I'm Done

[peebee]

Yup, done for this season. The spider and russet mites took over not only the tomatoes but the entire garden, the flowers and berries. So I'm done. Wish I could've had maybe 2 more weeks, but I plant really early, like in March, and I've been eating tomatoes since June so I can't complain. We've had our fill and we're satisfied. No more neem or DE to spray; I'm actually relieved.

So I've been slowly going thru the worst tomato plants, cutting them down gently so as not to spread more mites. Still have more than 30 more to go but some are still showing new leaves and therefore new hope. But they'll go out by Sept or Oct max. I want to do some cuttings w/ clean unaffected parts just to see how they do this winter with the mites gone.

These past 2 years, ever since the mites first appeared, I've noticed that they first attack beans and cukes. I hardly get any of these veggies before they are goners. Question: are these plants attracting mites, so I should not plant anymore, or are these plants attracting AND acting as a buffer so the bugs pay no attention to the tomatoes or eggplants for a while?

Thanks.