Spider Mites and their Most Effective Pest Controls:

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The Pest: Spider Mites

   First Sign: Little yellow speckles on leaf surfaces. When you turn a leaf over, tiny, oval shaped mites, about pin head in size, are scurrying around. Their eggs, best seen with a magnifier, will be scattered around at random. Spider Mite eggs are all perfectly round, the same size, ranging from clear to amber in color. With larger infestations a fine webbing, crawling with mites, covers the plant tops. Soon, the leaves are browning and dying.

   Most Common Species: The Two Spot. The "two spot" Spider Mites are usually yellow/tan/greenish in color, and by maturity they grow two dark spots on their shoulders, one on each side. The larger the spots, the older the mite, or the more chlorophyll there is in the plant species they are feeding on. Spider Mites can float along with wind currents, or be carried by pets, clothing or infected plant material.

   Special Species Notes: Adult females have the ability to go dormant for a time after the photoperiod (daily hours of light) shortens, then re-emerge to lay more eggs a few weeks after the photoperiod lengthens again. That's one reason Spider Mites keep reappearing crop after crop on indoor plants.

Most Popular Control:
Spider Mite Predators

   Spider Mite Predators not only feed on Spider Mites and their eggs, they also breed twice as fast! Each Spider Mite Predator sucks the juice out of about 5 Spider Mites a day, or 20 of their eggs. Used as directed, predators should noticeably begin to gain control within 4 weeks, and then continue until the Spider Mites are nearly or completely wiped out. Predators disappear when the Spider Mites are gone.

Most Effective Control:
Triple Threat!
   Use our mix of all 3 species to cover a wider range of growing conditions.

   Wide Temp Range, Moderate Humidity:
   Phytoseiulus persimilis
      Temperature Range: 55° F - 105°+ F.
      Humidity Range: 55 - 90%

   Moderate Temp Range, High Humidity:
   Neoseiulus californicus
      Temperature Range: 55° F - 90° F.
      Humidity Range: 60% - 90%

   Widest Humidity and Temp Range:
   Mesoseiulus longipes
      Temperature Range: 55° - 105°+ F.
      Humidity Range: 45% - 90%

   All three types can be used either separately or in any combination. If you don't specify, we'll send you our Triple Threat mix of all three.

If Spider Mite Population is Especially High: Mite Destroyers.

   These tiny Mite Destroyers eat all stages of Spider Mites, and find new infestation sites on their own by flying. But, it takes 4-6 weeks to really get these guys going, so use Predator Mites as well for more immediate control and for cleaning up small "trouble spots". Life cycle takes 18 days at 70° F. 100 Spider Mite Destroyers gets a colony started.

In Greenhouses and Larger Areas: Feltiella acarisuga.

   Feltiella acarisuga is a predator midge used against Spider Mites. The adults fly around the plants, laying their eggs in the Spider-Mite colonies. The eggs soon hatch and the larvae devour the Spider Mites. Feltiella acarisuga can be used in low humidity environments where the Spider Mite Predators would have difficulty reproducing. Each shipment of Feltiella acarisuga comes with a bottle of Ovi-Stim which greatly increases their reproduction immediately after their release into your garden.

   Other Controls: Some customers report good results against Mites with some of our more All-Purpose Predators such as Pirate Bugs, Ladybugs and Green Lacewings , but these results may be due to very specific combinations of conditions that most growing environments don't have. But, if you have these other predators on hand for other plant problems, give them a try if you see Spider Mites.

   Handy Hint: Many Pyrethryn sprays are encapsulated. While Pyrethryn is relatively safe (it breaks down quickly), encapsulation can make it last for weeks or months indoors. This residual action kills off Hired Bugs even after it no longer affects pests.