I've been battling red spider mites on my tomato plants for about 15
years. And, so far, it's been: me - zip; red spider mites - 15. I've
tried everything: Kelthane, hard water sprays, detergent, malathion,
Neems, Sevin, flea & tick spray . . . you name it. Nothing has been
successful. Whatever anyone has suggested, I've tried. I live in
Oklahoma -- hot, dry summers. So, does anyone have a suggestion? I'll
try anything.

Arthur Bay

Tomatoes are a temperate climate fruit. They stop producing when
night temperatures remain above 78 and this is that time. I live in
Texas and my tomatoes are still producing, but are covered in spider
mites. This is the first year I've had a good harvest of tomatoes. I
switched to heirloom varieties which have been proven to produce in
this part of Texas and just yesterday I went out, cut all my plants
back and will keep them watered till mid July, when I will start to
fertilize them again and try to get a second season out of them. Now,
tomatoes are definitely winding down in the mid to deep south.

Victoria


On 5 Jul 2005 11:14:27 -0700, "
wrote:

I've been battling red spider mites on my tomato plants for about 15
years. And, so far, it's been: me - zip; red spider mites - 15. I've
tried everything: Kelthane, hard water sprays, detergent, malathion,
Neems, Sevin, flea & tick spray . . . you name it. Nothing has been
successful. Whatever anyone has suggested, I've tried. I live in
Oklahoma -- hot, dry summers. So, does anyone have a suggestion? I'll
try anything.

Arthur Bay

I will share your pain. I have not been able to completely defeat these red
mites. The total organic crowd claims seeweed and fish emulsion spray will
do the job. I tried it for several weeks with little or no success. I have
used kelthane and malathion too the point I was afraid to eat any of the
tomatoes. I just have about accepted the fact that I am only going to get a
short growing season. I always plant a fall crop and do not usually have a
bad mite problem. I live in central Texas.

Good Luck
and Have Fun

Jim

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've been battling red spider mites on my tomato plants for about 15
years. And, so far, it's been: me - zip; red spider mites - 15. I've
tried everything: Kelthane, hard water sprays, detergent, malathion,
Neems, Sevin, flea & tick spray . . . you name it. Nothing has been
successful. Whatever anyone has suggested, I've tried. I live in
Oklahoma -- hot, dry summers. So, does anyone have a suggestion? I'll
try anything.

Arthur Bay

I was about to claim victory. I spotted a tomato patch about 10 doors
from my yard that appeared to be mite free. So, I knocked on the door
to learn his secret. Nice guy. He uses malathion but in a much
stronger dosage than I have used it. Something like 1.5 ounces per
gallon. So, I looked on the label and it says I could use up to 3
ounces per gallon -- 6 tablespoons. His secret, he claims, was in
using a hose end sprayer -- one of those that you don't have to mix
with water. Rather you dial the dosage and the mix is automatic.
Anyway, I set mine for 6 tablespoons and sprayed away last Monday.
Today, my plants look worse than ever. I should give up -- but I'll
try again next year. It's like this every year for me with no end in
sight.

Here, in Oklahoma City, unlike central Texas, you can't get a fall
crop. And, it must be the red spider capitol of the universe.

Central Texas HAS two short growing season, as opposed to one long
season up north. I'm only refering to vegetables.

What I do for my heirloom tomatoes is, about now when the spider mites
are starting to show stippling, I harvest what is ripe or near ripe.
I prune out all dead, or crossing vines and any yellow or mite damaged
foliage. I spray the undersides of the leaves EVERY DAY with a really
good hard spray from my hose and I make sure I get every leaf.

I did this last week. When I do this, I also fertilize the plants. I
am already seeing new growth on both tomatoes I have planted in tubs
of compost. Next week, I will set out new plants, but continue to
water and fertilize the ones I have. These will be my greenhouse
tomatoes for the winter months.

I hope you got some of the rain we had tonight. It was getting
ridiculously dry.

Victoria by the Dell Diamond


On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 02:00:04 GMT, "Jim Marrs"
wrote:

I will share your pain. I have not been able to completely defeat these red
mites. The total organic crowd claims seeweed and fish emulsion spray will
do the job. I tried it for several weeks with little or no success. I have
used kelthane and malathion too the point I was afraid to eat any of the
tomatoes. I just have about accepted the fact that I am only going to get a
short growing season. I always plant a fall crop and do not usually have a
bad mite problem. I live in central Texas.

Good Luck
and Have Fun

Jim

wrote in message
oups.com...
I've been battling red spider mites on my tomato plants for about 15
years. And, so far, it's been: me - zip; red spider mites - 15. I've
tried everything: Kelthane, hard water sprays, detergent, malathion,
Neems, Sevin, flea & tick spray . . . you name it. Nothing has been
successful. Whatever anyone has suggested, I've tried. I live in
Oklahoma -- hot, dry summers. So, does anyone have a suggestion? I'll
try anything.

