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How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a
hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? TIA Al |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 11/08/2011 22:11, AL_n wrote:
It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? Real red spider mite are very pale yellow and need a magnifying glass to see them. You generally can only see the webs they spin and a bunch of tiny dots moving about. Red spider mite doesn't usually kill otherwise healthy plants. Spray or use a systemic insecticide that is specific against red spider mite. Provado seems to be still reasonably effective. http://www.bayergarden.co.uk/product...&categoryid=13 Putting it outdoors might be enough for most things to recover. I have only ever had serious bother with rsm under glass and only really because it can scar the growing points of cacti and succulents. Regards, Martin Brown Regards, Martin Brown |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 11 Aug 2011 21:11:33 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:
It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? I just discovered red spider mites on my tender morning glory which I had brought indoors because the wind was battering it. Been away for a few days and noticed all the leaves looking mottled. Tried to see them with a x10 magnifier but my eyes aren't good enough. Got a friend to look and he saw the webbing as well, so it's outside again and has been rained on and may get a spray of some sort. They are devils, hard to get rid of, and it's a mystery where they come from. I've had no rsm for several years and have very few houseplants these days. They say that spraying with water helps as the rsm (not regimental sergeant major!) thrive in dry conditions. Pam in Bristol |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 11/08/2011 22:38, Pam Moore wrote:
On 11 Aug 2011 21:11:33 GMT, wrote: It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? I just discovered red spider mites on my tender morning glory which I had brought indoors because the wind was battering it. Been away for a few days and noticed all the leaves looking mottled. Tried to see them with a x10 magnifier but my eyes aren't good enough. Got a friend to look and he saw the webbing as well, so it's outside again and has been rained on and may get a spray of some sort. They are devils, hard to get rid of, and it's a mystery where they come from. I've had no rsm for several years and have very few houseplants these days. They say that spraying with water helps as the rsm (not regimental sergeant major!) thrive in dry conditions. Spray or water with a systemic insecticide. Provado seems effective and can be used either way (or both ways). Alternate with some other contact insecticide you don't want to encourage them to gain immunity. You have to make it very humid and steamy before rsm get discouraged. I have never had a serious problem with rsm outside in the UK. There is a predator mite for biological control though I have never had any luck with it. I do have some obscure mite that only target my snowdrops in spring, but they just make the leaves go a bit silver. I asked for an ID once and was told that it was only possible by electron microscopy of the mouth parts. I leave them alone as the bulbs don't seem to suffer. Regards, Martin Brown |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On Aug 12, 10:07*am, Martin Brown
wrote: On 11/08/2011 22:38, Pam Moore wrote: On 11 Aug 2011 21:11:33 GMT, *wrote: It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? I just discovered red spider mites on my tender morning glory which I had brought indoors because the wind was battering it. Been away for a few days and noticed all the leaves looking mottled. Tried to see them with a x10 magnifier but my eyes aren't good enough. Got a friend to look and he saw the webbing as well, so it's outside again and has been rained on and may get a spray of some sort. *They are *devils, hard to get rid of, and it's a mystery where they come from. *I've had no rsm for several years and have very few houseplants these days. They say that spraying with water helps as the rsm (not regimental sergeant major!) thrive in dry conditions. Spray or water with a systemic insecticide. Provado seems effective and can be used either way (or both ways). Alternate with some other contact insecticide you don't want to encourage them to gain immunity. You have to make it very humid and steamy before rsm get discouraged. I have never had a serious problem with rsm outside in the UK. There is a predator mite for biological control though I have never had any luck with it. I do have some obscure mite that only target my snowdrops in spring, but they just make the leaves go a bit silver. I asked for an ID once and was told that it was only possible by electron microscopy of the mouth parts. I leave them alone as the bulbs don't seem to suffer. Regards, Martin Brown- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - The trick with Phytoseilius is to monitor the spider mite population closely and to introduce a proportionate number of predators (Phytoseilius). If you put too many in they eat the rsm and then start on one another. Too few and you fail to get effective control. The 'dead white bugs' the o/p saw were most likely the cast skins of moulting aphids so a heavy infestation of rsm and aphids is suggested as the culprits. As you advised - outside and treat with something like Provado is likely to be the best approach at this late stage. Rod |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On Aug 11, 10:11*pm, "AL_n" wrote:
It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? TIA Al As you observed they just suck them dry. See my reply further down. Rod |
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How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 11/08/2011 22:11, AL_n wrote:
It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? TIA Al Have followed this thread and agree with replies. However, no-one has covered the fact that any rsm that has recently sucked dry a virused plant can transmit that virus to the new plant. In most cases, there is no treatment and the plant(s) must be destroyed. This is also true of aphids and other sap-sucking or plant-chewing insects. It doesn't sound as if this was the case with the OP's plant, but it's another thing to watch out for. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On Aug 12, 10:34*pm, Spider wrote:
