Got rid of Japanese Beetles only to now have Spider Mites

11 years ago

If it isn't one thing, it's another.....

My next door neighbor, who planted his Sugar Maple a foot off our property line, has had NONE of these problems. He doesn't even water the damn thing! Nor mulches it, and has even nicked it with his weedeater, but me, who mulched, watered, fenced in all my trees from animals, and look upon them with motherly love, and what do I get? Japanese Beetles and Spider Mites! And nobody around here carries the spray for them so I had to overnight a spray from Amazon.

From what I've read, the Sevin I used set up a nice cozy care free environment for the mites. I haven't actually seen a mite, but I saw the effects of one. It made one leaf of my tree turn bronze and fall off. This means war....

/Rant Over

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Comments (7)

wisconsitom
11 years ago
Yes, ILove, that's a classic scenario; Not sure what all your were hitting with the Sevin, but typically, it's the folks that do blanket yard-wide sprays to "get rid of the bugs" that end up with large mite populations. To my way of thinking, it is not hard to understand why this happens!

+oM
ilovemytrees
Original Author
11 years ago
Live and learn. The nursery I bought my new Forsythia shrub from has no problems with mites or beetles. All of their trees and shrubs look beautiful. The employee said they only use organic materials to keep the bugs away. I wanted to talk to her more about it but they were very busy and I didn't want to use up anymore of her time, but for sure next year I am going all organic.

I only sprinkled Sevin on the tree's leaves, and I only used it a couple of times. It sure didn't take long for the mites to show up...

Thanks for responding Tom. I know I created this situation, however unintended it was. I'm using it as a learning experience. :)
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GIO I'm going to look into finding the red dye as well. Are you planning on water, clove oil, and the red dye? I'd much rather use that than the Sevin... Yes, I'll be using the red dye, water, clove oil and other containers with the dye and tayuya root powder, which I have. No Sevin. The only place I could find the dental disclosing tablets was online. Your dentist might have some tucked away in a cabinet somewhere -- I'm not sure how common their use is these days, though I think they're used to help children brush thoroughly! But check to be sure the dye is #28 red, since #40 red is used sometimes. Also, about the clove oil. One woman tried it when we were experimenting but apparently put it full-strength and *some* liquid Sevin in a plastic cup. She reported that the next morning the bottom of the cup had melted away! I read later that undiluted clove oil WILL melt plastic. I used styrofoam cups and probably a greater dilution of the clove oil with water and didn't have any problems at all. Good point about the yellow containers. I got excited about making it more effective without considering the consequences to the pollinators. However, is the red dye toxic to the pollinators? The red dye will be consumed only by the insects attracted to the lure it's mixed with, and that's ONLY cuke beetles, not the pollinators or other insects. The reason is that the chemical compound, cucurbitacin , is in the lure that attracts cucumber beetles. It exists in varying degrees in all cucurbits, but the beetles flock to some cucurbit plants in droves and less to others, quite likely because of the strength of the odor. OTOH, pollinators are attracted to the cucurbit flowers, mostly through the kind of light emitted by various colors and probably the nectar in them, and cucurbitacin is of no interest to them. (Thus my reluctance to use anything yellow as a container in hopes of attracting the cuke beetles -- that might indeed attract the pollinators, too.) I hope your garden won't be as infested with cuke beetles this summer as last year! The kind of cucurbits you planted may have been the lure for so many (I didn't check your list against the list in the link), so if you can avoid growing them again, maybe the beetles will be smaller in numbers and it won't be a losing battle to keep the numbers low enough that you can harvest most of what you plant. That's about all we can ask of nature! I have Crenshaw melons, tomatoes, and beans out in the garden right now and haven't seem any insects so far except for flea beetles. So when these pests show up (and I know they will) that's when I'll set out the baited traps. I'll report back occasionally on how well it's working. It would be great if you (and anybody else who tries it) could do that, too. Report success OR failure. People have a tendency to not think about insect problems until they show up in THEIR garden, so it's possible that some who aren't interested in killing every insect on their plants will look for a solution a bit later in the season. I've never had to deal with Japanese beetles, but a zapper over a koi or other pond sounds like a great way to get rid of them! Sounds like you have some fun projects to think about!
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wisconsitom
11 years ago
Make no mistake about it, ILove, Jap. beetles are an absolute scourge. We are just starting to get them around here. What a bummer! They feed on so many different plants. And really, there's next to nothing you can really do about them. Sure, milky spore disease will kill the grubs when applied to your lawn but the adults are strong flyers and they just come right back into your yard, or in my case, our numerous municipal flower beds. I'm generally not a hater, not even a bug hater. But I do believe I hate Japanese beetles!

+oM
strobiculate
11 years ago
Doubtful sevin caused the influx of mites. Won't ever say never...but the odds of direct causation are kinda low...environmental factors more likely to be of greater importance.

And being organic does not mean you don't spray. Spinosad would have wiped out the beetles just as well...and you probably would have gotten the mites anyway. And when the mites go away, it's time for the grasshoppers, the cicadas...get the idea? Sometimes, being vigilant just creates more work.
ilovemytrees
Original Author
11 years ago
Good morning. Thanks for responding.

I bought on Amazon and then used last night Bayer 3-in-1 Insect Disease and Mite Control Concentrate. It kills Japanese Beetles and Mites.

I'll use that as needed this year, but I'm going to go back to that nursery and find out exactly what they're using that none of their trees or shrubs have any insect/mite damage/fungal infections at all.
arbordave (SE MI)
11 years ago
OP: "...the Sevin I used set up a nice cozy care free environment for the mites."

Here's a paragraph (from the link below) that would implicate Sevin (and some other insecticides):

"Spider mites frequently become a problem after applying insecticides. Such outbreaks are commonly a result of the insecticide killing off the mites natural enemies but also occur when certain insecticides stimulate mite reproduction. For example, spider mites exposed to carbaryl (Sevin) in the laboratory have been shown to reproduce faster than untreated populations. Carbaryl, some organophosphates, and some pyrethroids apparently also favor spider mites by increasing the level of nitrogen in leaves. Insecticides applied during hot weather usually appear to have the greatest effect, causing dramatic spider mite outbreaks within a few days."

Here is a link that might be useful: Spider Mites, UCDavis
ilovemytrees
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks ArborDave!

" applied during hot weather usually appear to have the greatest effect, causing dramatic spider mite outbreaks within a few days."

That would be my situation. lol Thank you so much for the link, and all that information. I appreciate it.

Got rid of Japanese Beetles only to now have Spider Mites

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Got rid of Japanese Beetles only to now have Spider Mites

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wisconsitom

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