Arthur Bay

If you used malathion, kelthane, and all the rest you mentioned and
you still have problems, you are doing something wrong, culturally.
You are either stressing the plants by improper watering, or your
fertilization is not accurate, or something. Are these plants in
containers or in the ground? By the way, using one of those cheap ten
dollar hose end Ortho sprayers is one of the most inaccurate
proportioners I ever had in my life. They are really dangerous.
Exactly how are you caring for your plants. Maybe we can work
backwards and solve this thing without killing everything else, and
exposing yourself to these horrible pesticides.

Victoria


On 7 Jul 2005 19:32:15 -0700, "
wrote:

I was about to claim victory. I spotted a tomato patch about 10 doors
from my yard that appeared to be mite free. So, I knocked on the door
to learn his secret. Nice guy. He uses malathion but in a much
stronger dosage than I have used it. Something like 1.5 ounces per
gallon. So, I looked on the label and it says I could use up to 3
ounces per gallon -- 6 tablespoons. His secret, he claims, was in
using a hose end sprayer -- one of those that you don't have to mix
with water. Rather you dial the dosage and the mix is automatic.
Anyway, I set mine for 6 tablespoons and sprayed away last Monday.
Today, my plants look worse than ever. I should give up -- but I'll
try again next year. It's like this every year for me with no end in
sight.

Here, in Oklahoma City, unlike central Texas, you can't get a fall
crop. And, it must be the red spider capitol of the universe.

Victoria, I suspect you are on to something. My method is to stick the
plants in the ground and water them whenever I think they're too dry.
I really don't fertilize them -- except I had a load of fresh dirt
spread over my garden, and I had the soil checked and the report was
good. I was supposed to spread 3 pounds of nitrogen for 100 sq. ft.
once per month.

I suppose that's not right, right? My other vegetables are doing fine
-- corn, squash, cucumbers, egg plant, bell peppers, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, okra, asparagus, green beans, cabbage -- all did or doing
quite fine.

Arthur Bay

wrote:
I've been battling red spider mites on my tomato plants for about 15
years. And, so far, it's been: me - zip; red spider mites - 15. I've
tried everything: Kelthane, hard water sprays, detergent, malathion,
Neems, Sevin, flea & tick spray . . . you name it. Nothing has been
successful. Whatever anyone has suggested, I've tried. I live in
Oklahoma -- hot, dry summers. So, does anyone have a suggestion? I'll
try anything.

Arthur Bay

I have heard that Dusting Sulfur is very good for the spider mite
problem.
Have you tried that yet ?

Craig

For some reason, tomatoes have been a great challenge for me in south
central Texas. They are so prone to spider mites due to the elevated
night temperatures and the lack of adequate rain. Watering with
treated water is really so much different than rain water. The main
thing I did differently this year was to use 30 gallon tubs and
planted directly in 2 parts compost to 1 part potting mix. The other
thing I did was to stake them in four places. These are determinate
tomatoes, but they still get gangly. I paid attention to moisture
daily and kept them evently watered. Only twice did they wilt from
heat, and that was during the vast non-transition we went through from
spring to summer. I also added minerals to the potting mix: soft
rock phosphate, seaweed meal for potassium and it also provides
nitrogen. I used heirloom, non-potato leaf varieties and have had
success.

So, you may be doing all the right things, but I should add that daily
when I water, I spray a hard spray under the foliage to wash off the
mites. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Victoria


On 8 Jul 2005 06:40:40 -0700, "
wrote:

Victoria, I suspect you are on to something. My method is to stick the
plants in the ground and water them whenever I think they're too dry.
I really don't fertilize them -- except I had a load of fresh dirt
spread over my garden, and I had the soil checked and the report was
good. I was supposed to spread 3 pounds of nitrogen for 100 sq. ft.
once per month.

I suppose that's not right, right? My other vegetables are doing fine
-- corn, squash, cucumbers, egg plant, bell peppers, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, okra, asparagus, green beans, cabbage -- all did or doing
quite fine.

Arthur Bay

No, I don't think so. I may have early in my tomato growing career.
Anyway, it couldn't hurt, so next year I'll add that to my long list of
solutions. I ain't giving up.

Got a pretty good crop this year, but the tomatoes are hanging on dead
branches. The season is over for me. I hope the green tomatoes will
be able to ripen. In the meantime, I am harvesting quite a few. On a
good year, (and I've had a few -- sort of), I'll get a second batch
that never quite ripen before the frost but yield a bunch of green
tomatoes that my wife uses to make green tomato pie -- and family
recipe.

Arthur Bay