Re: plant problems

Bob Beer (bbeer@u.washington.edu)
Fri, 19 Aug 1994 13:22:56 -0700 (PDT)

The reason I suggested spider mites is that I had this problem this
summer on my montbretias, which is not a plant that usually has problems,
except for there being too many of them. We are having an unusually warm
dry summer here, and that is what spider mites love.

I have noticed that with spider mites, it is not always easy to see the
webs, especially on plants with long flat leaves like those in the iris
family. They tend to concentrate around the tip growth in shrubby
plants, but on other things they will be all over the place. This is
especially true on cactus; when I see them on cactus, I more often
recognize them by their brand of damage than actually seeing the mites
(though a good hand lens will reveal them). But a good miticide like
Avid always does the trick.

> > Extraordinary! Serendipity!
>
> I've got the same problem on some of my Sarrs, you described it exactly.
> I've got a sample and am heading over to the plant pathology dept
> right now. News at 10.
>
> Barry
>