Spinosad for mites on a ficus?

[cbroad]

How effective is spinosad for spider mites? I've read something's that say it is not that effective, but others that say it is?

Anybody have experience with using spinosad on ficus, is it pretty safe as far as not damaging it further? Also is it safe for jades and other succulents? I'm probably going to have to spray my other plants too...

***The rest of the post is back story, you can skip if you don't care***

Current pic:



When bought:


I received a pretty chunky microcarpa in February, already in distress, but for a very good price. I knew it needed some tlc, and my original plan was to leave it there at the greenhouse until I had more time.

I was told it had a previous case of mealybug but was sprayed. It also barely had any leaves left. I had to actually do an emergency repot there that night as I found huge holes under the trunk into the root system.

Since I had to do all that, I decided to bring it home. I did the normal spray of hort. oil and quarantine from the rest of the tropicals. It had been downstairs in really weak natural light for a couple days, so I was really itching to get it under my 600w and get the resurrection started.

The remaining leaves were somewhat mottled, but I figured it's poor root system was the main factor. New buds and growth all over after about a week under the light. Waited a month before it's first fertilization, and the bigger leaves greened up mostly, but there was still some discoloration to them.

I looked before for signs of bugs but didn't really see anything.

Finally looked harder today, and found spider mites...

 

[cbroad]

Just sprayed a group of plants outside. Night time lows will be 48°F, do you all think it's alright to leave these outside tonight to dry (they actually saw much lower accidentally one night this fall, and were fine)?

Sprayed 2 microcarpas, a ti plant, and a dwarf aloe.

 

[cbroad]

At least this has somewhat thrived in my care despite the bugs, definitely is a lot more full since coming home with me.

 

[sorce]

I don't think it's necessary to spray mites on a ficus.

IMO...they'll choose anything else if it's available.

No places for them to hide on an aloe.

Could be in that ti tree.

I just feel this isn't the major infestation in the ficus.

Sorce

 

[MHBonsai]

My tropicals have been good outside down to about 40 degrees as nighttime lows.

All things in moderation right...I'd bring them in if we had several days in the 40 - 50 degree range and they didn't have a chance to warm up.

 

[cbroad]

I just feel this isn't the major infestation in the ficus.

I got it from the retail nursery where I used to work. It's a 2 acre greenhouse that brings in plants from all over the country and they're constantly battling plant pests. It definitely could have come from my other plants but I try to be pretty diligent with my husbandry.

The new growth on this ficus just would never look right, I kind of suspected bug issues at first but there so few leaves, I didn't think they'd have a good place to hide on it and I thought my initial spray of oil would take care of any holdovers.

I'm spraying all of my plants to be safe, I'm not f'ing around with my indoor plants. I know mites can be a recurring problem indoors.

 

[cbroad]

@MHBonsai
Thanks, but I brought them in anyways, I wasn't sure how the colder air would react with the spinosad. Haha I need this to be as effective as possible!

My tropicals saw a night of 29° this fall, luckily no lasting effects, but I wasn't sure how they'd react going from constant room temperature to low 40s.

 

[sorce]

would never look right,

It also worries me cuz I've had mites, but never growth like that.

Looks more like a root problem, perhaps another insect.

Sorce

 

[cbroad]

Looks more like a root problem, perhaps another insect.

Highly likely. The roots were in bad shape and I couldn't take a picture while repotting because I was rushing to get it done before the store closed. There were also huge holes in the soil under the trunk, I literally thought mice had been in there, they were that big.

And, just the other day I did see some bug scurry under the soil. It was pretty quick so I couldn't get a good look at it... Looked longish like a pill bug but was way too quick.

I'm probably going to do a soil drench of imidacloprid to be safe.

 

[penumbra]

I don't think it's necessary to spray mites on a ficus.

IMO...they'll choose anything else if it's available.

I would have thought so but this is unfortunately not true. I had a Morton Bay fig that had a bad case of spider mites and was nearly bare of leaves. It was also in a plant room with hundreds of other plants of all kinds that were fine except the 3 young Burt Davies figs that had it badly at same time. It has been under control for some time now but it happened and I was surprised that these thick glossy leaves looked so tasty to the mites.
I agree that it is monumentally unlikely to ever see mites on an aloe and that a Ti plant is a mite magnet.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

There is no plant totally immune to being attacked by mites. Spider mite, flat mites, 2 spotted mites, any of the legion of species of plant sucking mites. They are all evil, sneaky bastards. They usually attack the tree with the highest price tag first. They somehow intuit which one that is. They hide out, and maintain a breeding population in the plants that you'd least expect. Then come out in invasion force waves, usually right after you leave for vacation, to decimate your collection while you are not looking. Or am I anthropomorphizing a bit too much?

You worked at a commercial greenhouse, you should have this canard memorized. For your spinosad, "read the label. If the label lists "mites" as target species, then it will work. If it does not specifically list mites, then it is not known, or not guaranteed to work". The laws for labeling pesticides is very specific. So read the label. Various formulation of the same chemical might work or not work for a specific pest, especially if there are adjuvant compounds in the blend (frequently true for pyrethrum related compounds, the additives are key in focusing in on target pests).

Spinosad is the "hot new organic" pesticide that is touted as being able to save the organic fruit industry. It works for many insects, I do not know if it works for mites, as mites are arachnids, and many pesticides good for insects are not effective on arachnids.

A word about imidacloprid, it affects only insects, and has been shown to actually stimulate active reproduction in spider mites, so applying imidacloprid to a tree already infested with mites will cause the mite population to go wild. You need a miticide. Read the labels. I don't know if Spinosad is a good miticide or not. The label will tell you.

As I said, Spinosad is good, we are considering it for use on our organic blueberries, but our budget for pesticides might not allow us to try it this year. We will see. Farm meeting coming up soon.

 

[cbroad]

If the label lists "mites" as target species, then it will work.

The label does say it works for spider mites, my only concern was when talking with other people that said that some spider mite populations are becoming resistant to spinosad.

I figured in a greenhouse setting (whole sale and then retail) that these places are probably throwing everything they have at keeping plant pest populations down, so there's a better chance at coming across resistant populations at places like these.

My question was more for anecdotal evidence from people here, whether they thought it would work well or not.

Haha I did know at one time that imidaclorpid wouldn't work for mites, I haven't used it in a couple years so I guess I forgot, but I would've surely read the label again before using it.

My course of action is another round of spinosad at the frequency the label recommends, then I'll probably hit them with some oil at some point.

 

[cbroad]

a Ti plant is a mite magnet.

When I got my first batch of ti plants from my dad, I had to tell him they had spider mites. Haha the first thing I did when I got my last one was spray it down with oil.

It's more of a legacy plant for me because he's had the same plant since he was eight years old. He has tons still but I'd rather not kill my current one.