Previously, a microscopic spider mite could destroy all my indoor plants in a month. It reproduces very quickly, especially in conditions that are comfortable for it. I have tried a bunch of ways and now I know exactly what to do when characteristic white dots and small cobwebs appear.
They gnaw through the leaves and begin to suck out the juice. White dots, thin webs are the first symptoms of infection. In some cases, the spider mite feeds not only on leaves, but also on flowers. In any case, it carries a great danger to plants and can quickly destroy all plantings.
The main types of ticks are the common spider (the most common type), red, red-footed, Atlantic, Savzdarga. The principles of dealing with them are the same. In the photo you can see the tick under a microscope - in reality it is much smaller.
Spider mites eat plant sap, their presence is indicated by “bites” - white dots, usually from the bottom of the leaves, as well as a white thin web. The amount of damage can be different - it all depends on the stage of infection.
A small tick is not only dangerous in itself, but also carries viruses, gray rot from infected crops to healthy ones. It is imperative to fight it - if you do not save the infected plants, then at least prevent the death of the rest.
How to prevent infection
To the appearance, active development of spider mites leads to a very dry warm air. Therefore, make sure that the room is not too hot, and regularly spray the plants from the outside. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the liquid does not linger in the grooves of the sheets, the core of the plant - otherwise rotting will begin.
Particular care is important in winter, because at low air temperatures, short daylight hours, water evaporates rather slowly. Completely immersing the plant in water, according to amateur flower growers, is useless.
How to fight
The first thing to do when a problem is found is to wash the leaves with soap/dishwashing detergent and plain water (you need to prepare a solution). This event is a preparation for further processing; washing the foliage of the tick in itself will not destroy it.
Important. It is necessary to process from a tick not only leaves, flowers, but also a window sill, pots, saucers.
Suspicious plants isolate from the rest. After the initial treatment, the culture is closed with a plastic bag - if it is sealed, the mites will quickly die. Be careful - from heat and the greenhouse effect, burns can appear on the green parts.
Now choose a remedy for spider mites. Chemical preparations are highly effective and at the same time gently affect plants. Do not use insecticides - they are toxic to the plant, and are not effective against spider mites. You need acaricides (Sunmite, Flumite, Borneo) or insectoacaricides (Akarin, Oberon, Aktellik, Fitoverm).
To achieve lasting results, you need to apply them in several approaches with an interval of 1-2 weeks. Refer to the leaflet for instructions on how to use a particular drug. Breaking them is highly discouraged.
After the first treatment, if you did everything right, the adult mites will die, but not the eggs. A few days later, young growth will come out of the eggs, which will devour the plant. For this reason, the persecution is repeated twice more, with an interval of one week.
Do not forget that the tick is ubiquitous - you need to process all the plants, even if there are no signs of infection, and the window sill, trays, since there may be a pathogen there.
Windows are also washed, and curtains are washed at high temperatures. For the treatment of containers, surfaces, water is used, liquid soap, after washing, they are wiped with pure alcohol. Alcohol and soap solution are poured into the crack.
It is important to know
If a certain drug does not help, try another - ticks develop resistance to some poisons. Chemicals can be replaced with folk ones, but you need to understand that not a single decoction is as effective as a finished product, but these recipes are safe and affordable.
Most often, flower growers from spider mites use a decoction of cyclomen tubers. The tubers are divided into parts and boiled for an hour. Decoctions spray the affected and healthy plants three times with a weekly interval. If necessary, carry out additional processing.
Inspect your houseplants regularly and take immediate action if you notice any warning signs. The spider mite itself will not disappear; moreover, it poses a certain danger to other plants.
Now the time of the year has come when even a tick can easily be blown into an apartment by the wind from an open window. Those who have trees next to the window / balcony are especially susceptible to this. Also, ticks can be "stray" from neighbors from above, because they are so light that they are carried by the wind like dust particles. The most a big problem- fight a tick, so, of course, it is better to prevent this matter.
I haven't had a tick problem in years since we moved to new apartment, but this year I found a cobweb on a rose, and upon a detailed examination of the plants adjacent to it, I also noticed disgusting living creatures.
What is a spider mite and how does it reproduce? The life cycle of a spider mite.
