all the plants that were moved outside before today, they're all doing great and I've managed to enjoy a few sweet peppers and my jalapenos are ripening up quickly. I've got tons of flowers on many of them.
My tons of bells are surviving but not really producing or flowering. Oh well.

 

[wordwiz]

I think those of us who grow indoors are going to have to find which "companion" plants work best. I know the mites nearly destroyed my Thai Dragon and some seedlings last fall.

Mike

 

[chilehunter]

I thought this only happens if you're using soil ?

 

[ABurningMouth]

I thought this only happens if you're using soil ?

That's what I used to think. I didn't use any, and I got em like crazy.
The seeds I started in sterile soil all do ok, but one plant from outside can spoil the bunch. Isolation from buggy areas starting at birth is the key to bugglessness.

 

[Canuck Pepperhead]

are they like little red dot things??

 

[Poisonette]

are they like little red dot things??

Those are one type of spider mite. The ones I've got are tan, but otherwise identical.


I am a little saddened by the fact that I won't be able to overwinter any of these plants indoors. I don't want these suckers anywhere in the house again. It's bad enough I know they're still in there.

 

[wordwiz]

Poisonette,

I defeated them last year and I'll do it again this year. I plan on overwintering maybe a dozen plants. For one thing, from what I understand, if you overwinter, you trim all the leaves and small branches off, so they won't have much to feed on. Don't give up yet. They are bugs!

Mike

 

[Canuck Pepperhead]

Im asking because my wifes uncle is going through the same heartache with his garden

 

[QuadShotz]

Hey dont feel bad, my beutiful Morich now has serious chrolosis and may die. It's fuikd. I repotted it...and spaced how much fert i used..it wasn't until the dam thing turned yellow and dropped leaves..in the same day..that i knew.

I've pulled it, washed the roots out, i se serious root burn...2" oif roots for a 6" plant... adn put into a nice mellow pro-mix blend wit b vitamins.. It may live..idk. It's nto well.

Killed with kindness.. me thinks. I have more sprouts, bt he was soooo nice.

Makes me ill to watch him fight for life, because i fukd up.
It's like i killed a child ..that was never pleasant.. Plants, are alive too.

 

[Gnildir]

Poisonette,

I defeated them last year and I'll do it again this year. I plan on overwintering maybe a dozen plants. For one thing, from what I understand, if you overwinter, you trim all the leaves and small branches off, so they won't have much to feed on. Don't give up yet. They are bugs!

Mike

You are very wrong about the last statement... Spider mites are not bugs, they are arachnids... just like spiders... so your common every-day bug spray will not work effectively on them... You need some chemicals that were designed to kill arachnids. One big thing though, do not use the same chemical year after year, rotate the type of chemical you use to kill them as it will prevent insects/arachnids from becoming immune to the chemicals. Spider mites may be pests, but their 'jobs' are to simply defoliate plants when plants are in stress. Yet, they even stress the plants more. So if there was something going on with your plants, or if they are sick, stressed from slight dehydration, etc, the plant actually puts out a scent that attracts spider mites... Oh, do you really want to know how to try to control spider mites and spoil your plants at the same time? (someone told me this as I will try this at the nursery where I work at) get an ultra-sonic fogging machine, or a mister if you have a large green-house, and a fan so you can make sure that water vapor gets everywhere... Mites hate water, and if there's enough water vapors in the air, you could actually drown them. Water droplets would collect on every inch of the plants, and in return, the plant would actually absorb the water that lands on the leaves.

that's my 2 nagas's worth!

-Gnildir

 

[Gnildir]

By the way Quad... I got more plants if you need some.

 

[rabbit]

You are very wrong about the last statement... Spider mites are not bugs, they are arachnids... just like spiders... so your common every-day bug spray will not work effectively on them... You need some chemicals that were designed to kill arachnids. One big thing though, do not use the same chemical year after year, rotate the type of chemical you use to kill them as it will prevent insects/arachnids from becoming immune to the chemicals. Spider mites may be pests, but their 'jobs' are to simply defoliate plants when plants are in stress. Yet, they even stress the plants more. So if there was something going on with your plants, or if they are sick, stressed from slight dehydration, etc, the plant actually puts out a scent that attracts spider mites... Oh, do you really want to know how to try to control spider mites and spoil your plants at the same time? (someone told me this as I will try this at the nursery where I work at) get an ultra-sonic fogging machine, or a mister if you have a large green-house, and a fan so you can make sure that water vapor gets everywhere... Mites hate water, and if there's enough water vapors in the air, you could actually drown them. Water droplets would collect on every inch of the plants, and in return, the plant would actually absorb the water that lands on the leaves.

that's my 2 nagas's worth!

