Spider Mites and Their Control
If you notice some strange little white spots on your foliage and the foliage gradually turning pale then brown, you may have mites . Spider mites become problems in hot, dry weather. The reason for this is that mites can complete their life cycle in 5-7 days in hot weather and dust on the foliage prevents predators from keeping them in control. Also, after the population gets large , mites spin a fine webbing on the undersides of leaves protecting them from washing or pesticides. Mites are very small insect-like creatures that suck juices from the underside of plant leaves- resulting in a ‘stippling’ or ‘speckling’ pattern (see attached photo) in the initial stages. Later the entire leaf turns a pale bronze color then may die. However, there are a number of natural predators that will keep mite populations in check. Also, mites tend to develop here and there- not uniformly over the entire crop. These are called ‘hot spots’ in mite terminology. Sometimes they don’t spr