-
Gail Weger
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:05 pm
- Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
bugs
Last year I had spider mites quite badly. Any hints, do I need to bleach my containers or treat them in anyway?
I always just scrubbed my containers out with plain water between plants. If I wasn't planning to put another plant in a container right away, I would let it sit outside in the sunlight for several days. Spider mites don't live on the container, they live on the plant itself.
When you find an infested plant, a thorough spraying with soap solution every 5 to 7 days should take care of it. It's always done so for me. Spray the plant from every direction until the soap solution is dripping off the plant. Four or 5 treatments over the course of a month or 6 weeks should kill all the adult mites and any hatchlings from eggs the adults laid on the plant.
You can find out more details about the soap solution by entering those words into the search box on our Search the Forum function. The link is up on the black tool bar.
Spider mites like hot, dry conditions, so raising the humidity around your plants can help prevent infestations. If your plants are small enough to handle, you can even hold them under running water from the faucet, rinsing them from the underside of the leaves as well as the topside. That will disturb any mites who might be thinking of setting up housekeeping on your plant.
When you find an infested plant, a thorough spraying with soap solution every 5 to 7 days should take care of it. It's always done so for me. Spray the plant from every direction until the soap solution is dripping off the plant. Four or 5 treatments over the course of a month or 6 weeks should kill all the adult mites and any hatchlings from eggs the adults laid on the plant.
You can find out more details about the soap solution by entering those words into the search box on our Search the Forum function. The link is up on the black tool bar.
Spider mites like hot, dry conditions, so raising the humidity around your plants can help prevent infestations. If your plants are small enough to handle, you can even hold them under running water from the faucet, rinsing them from the underside of the leaves as well as the topside. That will disturb any mites who might be thinking of setting up housekeeping on your plant.