healthy garden spider mites?

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Category: Healthy Gardens - Red Spider Mites
Written by Patty Avey - Chief Editor - SmartLivingNews.com

RED SPIDER MITES


The red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) sometimes called the
two-spotted mite, glasshouse red spider mite or red mite is a tiny
(.65mm), crawling, wingless insect that cannot be seen by the naked
eye but can be seen with a magnifying glass. These mites feed on a
wide spectrum of plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, beans,
sweet corn, peas, roses, carnations, orchids, chrysanthemums, other
flowers, and many common weeds.

Damage is done to the plant as the mite punctures the leaf cell and
sucks out the life giving sap, leaving the cells to collapse and die.
The damaged leaves become speckled with yellow dots rendering an
unhealthy dusty, dry appearance. In severe cases, all the chlorophyll
will be sucked out causing the leaves to wither and fall off. Red
spider mites allowed to proliferate will create a web which will form
around the leaves or the entire plant causing loss of vitality to the
plant and may cause premature death to the plant. This webbing around
plants also allows the mites to move from plant to plant causing
further damage.

The red spider mite breeds in hot and dry places. The red spider mite
is especially prolific in greenhouses because it thrives and
multiplies rapidly in the heat. A female red spider mite in an
environment of 80 degrees is capable of producing 13,000,000 offspring
in a month's period. At the end of the growing season and the onset of
winter, all mites with the exception of the female die. The surviving
females cluster together for the winter in straw mulch, dead leaves,
dry soil, and in cracks and crevices in trees.




Colonies of mites are found mostly on the underside of the leaf often
concealed by webbing
Leaves mottled with yellow dots, drying out and often falling off
plant
Fine, silk like webbing over drying leaves or over entire plant



Red spider mites hate cold water, spray them with water that is
between 32 degrees fahrenheit and 41 degrees fahrenheit
Red spider mites do not like moist areas, so keep the area around your
plants moist



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