Hi all

On a recent inspection of my cacti in my greenhouse (kept at about 4degrees
min) i have spotted the evidence of fresh red spider mite attack! Help! I
cant water the cacti with insecticide yet as they are still in their 'winter
dry period'.....so how do i stop the mites spreading ?

This is my first year with a greenhouse and i was trying to not use chemical
warfair if possible.......guess that may have to change!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated, i dont want to loose many cacti!

Marie

I'd mist the plant with either an insecticidal soap or just a mild soap and
water solution that you can make up yourself. If you don't want to wet the
soil, then cover the soil with a plastic shopping bag.

I've also heard that adding cigarette stubs to the soapy water (let the cigs
soak for a few days) can work.

Also, I would highly suspect that if spider mite is on one plant then it's
on all the others, at least it will be on any adjacent plants. They spread
like wildfire, even on your clothes and hands when you walk past the plant,.

I don't know about cactus, but when my houseplants get spider mite I take
the plant to the shower, enclose the pot in a plastic bag, turn it upside
down and spray the heck out of them. Do this a few times and use the soap
spray inbetween.

And I just read this on a website - can't vouch for it, however:

"As with most small pests even spraying pure water on them will reduce their
numbers. If you would feel foolish spraying just water then you might be
interested to know that in Nigeria where the mite is a huge problem,
gardeners add one cup of white flour and half a cup of sour milk to a gallon
of water as a cure. I understand the plants turn white for a while until the
flour falls off!"

Hope that helps.

"Jolltax" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all

On a recent inspection of my cacti in my greenhouse (kept at about
4degrees
min) i have spotted the evidence of fresh red spider mite attack! Help!
I
cant water the cacti with insecticide yet as they are still in their
'winter
dry period'.....so how do i stop the mites spreading ?

This is my first year with a greenhouse and i was trying to not use
chemical
warfair if possible.......guess that may have to change!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated, i dont want to loose many cacti!

Marie

After you have taken the steps Jack has suggested, Run a fan pointed at your
plants for several hours a day. Mites and a lot of other bugs hate any kind
of wind, and this will discourage them from multiplying. Good luck. Dwayne


"Jolltax" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all

On a recent inspection of my cacti in my greenhouse (kept at about
4degrees
min) i have spotted the evidence of fresh red spider mite attack! Help!
I
cant water the cacti with insecticide yet as they are still in their
'winter
dry period'.....so how do i stop the mites spreading ?

This is my first year with a greenhouse and i was trying to not use
chemical
warfair if possible.......guess that may have to change!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated, i dont want to loose many cacti!

Marie

Jolltax wrote:

Hi all

On a recent inspection of my cacti in my greenhouse (kept at about 4degrees
min) i have spotted the evidence of fresh red spider mite attack! Help! I
cant water the cacti with insecticide yet as they are still in their 'winter
dry period'.....so how do i stop the mites spreading ?

Insecticidal smoke in the greenhouse if you can still get it as an amateur.

This is my first year with a greenhouse and i was trying to not use chemical
warfair if possible.......guess that may have to change!

Spring is coming so they probably won't react too badly to a spray on a fine
day. I never had too much problem with rsm because I quaranteened all new plants
until they could be drenched in malathion. Be sure to get the bench cleaned as
well and repeat hitting them every couple of weeks until they are all gone.

Alternate between malthion/dimethoate and a synthetic pyrethrum if you need to
regain control from a bad infestation. Using the same insecticide everytime
encourages them to develop resistance.

Any help will be gratefully appreciated, i dont want to loose many cacti!

Rsm probably won't kill cacti but it will disfigure them by marking the skin.

Regards,
Martin Brown

In article , Jack
writes
I'd mist the plant with either an insecticidal soap or just a mild soap and
water solution that you can make up yourself. If you don't want to wet the
soil, then cover the soil with a plastic shopping bag.

I wouldn't mist them at this time of year -although the greenhouse is
reaching 70 deg F on sunny days, it's still sulking in the 40s the rest
of the time.


I've had increasing difficulty with RSM as they've developed resistance
to insecticides. This year I shall try the RSM predator, but that will
have to wait till the weather is a bit warmer.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

Try fightamite
"Jolltax" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all

On a recent inspection of my cacti in my greenhouse (kept at about
4degrees
min) i have spotted the evidence of fresh red spider mite attack! Help!
I
cant water the cacti with insecticide yet as they are still in their
'winter
dry period'.....so how do i stop the mites spreading ?

This is my first year with a greenhouse and i was trying to not use
chemical
warfair if possible.......guess that may have to change!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated, i dont want to loose many cacti!

Marie