Here's a "Yikes, Mites" thread from the forum. Check it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yikes, Mites

A quick look with a strong magnifying lens would soon tell if there is anything there. Almost any damage will cause that color on amaryllis.

Haitidoc, I don't know how strong the magnification has to be. I have a 8x printer/photographer loupe (enough to see dots when you look at printed materials). With that I cannot see any living or crawling thing on the red section of the amaryllis.

So I am just isolating it for now and will watching.

By the red formation, it looks like mites to me... simple to get rid of with several applications of a decent insecticide. I use Schultz's 3 in 1 spray, and I spritz the infected areas and follow up as often as directed on the label. I would also keep the pot isolated from your other bulbs.

From past posts from Hans, etc. I'd say it looks like the microscopic tarsonomid mite. It seems to reside inside the bulb and you would need a microscope to see it. I don't know what magnification. In my view, this pest is much more insidious than the bulb fly. In books I've read they say there is no cure and to throw the bulb away. I have had many bulbs end up with this pest, with similar dark red streaking on scapes and/or the serrated edge on leaves. Even from reputable companies I have recieved bulbs that perform normally the first year and have this problem the second.(My Exotica from JS last year has this this year.) The scape has almost a break in the tissue, a curve, doesn't grow full height and seems to blossom prematurely. It has red blotching and that red tracking. I keep these away from others. I am going to try a systemic and see whether this makes any diff. Usually I try avoid pesticides, I'm hoping a systemic is less invasive, I don't know.I'm so frustrated with this pest. If anyone has dealt with it for 3 years or so, and has tried different methods to deal with the tarsonomid mite, I'd love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

Jodi- I'm curious though, considering the mites are INside the bulb, how do you eradicate them by spraying the OUTside? Also, the reason I haven't dealt with them as you "mite" (surely no pun intended) deal with aphids, mealies, whiteflies, etc (any external)is because the sprays are NOT new. Don't you think if they did work longterm the experts would recommend them?
I don't automatically spray every problem that comes along with a pesticide, I usually research first to find best alternative treatments. The hot water treatment sounds like it requires equipment I don't have. The systemics have been available for years and it seems that if they did work they would be recommended. I just wish someone who had had mites about 5 yrs ago and treated them successfully would give us their input. No offense Jodi, and I always value your expertise, but if I have to use something that compromises my or my family's health in order to save a precious bulb, the bulb is history. As we learn with technology, we also have learned some "magic" cures are carcinogenic or disease causing in other ways. I guess I just wish for some easy way to deal with this pest. Do I really need to try figure ou how to do hot water treatment with a crockpot? ...groaning in self pity....

As I wrote above, I make sure that when I spray the scape and/or leaves, some of the liquid drips down in between the scape and the bulb, so it actually gets down inside the bulb's layers, where the mites reside. I do the same with consecutive treatments.

Since I take the pot outside to spray, no one is compromised by the pesticide. If I thought for a second that there was any more danger than already surrounds myself and my family, I wouldn't use this insecticide, or any other chemical that I use.

I pay good money for my bulbs, and I refuse to let them die when I can easily save them with the use of modern methods. As an adult, I'm able to research and gauge whether or not the risk of using a product is worth it... and as a former dairy farmer, I'm more than aware of the cautions of using pesticides... spraying the product outdoors away from humans and pets is more than adequate, and washing my hands when done is enough to maintain safety.

I never listen to those termed or self-termed "experts"... the same information is available to me, and I'd prefer to research for myself. "Experts" also are on hand to sell organic peat based potting soils, which I've found to harm bulbs, so I don't think some "experts" are very expert, no pun intended.

For me, spraying works fast and well... if it's not a choice someone else wants to make, they are free to follow their own line of cure or help.

The so-called "experts" in the field of medicine wanted me to take steroids 3 times a day for the rest of my life to help my Lupus symptoms... this would cause me more harm and shorten my life span.

Other so-called "experts" recommend pet feeds that have clearly been shown to have adverse effects on my dogs, as well as shorten their lives... we created our own natural, preservative free feed for our animals.

The above are only a couple of instances where the experts are far from expert. I've learned throughout my life that it's far better to study a subject myself and gather the real knowledge than listen blindly to someone else just because they have a couple of extra letters after their names.

I mean you no disrespect, Salpal, but I've been around long enough to know that when you find a product that works, you stick with it. There are several chemical products on the market I use that I will not compromise on... one is my choice of toilet bowl cleaners, another is dishsoap, and the third is my miticide. They work, they work well, and I don't have to worry about losing bulbs that I can hardly afford in the first place, to something simple like a mite.

I will add here, that the bulbs I've treated for these mites have not seen a return infestation.

By all means... if someone can find an easier or better way to deal with a problem, or prefers an alternative, please use it! I prefer a tried and true method that works fast and well, and does not compromise my family or my bulbs.

First, if there is not a confirmed diagnosis of mites, there is no way to know if mites were cured or ever existed at all. To confirm mites, one would need to actually see them and to see that they were indeed mites.

It makes a lot of sense that the mites would be down in the bulb out of the sight of a casual observer, even with a strong lens. The marks on the edge of leaves suggests that any damage was when the leaf was in a very immature stage.

Do we know that the mites actually seriously harm bulbs? Are bulbs with mites actually more likely to decline than bulbs without mites? Has that been studied?

I am thinking of a disease called tropical eosinophilia found in a small area of India and Bangladesh. The patients have an extremely high eosinophilia count and when a patient is sick and the doctors found the disease, they assumed that the disease tropical eosinophilia must be the cause. One patient died in London with the disease and an autopsy was done and mites were found in the lungs of the patient. Now we know what killed the man. Right? No, not at all. But patients with the disease were then treated with arsenic (a common treatment for many diseases before the days of antibiotics) but many died anyway.