The spider mite is a small insect whose size does not exceed 0.5 mm. It is very difficult to notice it on a plant because with a small number of individuals, they rarely give themselves away, because they are very small and sit on the opposite side of the leaf. And even if we notice some dark grains, we most likely attribute them to inaccurate watering and the ingress of grains of soil on the leaf. As a rule, the characteristic appearance of a cobweb means only one thing - there are too many ticks and they need to be dealt with immediately.
The tick reproduces very quickly: under favorable conditions, the female lays up to 250-300 eggs in 2-3 weeks, after which she dies. Favorable conditions for the development of spider mites are dryness and heat. The development cycle of a spider mite includes such stages as: egg, larva, protonymph, deutronymph (in females), adult. As a rule, from the very first stage (egg) to an adult, it takes from 10 to 20 days, all other things being equal. So how does a mite harm a plant?
Why is a spider mite harmful to a plant?
The spider mite is a living being, it is natural for it not only to reproduce, but also to feed. What does a spider mite eat? Everything is very simple, it feeds on the sap of the plant, piercing the leaf with its proboscis and letting in enzymes that destroy the chloroplasts of the cells.
As a result, the leaf is covered with brown dots, which soon merge into one large area, then the leaf dries up and falls off. From all this we can make an unambiguous conclusion that in the end the plant loses leaves and dies. And ticks will safely migrate to another neighboring plant.
Important! Do not think that the tick will sit only on the bottom of the plant until it is completely exhausted. With a probability of 99% - if you find a tick on one plant, then it has already spread throughout the windowsill.
How to understand that a plant is infected with a spider mite? Spider mite symptoms.
Let's look at the so-called symptoms of infection spider mite. Unfortunately, the initial symptoms are non-specific, so the tick is detected already when an obvious web appears.
- The appearance of brown spots on the leaves, as if the leaves were pierced with a thin needle.
- The presence of drying leaves in the plant, falling buds.
- Slowing down the development of the plant and its growth.
- Black or red dots on the back of the leaves that move.
- A web that entwines parts of a plant and reverse side leaves.
- The accumulation of individuals on the web (with a huge population).\
How to treat a plant for spider mites? Means of combating spider mites.
Of course have a large number of preparations that guarantee almost complete disposal of the spider mite are the so-called acaricides and insectoacaricides. Immediately make a reservation that they are effective not only against ticks, but also against other insect pests.
These drugs are both chemical (for example, Actellik and Fufanon) and biological (for example, Fitoverm and Akarin). For chemical preparations and biological nature- different active ingredients, but the principle of action is the same.
Both drugs are used three times, with a break of 5-10 days, because, during the initial treatment, the poison kills adults, but the eggs are resistant to the substance and after a while hatch from the eggs and continue to exist on the plant.
This is interesting! There is also a very serious point that should not be forgotten - even adult ticks become resistant to any drug over time, so it is advised to do a control treatment with another drug, and not treat the plants more than once a year.
Important! You should be aware that it is undesirable to use chemical preparations in an apartment, because they have a negative impact on human health and have a very sharp specific smell, the vapors of which are very harmful to inhale.
But what to do, because we are talking specifically about indoor plants, how then to process the plants if the tick still wound up on them?
Fighting spider mites in the apartment.
Since I try to write absolutely objective articles, it should be said that many flower growers used chemicals in the apartment as well. For example, in the summer season - on a balcony or loggia, which were then ventilated, and in winter time years - in the bathroom, which was locked at night to prevent contact with vapors of poisons. But keep in mind the fact that when spraying plants, the poison will inevitably get on walls, hygiene items, and clothes. Yes, and the whole night the bathroom will be inaccessible to you, but if you have it combined and you do not live alone in the apartment? A balcony or a loggia can at least be ventilated without problems, but with a bath in this case it is much more difficult.
For me personally, this is not an option, since I do not want my family to suffer from my manipulations, and I have only one health. But with all this, I love my collection too much and giving up was not part of my plans.
Therefore, I prepared for myself such an action plan, which, in my opinion, is not inferior in effectiveness chemical treatment, but it is absolutely safe for health.
Folk remedies in the fight against spider mites. My processing scheme.
