Oh my. I agree: You win! I've never seen so many.

What is your soil like?
How much organic matter is in that soil?
How well does that soil drain?
How well does that soil retain moisture?
What kind of life is in that soil?
How is the tilth of that soil?

Spider Mites breed prolifically in hot, dry weather. When it is hot and dry those wee buggers ingest more plant sap which makes them more amorous which causes more Spider Mites to be born. One simple method of control is to increase the humidity level of the affected plants by regularly misting them.
Constantly spraying pesticides, "organic" or not, also kills off the beneficial insects that could help control the pests. Plants growing in a good, healthy soil will be better able to ward off insect pests, so get that soil into a good, healthy condition.

Hi Kimmsr,

This is a new garden. We just built the beds last summer. The original soil is alkaline clay. I've amended it twice so far. Once with about three inches of composted horse manure. The second time with about four inches of compost. I mulch with compost and straw. The soil retains moisture very well because it's clay. It seems to have good life in it. I see worms and centipedes, lots of other bugs.

This garden wasn't sprayed except for the two times early on. I see beneficials, just not enough? There were minute pirate bugs in with the mites, but they weren't doing the job. I have praying mantis, a few lady bugs.

What I noticed too. In another garden site that I have that is just across a walkway, my plants are doing just fine. I have two pumpkins and two tomatoes. It seems to me that the pumpkins should be overrun with mites. One of these pumpkins is a volunteer that grew out of an old compost pile. The other is a pumpkin that I planted whole, in a pile of horse manure. It is SO healthy. It has aphids and such,but doesn't seem to care. In organic gardening, is the goal to get these plants so incredibly healthy that they don't care that they have pests? It seems to me that no one can survive mites.

My beans were beautiful, dark green, healthy...just lovely. These mites moved in and now they are trash.

I live in a very hot climate.

Predatory mites are an option for next year. I would hate to have to purchase these every year though. I want to find a balance in my yard if possible.

Try neem oil. A very effective miticide and an approved organic control.

A raging case of spider mites such as you have indicates your plants are seriously stressed.

Likely you can avoid the problem -- and pesticides -- entirely by using planting guidelines suited to your hot climate. It can be as easy as planting at times other than in the average garden book.

Consult your county's university Extension Service office. Locate your office using this page:
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

Also ask around to locate local gardening programs as well as locally written garden columns in newspapers, etc. Then, too, someone locally may have written a garden book that suits your region.

Here is a link that might be useful: locate your county's Extension Service office

A new garden bed can be the reason since the Soil Food Web haas not yet developed enough to be of much help. If a soil was greatly lacking in sufficient amounts of organic matter, needed to support that Soil Food Web, it can take 3 plus years for the SFW to get large enough to be beneficial.
Although your University of California Cooperative Extension Service does not do soil testing they can help you find labs that will so you can find out what your soils pH and the balance between the macro nutrients is and these simple soil tests may also be of some use.
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.