Mites? Is this them?

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does this look like a spider mite web? this was recently sprayed with malaria (few weeks ago, my understanding is once every two months)

i did just recently spray with seaweed fert so it could be spiders looking for bugs, but i don’t think so…
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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I would treat for spider mites seeing this. My eyes are not young enough to see spider mites. I usually go by appearance of the foliage. Mites will result in "dusty looking" leaves, for large smooth leaves, they will no longer feel smooth and glossy, they will even "feel dusty". Fine pitting on the surfaces of the leaves, sometimes only the lower surface (spider mites) sometimes both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves (false spider mites, some flat mites, and two spot spider mites). Spider mites can be a real hazard for indoor growers. Outdoors they can get bad, though it is very location & local climate dependent. Where I live, we almost never have outbreaks of spider mite outdoors, or at least in my backyard. I have hear local balcony growers, where the height above ground level seems to keep humidity lower, have more problems with mites.

So if in addition to these webs, the foliage does not look as healthy as it should, I would say you should treat for spider mites.

Note - you MUST READ LABELS. Most insecticides will not work on spiders. You need an arachnicide. Spider mites are not "bugs" they can swim in Malathion and go on to munch away on your leaves.

Spraying with vigorous spray of water can mechanically knock off a major number of mites. Be sure to spray under the leaves and the top surfaces of the leaves. This is the least toxic method, but it is also the least effective. You need to repeat daily for several weeks to get rid of the mites.

Safer's brand miticide soap, a potassium salt based soap, works only if repeat applications are made every 2 or 3 days. Read the directions on the label. Repeat at the frequency they suggest, continue to repeat spraying until at least one or 2 cycles with no recurrence of the symptoms.

There are formulations of Neem oil that list mites as a target pest.

If you want to resort to chemical warfare, there are some options. If you have a small collection

You must read labels, when shopping for pesticides I will take an hour or two of reading labels before ordering on line, or I will stand in the aisle of the nursery reading labels before putting one in the basket.

IF THE PEST YOU WANT TO KILL IS NOT LISTED ON THE LABEL, THE PESTICIDE IS UNLIKELY TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR THAT PEST. READ THE LABELS. Modern pesticides are much more targeted, in an effort to not cause collateral damage the way stuff like DDT did. DDT was great, it killed both insects and mites. But the down side it killed birds, and fish and likely caused cancer in humans too. Modern pesticides are so targeted that if an insect is not listed on the label, its is very likely it will not kill something not listed. For example, on the farm we had a pesticide for cranberry fruit worm (a moth larva that attacks blueberries too. We had to get a second separate pesticide for the blueberry maggot, (a dipteran, like the house fly), because the Blueberry maggot was in a different family of insects, the pesticide for one would not kill the other. Yet they are both insects. Spider mites are not even insects, so many, many pesticides for insects will not affect them at all.

I have a supply of Pentac Wetable Powder that I picked up a decade or so ago, that was the current "go to" for spider mites. I do not know if it is still available. Ovid, and a few others are good. Browse the pesticide pages at Hummert International, based in Saint Louis, MO, for potential chemicals. You can read the full labels through their website. You don't have to buy form them. Some of the package sizes are intended for commercial growers only, but you can get an idea of what to look for from other vendors. They do ship, I have ordered from them for deliver in Illinois and in Michigan with not problems.


They also have a line of organic and IPM products including predatory mites and other beneficial insects


So you an see there are a lot of options, from simple, as in a spray with water, to highly targeted miticides.
 

Bonsaidoorguy

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kvdP6QC.jpg
does this look like a spider mite web? this was recently sprayed with malaria (few weeks ago, my understanding is once every two months)

i did just recently spray with seaweed fert so it could be spiders looking for bugs, but i don’t think so…
Yikes. That's a bad mite infestation. Used to grow the ganja and I've seen it like that and worse.
 
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I would treat for spider mites seeing this. My eyes are not young enough to see spider mites. I usually go by appearance of the foliage. Mites will result in "dusty looking" leaves, for large smooth leaves, they will no longer feel smooth and glossy, they will even "feel dusty". Fine pitting on the surfaces of the leaves, sometimes only the lower surface (spider mites) sometimes both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves (false spider mites, some flat mites, and two spot spider mites). Spider mites can be a real hazard for indoor growers. Outdoors they can get bad, though it is very location & local climate dependent. Where I live, we almost never have outbreaks of spider mite outdoors, or at least in my backyard. I have hear local balcony growers, where the height above ground level seems to keep humidity lower, have more problems with mites.