Those who, like me, were looking for other ways to fight, I think I have seen recipes against spider mites based on laundry soap, onion peel, garlic, or even dandelion more than once.
Do not be skeptical about these methods, because they help many people quite well, and my scheme is based on one of the above components.
Important! If you have a fairly impressive collection of plants (150 or more specimens), most likely my method will not suit you. And if you need to process only 1-2 window sills, then the result will pleasantly surprise you.
Let me remind you that chemistry is not an option for me at all, and I was ready for anything, just not to poison myself and my household with her. Therefore, at first, I tried to follow the advice from the forums and, having treated the plants with a soap solution, wrapped them in a bag for several days (so that the solution worked), but after such treatment, the mites crawled out again. It was foolish to hope that I would get them out the first time, but I still wanted to believe.
I will not write to you about my suffering and different options, I’ll move on, perhaps, to the scheme that I came up with by trial and error.
There are quite a lot of plants in my collection, so I had to ask for help in its implementation.
Important! To implement such a plan, you will need 2-3 hours a week, depending on the number of copies. If you have a very small number of plants, then the time can be drastically reduced to 20-30 minutes per week.
All you need is laundry soap, water and a soft sponge. No packages needed!
- Transfer infected plants to the bath.
- Be sure to remove and wash the curtains, because. they come into contact with infected plants and may also carry these pests.
Important! You need to do this only 1 time. Moreover, when treating plants with chemicals, you will also have to wash the curtains if you do not want a recurrence.
- Dial in the pelvis warm water and be sure to wash the window and window sill, including glass, handles, etc., with laundry soap. This is also done 1 time. Then you can do as you wish, or you can not do it. I just wipe the window sill with soapy water.
Important! Do not hang curtains before window treatment!
- Now the hardest part begins - the processing of plants. You need to process every pot and every plant. This is difficult because I don’t just spray the plants with a soapy solution or put a foamy solution on the plant, but I lather a soft sponge so abundantly that there is a lot of soap and rub each leaf as much as possible (!) I also rub the trunk, I check several times, so that everything is soaped without exception, I also soap the pot from the outside and a little upper layer soil. The first time, when processing, I left the plants in this state for 3-4 hours, the next - I just lathered and washed off. Soaping is much easier than rinsing. Personally, it is not difficult for me to lather even a lush exotic ficus (it is not large-leaved). An hour after soaping, there is still a lot of soap on the plants.
Since I had a lot of plants, I had to wash in parts: while one portion was washing in the bathroom, the rest were waiting nearby. So I processed from ticks: drimiopsis, ficus, hibiscus, indoor rose, oxalis, begonias, fuchsias, chlorophytums, tradescantia, lemons and even mangoes.
Important! Be sure to wash the back of the leaf, because that's where the spider mite settles.
Drimiopsis is completely soapy. Even crumbs of fuchsia easily survived soap procedures. The fuchsia buds were not affected by the soap treatment, and the fuchsia bloomed a couple of days later.I wash it off like this: I lay the plant gently on its side, and wash the soap with a sponge, also wash off the pot and the top layer of soil (then you can add a new one). I carry out such manipulations with all plants, except for thick-skinned ones, which cannot be washed (for example, not my haworthia, because water must not be allowed to enter the outlet). Plants that cannot be washed (I have succulents), I treat with high quality alcohol, wash them in a pot with soap.
Important! I wash it off in such a way that the soap does not get on the roots of the plants, otherwise they may die!
- After that, I return the plants to their original place.
But what is the schema? Everything is very simple. Remember, above, we analyzed the life cycle of a tick?
So, after a week, there is a chance that mites that have not washed off will hatch, so you need to repeat the treatment of plants and pots. This time I no longer wash the curtains and do not wash the windows, I just wipe the window sill a little with soapy water. And I cover the soil with cling film so that the soap does not get on the roots.
Cling film helps prevent soap from getting on the soil and roots.It is already much easier to wash off the plants, because the film protects the soil from soapy water.
Important! Such treatments must be carried out for a whole month 1 time per week. That is, such processing is carried out only 4 times in a month. During this month, all ticks and eggs that could be are killed and washed off.
Pros and cons of my scheme.