Someone was smart enough to look at the lungs of people who died of other causes and found that all humans have mites in their lungs and then we gradually understood that people with tropical eosinophilia were dying of arsenic poisoning.

Patients with tropical eosinophilia left untreated did just fine and it was not necessary to treat the disease and it was not caused by the mites at all.

Now, do we know that the mites are there in these plants? Do we know that the mites actually seriously harm the plants? How can we know if our treatments are working if we don't even know for sure there are mites and not some other cause for red streaks on the edges of those leaves? And finally, how do we know that it is not our treatment of the "mites" that are causing the plants to decline?

I haven't spent a lot of time studying this, but from the evidence and writings I have seen, I haven't seen anything convincing that we are treating a condition that needs serious treatment. I might mention that one of the effective treatments for the mites that causes scabies (the seven year itch) is sulfa ointment. The sulfa doesn't harm the mites which are under part of the skin, but the ointment that holds the sulfa does rid one of the mites for it suffocates the rascals!

Maybe Jodik's treatment smothers the critters or treats some other condition that causes red streaks on immature leaf margins.

Just some idle thoughts. Would be interested in hearing from those who have seriously and scientifically studied this "malady." I know I am writing out of ignorance, but I am having a good time doing so anyway.

I've had to practive "tough love" with some of my collection. When infested with virus; if the bulb in question is "rare" I try to get seed, then toss the parent. With tarsonomid mites, I document it, contact the vendor, then quickly dispose of it - and thoroghly decontaminate the work area. I had an encounter with what appeared to be Amaryllis weevils. I very agressively striped away any questionable scales, roots, leaves etc - soaked in strong systemic Orthenex and planted in new potting soil. Making sure to thoroghly decontaminate the area, double bagging all the soil and trimmings even the pot, least the bug get out into the general environment. That pot will remain in quarantine for at least a year while I monitor the outcome.

I've been following this thread with a great deal of interest since I have a papilio that has these red markings, but they appeared after the leaves were out and they don't start close to the bulb but some 2-3 cm above. I also read the thread mentioned above.

I looked with a 10x magnifier and didn't see anything moving, but I did see several white closely arranged dots. I scraped some of it with a metal blade and again I didn't see anything moving. In my case at least, I don't think it is a mite case, but as suggested in the older thread, most likely a fungal disease.

Since fungicides and insecticides are under strict control over here and can't be bought off the shelves, and since I don't want to deal with pesticides anyway I'm now looking for a more natural way to treat the bulb. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Laurier

Laurier,
Try power cinnamon, I've heard it's natral fungicides.

I meant powder cinnamon. : )

I do believe those red streaks are tell tale signs of the tarsonamid mite. But even if they aren't, it is an obvious problem, and not normal for a healthy bulb.

By using a 3 in 1 product, I'm attacking the problem from 3 different angles with one application. I've had very good results getting rid of the red streaks, exactly like those pictured above. The active ingredient I'm using is extract of Neem oil, a very commonly sold and used garden product.

If someone can find a natural way to eradicate this problem, that's fabulous. I, myself, am not willing to give up on a bulb until I've exhausted all the tools in my arsenal.

Jodi,

Isn't Neem oil a natural product?

Thanks for the suggestions. I googled "neem oil" and indeed, it is an oil extracted from a tree, so a natural product. I suggest you google "stagonospora curtisii", too many links to just give one here, but it is often called the amaryllis red blotch and it is known to attack mostly hippeastrum. Mites are a strong possibility, but this fungus is also a strong contender as you may discover.

Laurier

And so... I stand by my use of Schultz's 3 in 1 spray... it's not only a natural product made from the oil of a tree, it's also effective regardless of whether mites or fungus are the culprits! :-)

agent1xe13
Has your plant been exposed to frost or some other sort of physical stress? Photos realy help if you can cature an image.

Here is a pix of the affected papilio:
{{gwi:383633}}De Divers

No, it hasn't been exposed to frost or other physical stress. It is by a large SE facing window and there are 5 other bulbs on the same line close to the window and this is the only one affected, although I discovered yesterday that 2 more bulbs placed behind the affected one are starting to show the same red spots, but this time on the bulb itself, not on the leaves as for papilio.

These bulbs have rested a bit this winter, they remained in leaf but needed much less water than usual. They are large, hard and otherwise very strong healthy bulbs.

Laurier

Jaapm had posted this link last year. There are pics of the mites on pages 5 and 7. Laurier, my mite damage usually looks like the pic from michigandave. Yours almost looks like bruising or something.

It is my understanding that Neem is considered safe/organic,(I have some)and is a good choice for indoor plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jaapm's link

The more I look and read at what is available, the more I think that even though they look similar, Dave and I have 2 different problems. Dave most likely has mites and I most likely have fungus. That's only the opinion of someone who is anything but an expert, but in both cases, I think that Jodi's product would be a good way to deal with the problem. Now I need to find that product or a similar one here in Quebec.

Laurier

I have seen that reddish-orange discoloration on bulbs that where the brown layer if peeled off of the bulb and the sun hits it and I suppose it is a sort of a sun-burn effect. Seems almost any damage to amaryllis gives that color. I wonder if that stem got hit with a cold draft of some sudden sunlight or something to cause that discoloration?

To me, it looks like damage that happened while the leaf was in the bulb. It looks like it stopped and is no longer a problem with the fresh green below. It's true that any damage done to the hippies seems to result in reddening. I might just keep an eye on it Laurier, if no more issues, it probably happened during shipping and isn't a problem.