Yaupon holly spider mites! Help!

[Graciegirl]

Hi all! I'm definitely a beginner and would love any advice for taking care of my new yaupon holly. I recently received a beautiful yaupon holly and within a week and a half noticed it was infested with spider mites. I did some research and treated the plant with an organic insecticide several times in order to combate the mites. The mites have disappeared as far as I can tell but the holly has suffered terrible leaf loss from the mites. I'm desperate for help at this point. Is there anything I can be doing to help prevent further leaf loss or promote leaf growth? Any care tips in general for yaupon holly would be greatly appreciated! Thank you ahead of time!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You are keeping it indoors aren't you?

 

[Graciegirl]

So I live in a warmer climate and originally had the bonsai outdoors but I bring it indoors now when the temperature drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I was doing this based on what I read on various forums so if this isn't a good practice just let me know!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I don't know about hollies, I don't know their native range or how to keep them.
But I do know spider mites. And spider mites are an "indoor only pest" if you live in an area that receives frost. Outdoors there are predators, suboptimal conditions for spider mites. Indoors, everything is just perfect for them to multiply rapidly and cause issues.
In my 15 or so years of experience here in central/northern Europe, I have never seen outdoor infestations. That's why I figured you've been keeping them indoors.

The damage can't be undone, but it can be prevented in the future. By keeping it outdoors. Otherwise you'll have to spray every bit of new foliage as soon as it grows out. That's a tedious task, and having insecticides - organic or not - inside your home is very bad for your health.
There are cats running around with epilepsy thanks to labels saying pyrethrins are safe for animals. They are not, cats lack the enzyme to degrade it and it builds up in the liver. But these pesticides are considered organic. Humans get skin and allergy issues from the stuff.

 

[Graciegirl]

Okay, I will definitely start keeping it outdoors. I was hoping the infestation was over but if you say it will just keep coming back I now realize that using pestaside is not a sustainable option. I'm worried about the health of the bonsai after having so much if it's leaves die. Are you aware of anything I can do to support it's health and help new growth? Thank you so much for all the information by the way!!!

 

[cbroad]

@Graciegirl
We need to know what part of the world you live in to give you good advice.

Yaupons (in America) are only really hardy to the southern states. Here in Virginia they are borderline, so that's about zones 6-7. I have a 25' tall established weeping variety in my yard and four prebonsai right now and currently they are heeled into the ground and covered with about a foot of snow; not sure how they'll fair through the winter....

So, depending on where you live, bringing them in may be your only chance for them to survive, or it could be a death sentence.

Spider mites are NOT "an indoor pest only." Plenty of outdoor plants here get spider mites and the damage can be bad, but with our weather and natural protections, the damage is usually not that severe. But to a conifer, it can be a death sentence. By the time you notice the symptoms, which are brown needles, the damage is usually already done.

More than likely what happened to yours was that there were eggs present on the plant and when you brought them indoors, the warmer temperatures caused the eggs to hatch. If you don't want to/can't put the holly back outside and won't use insecticides, than your only option maybe to use q-tips and rubbing alcohol to swab the entire plant and try to kill the mites and their eggs.

 

[Graciegirl]

Hello! I currently live in northern Florida.

 

[cbroad]

In Florida, your Yaupon is probably perfectly fine to stay outdoors all the time with minimal protection.

 

[GGB]

I second @cbroad, spider mites are a huge problem in my yard. Maybe in the netherlands they can't hang but on the east coast of america they'll attack and spread very quickly. I have been trying to control mine with dormant oils and it's only a temporary fix, tried tossing the most infected trees but then the mites appeared on new plants. They are insidious pests. This year I treated a tree with lime sulphur and I'll be dosing everyone with dormant oils all winter. My next option is a systemic miticide, if that even exists... think it does. My advice is keep your collection of trees on the smaller side and mist them with water daily. also water from above, it displaces mites. Until you have the problem under control I wouldn't bring too many new trees into the mix. Mites seem to prefer some types of trees more than others. I had an herb garden that was covered in mites and I didn't even notice until mid summer. there's a lot of organic ways to fight them, getting ride of badly infected plants, oil sprays, ladybugs, daily misting but you really have to stay on top of it. Sometimes weeks go by and I forget about them, then one day I notice somethings leaves are covered in brown patches and it all starts over again. Sorry to scare you but it's a problem you should really stay on top of

 

[cbroad]

Plants in containers can be thought of as losing a hardiness zone because their roots are exposed to colder temperatures and not insulated by the soil.

Your best bet is to somehow protect the container, whether that's burying it in the soil or heavily mulching the container and keeping it out of direct wind.

How long has it been indoors? Is it just coming in during the night time?

There could be some shock associated with constantly bringing it inside and outside, so throwing it back out now permanently may not be the best idea coupled with any stress caused by the spider mites...

You may have to re-acclimate it to your current outdoor temperatures.

 

[cbroad]

Try using horticultural oil to smother and suffocate the pests and their eggs. Horticultural oil is relatively safe for use indoors but it could make a mess. It's basically a mix of mineral oil, and it'll leave a slight sheen on the foliage and it has some antifungal properties too.

A home remedy (and maybe safer) is to use basic canola oil. Anything that will smother and suffocate the pests without damaging the plant should work.

I would put the plant in the shower and completely drench the plant with the oil, making sure you spray every nook and cranny, then let it drip dry. It may take a couple applications to get all of the eggs.

Good luck!

 

[Dav4]

My yaupons will be outside through my zone 7 winter. They've already had the soil freeze a few times and will get mulched on the ground with leaves if temps are going to fall into the teens F or lower.

 

[coh]

Everyone is talking about oils and pesticides but don't forget the easiest and safest way to control spider mites - water. Spray the foliage (all sides, bottom, etc), trunks, branches with a hard spray of water every day and you can at the least, significantly reduce the population. I've only had a few mite infestations but I've been able to control each one just using water.

 

[GGB]

never heard of canola oil, will try when my hort oil runs out. And @coh is right, I get lazy/worried about fungal infections some years though. Seems weird to spray down pine trees when it has been cloudy drizzly for weeks on end.

 

[Graciegirl]

My yaupons will be outside through my zone 7 winter. They've already had the soil freeze a few times and will get mulched on the ground with leaves if temps are going to fall into the teens F or lower.

Thank you everyone for the advice! So your yaupons are loosing all their leaves right?

 

[Dav4]

Thank you everyone for the advice! So your yaupons are loosing all their leaves right?

Nope. They're evergreen.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I live in Mobile so I think our climates are pretty similar, yupon holly can survive outside all the time with no pot insulation, and grow everywhere in the woods, if you look around you probably have them there. They are easy to see now as most of the other trees are bare, yupons are evergreen and easy to spot.

I have never gotten spider mites on yupon holly, but have had my share of them on azaleas and junipers, and their cousin, the rust mite, likes my bald cypress. You can play around with oils, home brews, rubbing alcohols, or giving it a shower, but if you want to get rid of them and keep them from coming back use a miticide. I use Avid, Floramite, Bayer 3 in one - one spray of Avid in the spring, Floramite in the Summer, and Bayer in the fall. This has drastically reduced the number of attacks to almost nothing.