So if in addition to these webs, the foliage does not look as healthy as it should, I would say you should treat for spider mites.

Note - you MUST READ LABELS. Most insecticides will not work on spiders. You need an arachnicide. Spider mites are not "bugs" they can swim in Malathion and go on to munch away on your leaves.

Spraying with vigorous spray of water can mechanically knock off a major number of mites. Be sure to spray under the leaves and the top surfaces of the leaves. This is the least toxic method, but it is also the least effective. You need to repeat daily for several weeks to get rid of the mites.

Safer's brand miticide soap, a potassium salt based soap, works only if repeat applications are made every 2 or 3 days. Read the directions on the label. Repeat at the frequency they suggest, continue to repeat spraying until at least one or 2 cycles with no recurrence of the symptoms.

There are formulations of Neem oil that list mites as a target pest.

If you want to resort to chemical warfare, there are some options. If you have a small collection

You must read labels, when shopping for pesticides I will take an hour or two of reading labels before ordering on line, or I will stand in the aisle of the nursery reading labels before putting one in the basket.

IF THE PEST YOU WANT TO KILL IS NOT LISTED ON THE LABEL, THE PESTICIDE IS UNLIKELY TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR THAT PEST. READ THE LABELS. Modern pesticides are much more targeted, in an effort to not cause collateral damage the way stuff like DDT did. DDT was great, it killed both insects and mites. But the down side it killed birds, and fish and likely caused cancer in humans too. Modern pesticides are so targeted that if an insect is not listed on the label, its is very likely it will not kill something not listed. For example, on the farm we had a pesticide for cranberry fruit worm (a moth larva that attacks blueberries too. We had to get a second separate pesticide for the blueberry maggot, (a dipteran, like the house fly), because the Blueberry maggot was in a different family of insects, the pesticide for one would not kill the other. Yet they are both insects. Spider mites are not even insects, so many, many pesticides for insects will not affect them at all.

I have a supply of Pentac Wetable Powder that I picked up a decade or so ago, that was the current "go to" for spider mites. I do not know if it is still available. Ovid, and a few others are good. Browse the pesticide pages at Hummert International, based in Saint Louis, MO, for potential chemicals. You can read the full labels through their website. You don't have to buy form them. Some of the package sizes are intended for commercial growers only, but you can get an idea of what to look for from other vendors. They do ship, I have ordered from them for deliver in Illinois and in Michigan with not problems.


They also have a line of organic and IPM products including predatory mites and other beneficial insects


So you an see there are a lot of options, from simple, as in a spray with water, to highly targeted miticides.

I thought i had sent another post to thank you for the detailed reply but as always i found your input extremely helpful. i’m starting with the neem and dawn since i have it, but i’ll be looking at that site as well
 

Forsoothe!

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For those with a Midwestern climate of typically 70% humidity, spraying the foliage with the hose every time you water works wonders. I point the nozzle up, under the canopy to make the driest parts wet and bad places for mites to propagate. I use the hardest spray that the foliage will stand to shake the little bastards loose.

If you have a standing army of mites up-wind in a neighbor's shrubs waiting to migrate you will forever have a problem. Look closely.
 

Mapleminx

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Look at all that twisty beauty! 🥰🥰🥰🥰
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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figured out why i thought malathion killed mites


EVHyViZ.jpg

Ah, it says so on the label. Then yes, Malathion should kill mites. There on the inner label it likely will tell you how frequently to reapply the Malathion. I would expect to require 3 applications to kill off mites.
 
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Ah, it says so on the label. Then yes, Malathion should kill mites. There on the inner label it likely will tell you how frequently to reapply the Malathion. I would expect to require 3 applications to kill off mites.

When you've dealt with them before using neem, how many applications did you find it took? I blasted 'em pretty good yesterday but do see webs again today, and I'm starting to think maybe they really are just spider webs. Foliage seems OK to me at least, and I thought this level of webbing would be pretty late stage.
 
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