It is that time of year again. The tops of my peppers are curling and distorted. The eggplant was so scarred it was mummified. I cut back the eggplant and treated it with 3 in 1 garden spray and that did the trick but the eggplant still looks anemic, the leaves are pale and small. It is making fruit again.
The peppers have shriveled buds and the leaves are curled and dehydrated looking.
I usually cut these back and it solves most of the problem but this time the new growth is being attacked too.
How do you control thrips and mites?
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ladyhawke6281
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Hello,
Not too sure about thrips, but for mites and if you get aphids I mix 1 tsp of Dawn with a pinch of Cayenne pepper powder per one quart of water. Then either put in a spray bottle or sprayer and spray vigorously to entire plant (especially undersides of leaves).
They don't like the soap and the pepper burns them. Reapply every 2-3 days for 2 weeks. Seems to work for my garden.
Hope this helps.
Not too sure about thrips, but for mites and if you get aphids I mix 1 tsp of Dawn with a pinch of Cayenne pepper powder per one quart of water. Then either put in a spray bottle or sprayer and spray vigorously to entire plant (especially undersides of leaves).
They don't like the soap and the pepper burns them. Reapply every 2-3 days for 2 weeks. Seems to work for my garden.
Hope this helps.
I use Dawn also but not on food plants. Insecticidal goes on those.
With either, I find it important to spray late in the day to avoid intense sunlight. Showing up the next morning and spraying down the plants with water is the final step. If alive, spider mites are so small that I'm convinced that if I can get them on the ground a couple feet from a plant, they will die of old age before they can crawl back to it ...
Yes, repeat spraying is needed. Eggs are probably not killed and remaining pests probably reproduce a hundred-fold in a few days.
Good luck.
Steve
With either, I find it important to spray late in the day to avoid intense sunlight. Showing up the next morning and spraying down the plants with water is the final step. If alive, spider mites are so small that I'm convinced that if I can get them on the ground a couple feet from a plant, they will die of old age before they can crawl back to it ...
Yes, repeat spraying is needed. Eggs are probably not killed and remaining pests probably reproduce a hundred-fold in a few days.
Good luck.
Steve
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applestar
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For me, mite infestations develop on indoor plants for the most part, and if the weather would moderate enough that I can get them outside, especially near flowers or grasses in bloom (I call them clinics and ICU's) appropriate Garden Patrol will find them. Then I can even bring them back inside and they will continue to be serviced by predatory mites. I snuggle recovering plants next to infested ones so they can get from one to the other.
I'm also finding that putting an earthworm in each pot even more literally -- including baby earthworms in each individual seedling cups -- K-cups, 3 oz mouthwash cups -- really helps the plants to restore more vigor. I'm so glad I got the little worm bin going in the garage last fall because they are reproducing like mad.
I'm also finding that putting an earthworm in each pot even more literally -- including baby earthworms in each individual seedling cups -- K-cups, 3 oz mouthwash cups -- really helps the plants to restore more vigor. I'm so glad I got the little worm bin going in the garage last fall because they are reproducing like mad.
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rainbowgardener
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Imafan, are you talking about in the garden or indoors? Indoors it helps to keep your plants well misted. Spider mites thrive on dry, dusty conditions.
In the garden they have many natural enemies: predatory mites, the larvae and adults of the spider mite destroyer lady beetle, the larvae of certain flies, minute pirate bugs, bigeyed bugs, and laceÂwing larvae, etc. I'm not sure which of these are present in Hawaii; you might want to look into it. You know the drill about having flowers with nectar in tiny florets, like Marigold Cosmos Caraway Alfalfa Spearmint Fennel Goldenrod Yarrow Dill Coriander Tansy, around your garden.
Even in the garden, just spraying with water helps and they are susceptible to insecticidal soap.
In the garden they have many natural enemies: predatory mites, the larvae and adults of the spider mite destroyer lady beetle, the larvae of certain flies, minute pirate bugs, bigeyed bugs, and laceÂwing larvae, etc. I'm not sure which of these are present in Hawaii; you might want to look into it. You know the drill about having flowers with nectar in tiny florets, like Marigold Cosmos Caraway Alfalfa Spearmint Fennel Goldenrod Yarrow Dill Coriander Tansy, around your garden.
Even in the garden, just spraying with water helps and they are susceptible to insecticidal soap.
The peppers are outdoors all year. In summer mites and thrips are a problem because they are so ubiquitous. I usually don't use much chemical controls and depend on the garden partrol and cultural practices.
The mites are attacking mostly the eggplant and peppers and the erineum mite is going after the hibiscus.
I isolated my hibiscus and it has been treated with systemic rose care. It is shorter acting than merit and I disbudded the plant. This is a problem every year and besides getting rid of the plant this is the only solution that works.
I had treated an earlier mite problem on the eggplant with 3 in 1 garden spray and it went away but the plant is still sickly looking. I have been using alcohol on the peppers and it helps but it is not totally effective. I have been cutting the damaged tops off the peppers and getting rid of them as a cultural control. The peppers are in pots so I have considered dipping them. Ladyhawke suggested cayenne pepper and soap.