Any method has its advantages and disadvantages, and everyone chooses for himself, it suits him, weighing all the pros and cons.
The spider mite belongs to the class of arachnids. This must be taken into account when choosing a pest control agent; preparations for the destruction of insects do not work on it.
It lives for about a month, the female can lay unfertilized eggs, from which new female ticks are hatched in 3-5 days, capable of laying eggs on their own in a week (up to hundreds of pieces). In a short time, the population can increase hundreds of times. The spider mite hibernates in the ground or in the crevices of greenhouses and greenhouses, eggs are waiting favorable conditions do not lose viability for several years.
Only when born, the larva of the spider mite digs into the leaf suitable plant from the bottom side, and starts sucking the juice. The "menu" of the spider mite includes about 200 varieties of plants. The appearance of a pest can be detected by noticing yellow drying points and spots on the surface of the leaves. Looking at the underside of the leaf, you can see a thin web and small greenish or red creatures - this is the spider mite. With a large number of pests, plant leaves quickly dry out, growth slows down and is inhibited. In addition, spider mites can carry infections that are dangerous for plants (gray rot, viruses). If urgent action is not taken, you can lose the entire plantation, the tick spreads very quickly.
Ticks are especially rampant in protected ground. In a greenhouse, with its elevated air temperature and many places where you can comfortably overwinter, the tick feels great. Therefore, in addition to the usual means for the destruction of the pest, autumn washing and disinfection of the greenhouse is required.
Preparations for the fight against spider mites
Cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and beans are especially often affected by spider mites. It causes considerable damage to flowers, especially asters and roses. Apple trees, cherries, pears, mulberries, currants, strawberries and gooseberries also suffer from the pest.
When choosing a drug to fight a tick, you need to remember that it does not belong to insects, and it makes no sense to use insecticides.
Acaricides are used against spider mites: Omite, Flumite, Demitan, Apollo, Bitoxibacillin (10 g per 1 liter of water), Borneo. Insectoacaricides will also be effective: Fufanon, Oberon, Aktofit, Kleschevit, Fitoverm (1 ml per 1 liter of water), Karate, Agravertin, Akarin (2 ml per 1 liter of water), Vertimek.
The preparations are diluted in strict accordance with the attached instructions.
Important! The treatment with chemicals is carried out, observing all precautions: when spraying on the foliage, it is necessary to wear a respirator, goggles and gloves. After finishing work, send the work clothes to the laundry, wash your face and hands with soap and water. Smoking or eating while working is prohibited!
Due to the short development cycle of the mite and the ineffectiveness of the drug on pest eggs, several treatments are carried out on plants. Usually, 3 - 5 sprays are enough, with an interval of 4 - 7 days. The higher the air temperature, the shorter the interval between sprayings.
The tick has the ability to get used to and adapt to toxic substances, so the drugs need to be changed regularly. You need to focus on the change of the active substance, carefully reading the composition of the drug on the package.
The disadvantage of the use of chemicals can be considered their toxicity to pets and people.
Some substances (based on phosphorus) are not allowed to be used indoors. Many products cannot be sprayed on fruit-bearing plants. Application of such strong means justified with severe damage to plants and a large area of plantings.
Folk ways of fighting
Spider mites cannot stand high humidity air. With a small number of pests and to prevent its occurrence, it is useful to wash the plants with a stream of cool water. Barrels and buckets of water are placed in greenhouses to increase air humidity (at 80% - 85% humidity, the tick dies). These measures are quite effective, provided that high humidity is not harmful to plants. This method works well for cucumbers. To increase the humidity in open field, in addition to the shower, the bushes can be wrapped with pieces of film or placed wide containers of water under them.
The timely (preferably daily) collection of the affected foliage and its burning prevents the spread of the pest.
In the greenhouse, you can arrange open jars with turpentine or ammonia. Vapors of these substances will poison the tick. Less caustic, but also good remedy- Chopped garlic and onion.
Sowing marigold among vegetables will help scare the pest from the beds.
Can be used in a greenhouse effective biological method fight against spider mites - launch a colony of predators that feed on them. These are predatory mites Ambliseius and Fitoseylus. They are not dangerous to plants and will die when they deal with the pest. You can buy them in large garden nurseries.
