red spider mite infestation!

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emilyrasmus Portland, OR(Zone 8b) Oct 25, 2004

Two of my indoor tropical houseplants, Colocasia esculenta and zebra plant, are infested with red spider mites. How do I get rid of these? The infestation has gotten to the point where most of my Colocasia leaves are turning brown around the edges. I sprayed using a spray that contains pyrethins, but after doing some research on the web, it seems that no one can agree on a good miticide. Any advice?

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PanamonCreel Celaya, Mexico(Zone 10a) Oct 25, 2004

Try to get the miticide called AVID. Pricey but effective.
Spider mites do not like high humidity thus raise humidity if you can to increase effectiveness.

Milan

This message was edited Oct 25, 2004 4:02 PM

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emilyrasmus Portland, OR(Zone 8b) Oct 25, 2004

Looks like a great product, but I have 3 cats who have a habit of drinking out of the tray the plant pot sits in, so not an option while these guys are inside. Thank you for the suggestion though.

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PanamonCreel Celaya, Mexico(Zone 10a) Oct 25, 2004

Ah, left that little piece of information out :)
Spider mites are tough to get rid off once they are established. You can try Neem oil but you'll have to ber patient and must raise humidity.

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emilyrasmus Portland, OR(Zone 8b) Oct 25, 2004

Great idea! I already have neem oil so I'll go ahead and spray my plants with that. Hopefully misting 2x day will help these guys go away. I think I might give them a good shower to get rid of the pests and their eggs. Will neem oil burn new leaves? The spray I used yesterday that contained pyrethins burned one side of the leaf :( I think the other side is okay because I neglected to spray it.

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bonniejean1 Canton, OH(Zone 6a) Dec 29, 2004

I have never had luck getting rid of spider mite. If I discover it (and it's been many years) I promptly get rid of the diseased plant. In order to save your other plants...that is what my advice would be.

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emilyrasmus Portland, OR(Zone 8b) Dec 29, 2004

I started misting my plants twice a day and have not seen a trace of them since. I think I had a very low rate of infestation to begin with. The reason I say this is I saw a friend who has a beautiful Jade plant that has a terrible infestation of white spider mites. Besides webbing in between the leaves, there were little piles of what looked almost like cotton. I could see some little red dots and the characteristic webbing in between leaves and that was a few months ago.

I will never use pyrethins ever again on Colocasias. Every leaf I sprayed ended up dying. Thankfully a number of new leaves have taken its place. She even "bloomed" a few days ago!

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