The 3 in one spray that I have contains pyrethrums and sulfur. I don't like to use it unless I have to, while pyrethrums are effective, they are highly toxic to bees and beneficial insects.
I do have some sulfur fungicide. I will see if that helps. I can't use any oil based products for at least a month after I stop using sulfur. Sulfur can be used as a miticide. I also have a non ionic spreader sticker and insecticidal soap concentrate.
The weather is not that bad yet, but soon it will be too hot to use either sulfur or oil.
I will cut back the gardenia and disbud the jasmine and see if it helps reduce the problem. I need to check for alternate hosts that I might have in the yard.
The mites are attacking mostly the eggplant and peppers and the erineum mite is going after the hibiscus.
I isolated my hibiscus and it has been treated with systemic rose care. It is shorter acting than merit and I disbudded the plant. This is a problem every year and besides getting rid of the plant this is the only solution that works.
I had treated an earlier mite problem on the eggplant with 3 in 1 garden spray and it went away but the plant is still sickly looking. I have been using alcohol on the peppers and it helps but it is not totally effective. I have been cutting the damaged tops off the peppers and getting rid of them as a cultural control. The peppers are in pots so I have considered dipping them. Ladyhawke suggested cayenne pepper and soap.
The 3 in one spray that I have contains pyrethrums and sulfur. I don't like to use it unless I have to, while pyrethrums are effective, they are highly toxic to bees and beneficial insects.
I do have some sulfur fungicide. I will see if that helps. I can't use any oil based products for at least a month after I stop using sulfur. Sulfur can be used as a miticide. I also have a non ionic spreader sticker and insecticidal soap concentrate.
The weather is not that bad yet, but soon it will be too hot to use either sulfur or oil.
I will cut back the gardenia and disbud the jasmine and see if it helps reduce the problem. I need to check for alternate hosts that I might have in the yard.
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applestar
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Is there an area in your garden where mites *could* be a problem but aren't? You might still have mite predators there, and if the peppers are in pots, maybe try moving some of them to that area.
Trouble with using treatments for pest mites is that predatory mites are less resistant and will succumb first.
Trouble with using treatments for pest mites is that predatory mites are less resistant and will succumb first.
Thanks applestar. I have some peppers spread out all over. The ones affected are mostly the jalapenos. They just seem to be more vulnerable. I have isolated the peppers with the most damage away from the other peppers that are not as badly off. I do want to preserve the garden patrol as much as possible. I have also checked the eggplant and while it is not looking as good as it should, it is producting eggplant that is not badly scarred and I have been spraying those flowers with alcohol to help with that and checking under the leaves. The tomatoes are old but seem to be doing o.k. for their age. The other vegetables in the garden are not having issues except that it is time for them to come out. I did find some ground mealy bugs on the pandan and it was literally falling apart so I got rid of that plant.
I have a lot of weeds and weed hosts and I definitely am behind the 8 ball and not keeping up with that as well. I have a little more time now so I plan on trying to make a bigger dent in the weed problem.
Gardenia, jasmine, orchids, and plumeria are pretty much thrip traps. The plumeria is too high to do anything but I can spray the orchids and disbuddding the gardenia and jasmine takes care of a lot of the thrip problems.
I do try to inspect the plants when I go out to the yard and look at problems
Right now I have some white flies on the gardenia but it is not too bad and it is in my front yard so I have cut it back to give it better air circulation and I have treated it with rose care. It is next to the hibiscus with th erineum mites which has been disbudded and treated with rose care. I have peach scale on the roses which is resistant to chemicals so I just use a brush with soapy water and scrub them off and I cut out the branches with the worst infestations. One of my sprinkler heads was cracked and I capped off the head so the front yard is getting more water now and it has been raining almost every day. That has helped those stressed plants.
In the back yard where I have almost all of the edible plants, except for the mites on the peppers and the ever present slugs and snails, the only other chronic problem are thrips which I mostly tolerate.
I have a lot of weeds and weed hosts and I definitely am behind the 8 ball and not keeping up with that as well. I have a little more time now so I plan on trying to make a bigger dent in the weed problem.
Gardenia, jasmine, orchids, and plumeria are pretty much thrip traps. The plumeria is too high to do anything but I can spray the orchids and disbuddding the gardenia and jasmine takes care of a lot of the thrip problems.
I do try to inspect the plants when I go out to the yard and look at problems
Right now I have some white flies on the gardenia but it is not too bad and it is in my front yard so I have cut it back to give it better air circulation and I have treated it with rose care. It is next to the hibiscus with th erineum mites which has been disbudded and treated with rose care. I have peach scale on the roses which is resistant to chemicals so I just use a brush with soapy water and scrub them off and I cut out the branches with the worst infestations. One of my sprinkler heads was cracked and I capped off the head so the front yard is getting more water now and it has been raining almost every day. That has helped those stressed plants.
In the back yard where I have almost all of the edible plants, except for the mites on the peppers and the ever present slugs and snails, the only other chronic problem are thrips which I mostly tolerate.