Washing the foliage with soapy water will help get rid of the pest. To prepare it, they take simple household or tar soap, you can buy special green soap at the garden store. Soap is dissolved in a bucket of water, and the affected plant is washed abundantly.
Important! soap solution, drying up, forms a film on the leaves, which prevents the plant from breathing. Therefore, a couple of days after the treatment with soap, the bush should be washed with plain water.
It is easy to prepare an infusion of onions and garlic for spraying the affected plants. 200 g of garlic or onion are crushed and infused in a liter of water.
A few hours is enough for an onion. Garlic is insisted for a day, then the solution is diluted with water 3-4 times. The resulting mixture copes well with the spider mite, with its small number.
Herbal infusions for spraying plants against ticks:
- dandelion infusion - 0.5 kg of greens insist for several hours in a bucket of water;
- calendula - 100 g of chopped herbs per 1 liter of water, infused for 4 - 5 days;
- celandine - a teaspoon of grass, pour a glass of boiling water and cool;
- yarrow - brew 100 g of dry raw materials with a liter of boiling water, dilute with 5 liters of water.
Preventive measures
- It is necessary to regularly inspect the plants in order to notice the pest as early as possible and take action.
- In the fall, digging the soil and filling the soil with phosphorus fertilizers will help to destroy the pest hiding in the ground.
- Greenhouses and hotbeds are washed in autumn, the top layer of soil is changed, fumigated with a sulfur checker, and the frame is whitewashed with lime.
Special preparations are used against them - acaricides or insectoacaricides(they work against ticks and insects). Are there special means from spider mites?
List of effective drugs
Is there a better remedy for spider mites? List the most effective chemical and biological preparations for spider mites.
Chemical:
Biological:
- Agravertin;
- Akarin;
- Fitoverm.
About the use of agents against spider mites Fufanon And Actellik will tell you experienced gardener in this video:
Description of drugs
Aktara
Aktara's agent against spider mites contains thiamethoxam from the group of neonicotinoids and is not an acaricidal agent.
According to official data, it does not affect ticks, but many growers have noticed reverse effect.
After treatment with Aktara, not only insects die, but also ticks - phytophages.
Fitoverm
Biological insectoacaricide, belongs to the 4th generation of biological products. Fitoverm from spider mites has a very wide range of effects, it works against mites and many insects.
Antiklesch and Fufanon
Two insectoacaricides produced by different companies containing the same active ingredient at the same concentration. Because of this, the drugs are identical in action and other parameters.
Actellik
Insectoacaricide from the group of organophosphorus compounds. Is also fumigant, penetrating through the respiratory openings.
Apollo
Acaricide with ovicidal property by destroying the eggs. He does not kill adults, but sterilizes them, depriving them of the ability to reproduce.
- Release form. Suspension concentrate, packaged in bottles of different volumes.
- Compound. The main substance is clofentezin, concentration 500 g/l.
- The mechanism of influence. Passes through the intestinal and contact methods into the body of ticks and sterilizes them, disrupting the normal functions of the reproductive system. It has a highly toxic effect on eggs and larvae, destroying them.
- Duration. It works 2 times longer than other acaricides - the protective period is about a month.
- Compatibility. Compatible with non-alkaline growth accelerators.
- When to apply? Under standard conditions - in the absence of precipitation, wind and high solar activity. Use at home is not prohibited, it is recommended to use a respirator and gloves when working with the drug.
- How to prepare a solution? Pour 2 ml of the product into 5 liters cold water, stir. This is usually enough to process 10 sq.m. landings.
- Mode of application. Careful spraying of all plant surfaces, trying to treat even hidden areas. How better bush moistened with the agent, the more likely it is to destroy the entire pest colony.
- Toxicity. Apollo is practically harmless to bees and other insects, toxic to humans and animals, but very slightly. Belongs to the 4th class of toxicity.
Neoron
Innovative a drug that is guaranteed to reduce the colonies of any ticks - vegetarians.
- Release form. Emulsion concentrate, packaged in ampoules with a capacity of 2 and 5 ml.
- Compound. The main substance is bromopropylate. Concentration 500 g per liter.
