 |
| Spider Mites on Orchids |
Symptoms:
Mites are
not insects, they are members of the arachnid family. Mites typically feed on
the underside of the leaves and can be found under the leaves as small, red to brown
pests. A hand lens may be needed to see them. Leaf undersides may have webbing
and brown splotches from the mite excrement. The upper surface of a damaged
leaf may have a silvery sheen that eventually becomes sunken and turns brown.
Leaves may be streaked, stippled or spotted due to lack of chlorophyll.
 |
| Spider Mites on Orchids |
Treatment:
Plants
can be sprayed with a miticide like Kelthane following label instructions being
particularly careful to contact all the undersides of the leaves. During warm weather,
new generations mature every 6 days so repeat applications will be required,
perhaps 3 applications at 4 day intervals.
Prevention:
Mites
appear during warm, dry weather. Increasing humidity and leaf wetness and, if
possible, decreasing temperature help prevent infestations.
No comments:
Post a Comment