spider mites won this year

[kurt]

Originally Posted by jamserg

I wonder what professional/farm growers do to fight this problem? I'm sure there's quite a few on this forum. tia

Down here in the tomato fields I always see either crop dusters and these vehicle driven fogging type machines with guys in full hazmat type uniforms going thru the fields.I understand they mix pesticides and fertilizers at the same time.Scares the hell out of me.

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by jamserg

I wonder what professional/farm growers do to fight this problem? I'm sure there's quite a few on this forum. tia

This is the best info I've found on mite control:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html
If you are going to use chemicals for mite control note the info under "Chemical Controls" at the bottom of the page. It is important enough to quote:

"Spider mites frequently become a problem after applying insecticides. Such outbreaks are commonly a result of the insecticide killing off the mites’ natural enemies but also occur when certain insecticides stimulate mite reproduction. For example, spider mites exposed to carbaryl (Sevin) in the laboratory have been shown to reproduce faster than untreated populations. Carbaryl, some organophosphates, and some pyrethroids apparently also favor spider mites by increasing the level of nitrogen in leaves. Insecticides applied during hot weather usually appear to have the greatest effect, causing dramatic spider mite outbreaks within a few days."

As a commercial flower grower, I can verify the info quoted above is correct for management of mites on dahlia plants. This time of year I spray/rotate a combination of 3 acaricides every week just to keep the mites under control.

As a tomato hobbyist, I would never consider spraying tomatoes with the concoctions of chemicals I use on flowers - even though many of them are also registered for use on tomatoes. Many are the chemicals commercial growers use.

I'm battling spider mites on my tomatoes right now by spraying only soluble sulfur. It is moderately effective; however, in one month the mites will take down my plants - they do every year at this time. Before the mites get them, I will have harvested a good crop of tomatoes.

Steve

[nativeplanter]

Spider mites are getting a lot of my plants this year, and have recently found a couple tomatoes. In the past, I've been fond of diatomaceous earth for crawiling pests. Does anyone have any experience using it on spider mites?

[pennypond]

Same as Steve, I can attest to the UCDavis SM information; at least on my eggplants it proved to be true. Indeed SM became a major problem shortly after I used Sevin to fight flea beetles on them. I felt so bad because that was the only time I swayed from being organic. The SM problem was so bad I eventually had to pull all eggplants and decided to go back to being organic. Predatory mites were ordered and released 2 weeks ago; so far, I haven't seen more infestation signs yet. However, the release instructions were really not easy to follow so I'm not sure if I did it correctly or not.

BTW, I saw the following post about fighting spider mites in another website today:
"I sprayed it with ortho bug b gone max once a week for three weeks . now I have plenty to eat."

[jamserg]

I'd like to try predator mites too, but it's not cheap either and I never had luck with using lady bugs - they always fly away. Not sure if predator mites can run away too Also don't know which one to choose, the selection is rather big. FYI ortho bug b gone didn't do anything for me

[Skaggydog]

Originally Posted by jamserg

I wonder what professional/farm growers do to fight this problem? I'm sure there's quite a few on this forum. tia

Many of the big M growers grow indoors and mites are one of their biggest problems. Check out some of their teicks.