- Mechanism of influence. It is used for contact penetration, after which it disrupts the activity of many systems of the tick's body.
- Duration. Depends on and varies from 10 to 40 days.
- Compatibility. Combines well with modern fungicides and insecticides. It is not recommended to mix with other acaricides and alkaline agents.
- When to apply? At the time of application of the acaricide and 3-4 hours after that, there should be no wind, precipitation, high humidity and strong solar activity. Great for use in the home, however, before treatment, protect the skin with clothing and remove animals and children from the premises. After the procedure, make a wet cleaning to avoid contact of the drug with the skin.
- How to prepare a working solution? Depending on the number of pests, use from 10 to 20 ml of the product dissolved in a bucket of water. This amount is enough to process 10 bushes, 2-5 trees or 100 square meters. m of landing area. Storage of the solution is allowed no longer than 2 hours.
- Mode of application. Since the path of penetration into the body of mites is exclusively contact, it is very important to wet all accessible parts of the plants well. And do not allow the drug to drain to the ground.
- Toxicity. It is slightly dangerous for insects, as it has low toxicity, it is classified as class 4. May cause severe irritation to the skin or mucous membranes in humans.
Summary
A big plus of acaricides is that they do not pose a high toxic hazard for people, animals and insects, so they can be used without fear.
A wide range modern means from ticks allows you to choose the best remedy for each consumer.
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Pests pose a considerable threat to all gardens, gardens, and simply indoor plants. This is especially true for such a tireless and difficult to remove their representative as a spider mite, the symptoms of damage from which are not always definable even for experienced summer residents. The tick is a real scourge for plants, after the invasion of which, they die irrevocably. In order to successfully fight and counteract a tick, one should timely determine its appearance, know its nature and behavior, as well as effective folk methods of dealing with it.
What does a spider mite look like and how does it spoil plants
Tetranychus urticae is an insect so small that you can’t just see it, the size is only 0.5 mm. To see the pest, you need a magnifying glass, through which you can see an oval body covered with sparse bristles, as well as several pairs of legs, with which he deftly runs through the plants and moves from them to the neighboring ones.
The color of the spider mite can be different - green, yellow, red, orange, it largely depends on the environment in which it lives and on which plants. But most often it has green color.
The plant chosen by the tick becomes his home, and he begins to braid it with his thin cobweb. It is one of the signs (symptoms) of the presence of a spider mite on the culture. Food for the pest is the juice of the plant, so it bites into the leaf, and can bite into the petals of the flowers. Consequently inner side leaves after the attack of the spider mite is covered with small white dots, and this is the second sign of the presence of an insect on the plant.
After the leaf is damaged, the plant fails in the work of such a process as photosynthesis. The culture does not receive all the nutrients that it should accumulate, as a result of which it weakens, starts to get sick, and then may die. As for the flowers, the mite inexorably spoils the entire flower, destroying it from the inside, naturally, there is no longer any aesthetic appearance and cannot be. It is worth noting that the tick, leaving the already “gutted” plant, and moving to another, also transfers various diseases.
The difficulty of identifying a pest by symptoms is further complicated by the fact that when the piebald surfaces of the leaves begin to gradually turn yellow and the foliage falls off, inexperienced growers think that this is a manifestation of fungal diseases, and spend precious time on fungicide treatments. But we emphasize once again: on lemons, roses, sweet potatoes and cucumbers, spots first appear where the tick has stuck.
Here is a wonderful video where we managed to show the symptoms of a spider mite damage in close-up (to speed up the viewing, click on the gear and set the viewing speed to 1.5):
Reproduction of the pest occurs almost instantly - in one, maximum two weeks, an adult appears from the egg. Only low temperatures and sufficient humidity can restrain this process - in these cases, reproduction occurs rather slowly. But in return, a little later, when a favorable atmosphere is established, you can get an abnormal outbreak of tick fertility, and then it will simply be everywhere. It is noteworthy that in room conditions the pest occupies the territory more quickly, and if one plant gets sick, then the entire flower corner can get sick very soon.
Features of the behavior of the spider mite
Fighting a tick is quite difficult, for this you need to know the features of its behavior. For example, in a strong heat, the pest leaves the garden, heading for dark places, and freezes there, or, in other words, falls into short-term hibernation (diapause). Most of these places are rooms. After the downturn of abnormal heat, the spider mite returns to its activities.
