spider mites

[Dewayne mater]

As if often said in other spider mite posts, they typically only become problematic only when the plants have other stresses. For me, the key is to keep other issues in check. Keep the leaf diseases to a minimum with good soil, fertilizers and watering habits (i.e. not on the leaves) and preventative anti fungal,etc. spraying, use root and plant stimulation tools like actinovate, mycos, etc, spray regularly with kelp and/or fish based products, and spray horitcultural oils...not sure if it matters that it be neem when it is preventative. If these tools keep down your insects and leaf diseases, spider mites may not be a big problem. That has worked for me for 2 years now anyway. But, if I let early blight or other insects, etc. become problematic, spider mites jump in an take down the plants in a hurry.

I may try Ray's take down recommendation this year to see if I can consolidate some of the spraying into one item. I've generally tried not to use an all purpose insecticides since many insects are ok to beneficial for your plants like ladybugs, bees, etc. I always worry that general purpose sprays get all the good guys too.

Dewayne Mater