Spiders killing off shrubs, grapes?
 

Hey all!

We have some Valiant grape vines, about a foot tall that we've planted
recently. We also have a number of other plants - roses, blueberry,
etc. and we've noticed that the ends of some branches appear to be
covered in spider webs. These branches appear to be dead or dying,
with leaves drying out, etc. I don't see any insects at all, and the
web is not very dense. I doubt that it's a caterpillar.

We're zone 3A in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

We haven't had much luck finding a decent "plant diseases and pest"
book or website.

Any idea what is happening and how to deal with it? As much as I hate
spraying chemicals (natural or otherwise) is there anything I should
be doing on a regular basis to keep the pests down on my plants
(including the apple tree from my other post)

Thanks!

Spiders killing off shrubs, grapes?
 

Take a white piece of paper outside with you and put it under this web and tap
the plant. Then closely examine the paper, wear your reading glasses if you
have them or use an eye loop if you have that. If you see black tiny almost
microscopic specs moving, you have spider mites. Do a search on spider mites
and you'll probably get a million hits.

The proper use of insecticidal soap is the safest way to kill them, but you have
to do it about three times, 4 days apart. OR, you can just take a hose and with
a hard spray knock them off every day for a week or two.

That's what I do.


On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 02:31:58 GMT, "Some One" wrote:

Hey all!

We have some Valiant grape vines, about a foot tall that we've planted
recently. We also have a number of other plants - roses, blueberry,
etc. and we've noticed that the ends of some branches appear to be
covered in spider webs. These branches appear to be dead or dying,
with leaves drying out, etc. I don't see any insects at all, and the
web is not very dense. I doubt that it's a caterpillar.

We're zone 3A in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

We haven't had much luck finding a decent "plant diseases and pest"
book or website.

Any idea what is happening and how to deal with it? As much as I hate
spraying chemicals (natural or otherwise) is there anything I should
be doing on a regular basis to keep the pests down on my plants
(including the apple tree from my other post)

Thanks!

Spiders killing off shrubs, grapes?
 

Spiders do not eat or "kill off" plants of anykind. They are predators of other
spiders and small insects and build their webs where these creatures can be
found. If you have spiders, they are there because you have some other insect.
You more likely have an infestation of spidermites. These are not spiders but
got their name because of the webbing they produce. They do destroy plant
tissue. See:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...s/spidmite.htm
sed5555