Similar behavior in insects can be observed in autumn period. With the onset of cold weather, the female also falls asleep, and not all individuals seek refuge for themselves, some remain to winter right on the flowers.
During these periods - when the pest "leaves" - it is useless to treat the plants with some preparations, because the tick will return safe and sound.
Folk and preventive measures against spider mites for indoor plants
As you know, it is easier to prevent a disease than to cure, and in this case, this saying is 100% valid. When growing indoor plants, use preventive measures so that the flowers do not experience the invasion of the spider mite:
Folk remedies how to get rid of a spider mite if it has already appeared?
If the tick has already begun to "nibble" indoor flowers, then it is necessary to apply emergency measures, and in a complex, so as not to lose the entire flower corner.
- First you need to wash the plant (its aerial part). Wash each leaf thoroughly with warm water, with the obligatory addition of laundry soap. Washing should also be subjected to - a pot, saucers, surfaces on which the flower lives. These measures, of course, will not get rid of the spider mite, but they will greatly reduce its number.
- As you know, the tick is afraid of high humidity, so you need to arrange just such an atmosphere for it. To do this, the plants are watered abundantly, sprayed, and then covered from above. plastic bag, creating a greenhouse effect to destroy the pest. Only here you should be careful - do not expose the plant in this form in the sun, otherwise there is a threat to burn the leaves. It is enough to leave such a greenhouse for 3 days.
- Medical alcohol. They process pots, coasters for pots, surfaces on which flowers stand. For example, if the plant is on the windowsill, then it is necessary to process the top, side, and bottom of the structure. The soil is also sprayed with alcohol.
- Folk methods spider mite control:
- A decoction of cyclamen tubers is detrimental to ticks. The tubers are cut and boiled for 30-40 minutes. The resulting broth is cooled, and then the plants are treated with it. Carry out such treatments once a week;
- Squeeze 250 g of garlic into 10 liters of water, leave for a day, strain and spray each leaf from the underside, spray with another tincture every other day - pour 1 kg of celandine tops with 3 liters of boiling water, and after a day dilute to 10 liters, strain and spray and alternate such processing every other day, it is enough to carry out three sprays of each tincture;
- The processing of onion peel tincture gives an excellent result - winter stocks of onion shells are stuffed into a liter jar, poured with boiling water and allowed to stand for a day. Add 200-300 ml of the resulting solution to a 10-liter sprayer. Processing is carried out every 3 days in the evening, abundantly wetting the reverse side of the sheet.
Low-toxic purchased remedies for spider mites
- Treatment with insect-acaricides of biological origin. These are substances such as "Fitoverma", "Aktofit" and "Vermitek". They are safe for humans and animals, but for spider mites they are detrimental. But, unfortunately, as for the whitefly, such spraying has absolutely no effect on dormant individuals, eggs and larvae, so treatments must be carried out regularly. If the room temperature fluctuates around 20 degrees, then you need to process it once every 10 days, and if it is much higher, then the treatment takes place twice a week. But for these drugs there is one caveat - if the room is colder than 18 degrees, they are useless, they have no effect on the pest.
- Hormonal preparation "Apollo" of contact action. It has minimal toxicity, but it destroys oviposition and prevents adult mites from multiplying. Use according to instructions.
That's pretty detailed video with an overview of preparations for protection against spider mites:
Biological methods of protection against spider mites
From biological means of control in greenhouses and winter gardens mainly predatory insects-entomophages are used - lacewings, phytoseiulus, western metaseiulus and amblyseius (Mackenzie and Californian). It is more convenient to use phytoseiulus, as they multiply rapidly and are happy to destroy another sap-sucking pest - the whitefly.
In conclusion, I would like to note that although it is difficult to identify the presence of a tick in a timely manner by symptoms - the cobwebs are poorly visible, and the tick itself is too small - but it is much easier to deal with it than with the whitefly. So the use of any of the above measures to combat the spider mite will definitely give a result, and quite quickly - just pay due attention to this, since a single treatment due to the presence of oviposition is not enough.