On 11/08/2011 22:11, AL_n wrote: It took me many attemts to get a successfully rooting cutting from a hibiscus shrub. Then when I finally succeeded, it got attacked by what I guess was spider mites. I could see a load of minute dead white bus on the undesides of the leaves and a few cobweb-like starnds too. The leaves all sort of dried up, and the plant seems to have given up the ghost, despite having grown decent roots. How does this happen? Can I revive the baby shrub? TIA Al Have followed this thread and agree with replies. *However, no-one has covered the fact that any rsm that has recently sucked dry a virused plant can transmit that virus to the new plant. *In most cases, there is no treatment and the plant(s) must be destroyed. *This is also true of aphids and other sap-sucking or plant-chewing insects. *It doesn't sound as if this was the case with the OP's plant, but it's another thing to watch out for. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay Good point. In fact viruses spread by sucking pests are often a greater danger than the sucking itself. In commercial stocks there are often widespread and expensive consequences. Rod |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
Spider wrote in
: Have followed this thread and agree with replies. However, no-one has covered the fact that any rsm that has recently sucked dry a virused plant can transmit that virus to the new plant. In most cases, there is no treatment and the plant(s) must be destroyed. This is also true of aphids and other sap-sucking or plant-chewing insects. It doesn't sound as if this was the case with the OP's plant, but it's another thing to watch out for. I thank you all for the input. Can anyone explain how the plant is actually killed? I was hoping that once I had killed the pests, that new leaves would start to grow, but the plant shows absolyutely no sign of life. How come? Maybe it was infected with a killer virus by the pest? I have another propagated cutting of the same hibiscus sitting on the smae window sill. That was also attacked by the bug, but not so heavily. It is doing fine now, since I sprayed it with a horticultural bug spray. Al |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
In article ,
Kay wrote: On 19/08/2011 10:57, in article , "AL_n" wrote: I thank you all for the input. Can anyone explain how the plant is actually killed? I was hoping that once I had killed the pests, that new leaves would start to grow, but the plant shows absolyutely no sign of life. The pests feed on the sap of the plant. If the infestation is really heavy, the part of the plant that they are on will dry out (just as if it had had no water) and die. Once the growing tip of a branch has dried out, then the branch itself may well die, and so on until the whole plant has died. Actually, I think that they suck the sap out of the cells, so those cells will die. That is why the leaves go white and don't recover even if you kill the RSM. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 19/08/2011 10:57, in article , "AL_n" wrote: I thank you all for the input. Can anyone explain how the plant is actually killed? I was hoping that once I had killed the pests, that new leaves would start to grow, but the plant shows absolyutely no sign of life. Al The pests feed on the sap of the plant. If the infestation is really heavy, the part of the plant that they are on will dry out (just as if it had had no water) and die. Once the growing tip of a branch has dried out, then the branch itself may well die, and so on until the whole plant has died. The effect of the red spider is therefore much the same as not watering the plants for several weeks on end - if the "drought" isn't too sever, then you can water the plant and it will grow new leaves, like your second plant, but if the "drought" has gone on too long, the plant has died and nothing you do will revive it. It does take a pretty heavy rsm infestation to kill a plant. The good side is, now you know what they look like, you're in a better position to recognise an infestation early on. |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
In article ,
AL_n wrote: Actually, I think that they suck the sap out of the cells, so those cells will die. That is why the leaves go white and don't recover even if you kill the RSM. Onsce the pnat ppears totally dead, is there a best-chance remedy left to try, such as cutting the branches off ain the hope that a new shoot might appear? Presumably the roots are unaffected? Generally, just spray the hell out of it with soft soap or detergent and meths, keep it damp and warm, and see what happens. Some plants sprout from low down (even the roots), but others sprout better from younger wood. And some won't regrow at all. Cut the dead stuff off after it has started to regrow. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
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How does spider mite attack actually kill a plant?
On 20/08/2011 12:59, AL_n wrote:
wrote in : Actually, I think that they suck the sap out of the cells, so those cells will die. That is why the leaves go white and don't recover even if you kill the RSM. Onsce the pnat ppears totally dead, is there a best-chance remedy left to try, such as cutting the branches off ain the hope that a new shoot might appear? Presumably the roots are unaffected? The only chemical remedy for red spider mite worth using is Westland Plant Rescue ready-to-use spray, which contains thiamethoxam and abamectin. It is the latter which is active against RSM. Do not bother with any other chemicals available to the amateur which claim to be active, and do not be mislead into buying Plant Rescue concentrate as this contains only thiamethoxam. In my experience, it is best to use this spray at the first sign of any RSM infection - usually a few small web strands. Check the underside of the leaves for RSM. If heavily infested, remove all leaves (if this is feasible) and spray what's left. Drastic, but it may save the plant. -- Jeff |
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