-Gnildir

Good info, but insects are 6 legged, arachnids are 8 legged, and bugs is a general non-specific term to lob all of them into one group. I think bugs would even apply to worms. It's an easy way to loosely identify all kinds of little odd looking creatures

 

[rabbit]

Hey dont feel bad, my beutiful Morich now has serious chrolosis and may die. It's fuikd. I repotted it...and spaced how much fert i used..it wasn't until the dam thing turned yellow and dropped leaves..in the same day..that i knew.

I've pulled it, washed the roots out, i se serious root burn...2" oif roots for a 6" plant... adn put into a nice mellow pro-mix blend wit b vitamins.. It may live..idk. It's nto well.

Killed with kindness.. me thinks. I have more sprouts, bt he was soooo nice.

Makes me ill to watch him fight for life, because i fukd up.
It's like i killed a child ..that was never pleasant.. Plants, are alive too.

My bhut died a few days ago. You're not alone. I'll get to start over again though. I've got more seeds. My other plants are doing well though.

 

[QuadShotz]

Well, the root-flush and re-potting seems to have helped some.
Oh, and nature has a way of evening things out..I got two orange habs, one CR hab, two savinas, and another baby morich spouting.

Oh, and thanks gnil. No worries mate, there will still be plenty of pain-pods by the time ya get here. ;-)

-QS

 

[rabbit]

Well, the root-flush and re-potting seems to have helped some.
Oh, and nature has a way of evening things out..I got two orange habs, one CR hab, two savinas, and another baby morich spouting.

Oh, and thanks gnil. No worries mate, there will still be plenty of pain-pods by the time ya get here. ;-)

-QS

Well, that's good news Quadshots.

 

[rainbowberry]

I'm battling blackfly, greenfly and whitefly at the moment. The sh*tty little things have just made themselves known to me in the last day or so, and all three at once, not fair.

 

[Nute]

I sprayed this 3 days ago and death and destruction resulted for all inhabitants in the tiny town of Pepperland.

Based on neem oil and nuclear waste it works very well.
For small tenders spray it off within 1 hour.

 

[rabbit]

I sprayed this 3 days ago and death and destruction resulted for all inhabitants in the tiny town of Pepperland.

Based on neem oil and nuclear waste it works very well.
For small tenders spray it off within 1 hour.

I'll keep that stuff in mind if I run into problems down the road.

 

[Gnildir]

I'm battling blackfly, greenfly and whitefly at the moment. The sh*tty little things have just made themselves known to me in the last day or so, and all three at once, not fair.

hey rainbow... here's a simple solution for your pests... get a few of those yellow sticky cards and stick them in the pots. Watch the number of those flies Sticky color traps

Other fly traps use the color preferences of the target species to lure them into a sticky mass of goo on the fly trap. These fly traps are often called sticky-traps and are frequently used to attract flying insects which are not true flies, but have the word fly in the common name, for example, greenfly and blackfly (both of which are really aphids) and white-fly (Aleyrodidae), which are true-bugs related to aphids - in other words not flies at all. These fly traps are ideal for greenhouses and grow frames. Small sticky-traps are useful indoors, where small black flies called sciarids (Diptera: Sciaridae) are attracted to pot-plants. There they breed in the moist soil and are generally harmful to the plants, but can be unsightly or reach undesirable numbers.

Before

and trapping!

If you cannot find these in the stores, you can make your own. You will need to buy a can of 'tanglefoot' or pest glue trap. cut some bright yellow paper, preferrably fluorescent paper, spread that glue on it, and then set the traps...

that's my 2 naga's worth...

-Aaron

 

[wordwiz]

I sprayed this 3 days ago and death and destruction resulted for all inhabitants in the tiny town of Pepperland.

Based on neem oil and nuclear waste it works very well.
For small tenders spray it off within 1 hour.

Been there, done it, used the same thing. A week later, aphids were having a feast.

These creatures are indestructible.

Mike