Spiders, spider mites, powdery mildew, and new buds....oh my

8 years ago

I have a little gray spider that seems to be loving my pom poms. He is there every morning and is a quick little bugger too. I have noticed little clumps of webs. Not spun from leaf to leaf but more like set up as little houses on the under sides of the leaves. I have noticed that one of the plants the leaves feel very dry, not dead, just dry, and have yellowish patches on them. Is this spider mites? There are some little holes on the leaves as well.

I feed my plants for the first time on Sunday. MG Bloom Booster. I fed according to the directions and soaked the soik until it ran out the drainage holes. I was careful not to get the leaves wet. Yesterday, I noticed a white powdery mildew on a lot of the leaves. It wipes off with a wet cloth but does come back when the leaf dries. I am going to trim the bottom sets of leaves tonight when it is cooler. Will spraying with water mixed with dawn help? The plants seem healthy despite newbie mistakes...

Last, I have 5 sweet buds on one of my poms. This one I didnt top. It set up a bud after 6 sets of leaves. The central bud is there and the two laterals, there is also the 4th little rider on the central bud. This plant I am going to let do its thing so I can learn the habits of the plant. How long before these little guys may bloom?

The second pom, I topped above ther 4th set of leaves as it was setting up a bud. If I decide to disbud the lateral buds, how far down should I trim? And it will rebud when the central dies off?

Thanks,

Terri

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Comments (7)

linaria_gw
8 years ago
what region are you in,
and any chance of a pic? that would help a lot.

I wonder whether it is really powdery mildew if it appeared over night.

When I planted small Dahlias into a window box with new potting soil (pre-fertilized soil-less mix), they were slightly over-fed and sent off some of the surplus minerals, so there was a white-ish layer on top of the leaves, along the edges.

re disbudding: not sure what you mean,

common practise is to let the main bud grow and remove the two smaller ones sprouting from the same leaf axle, doing that by cutting the stems off as close as possible to the main stalk.

Well, enjoy your pompoms and whatch closely,

bye, Lin
cicivacation
8 years ago
"I have noticed little clumps of webs. Not spun from leaf to leaf but more like set up as little houses on the under sides of the leaves. I have noticed that one of the plants the leaves feel very dry, not dead, just dry, and have yellowish patches on them. Is this spider mites? There are some little holes on the leaves as well."

Sounds like classic spider mite sign. If you can see the webbing, you have a large amount of spider mites, and they are moving to the next plant! Take the plant AWAY from any other plant, and treat those plants as if they are infected even if you didn't see any visible sign.

This is the organic way- Clip off the branches with the webbing, toss in a sealed bag into your trash. Wash each remaining leaf and stem by hand with a bit of soap and lots of water. I'd pour slightly soapy water into the pot, too, for good measure.

Keep quarantined from other plants, and I'd spray leaves with soapy water every other day for a week, then every few days for another week. Or you can use neem oil instead, but it has a rather offensive odor inside.

Good luck!
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Terri Williams
Original Author
8 years ago
Terri Williams
Original Author
8 years ago
Here is a picture of the white spots on the leaves. She is planted in MG potting soil treated to feed up to 6 months. I fed last Sunday with 18-24-16. I am having a hard time finding something with a low first number. I mixed 1 scoop to a gallon of water. I was planning to feed every 7 days due to the fact that I am growing in containers this year. Is that too much?
Terri Williams
Original Author
8 years ago

This is the four buds I have at the top.
Terri Williams
Original Author
8 years ago
Cici- I cut the bottom leaf sets off the other night. I was pretty crowded under there as I decided to put there 3 guys in the same planter. I will not repeat this next year! I also washed the plants. I inspect my babies every morning, no spider or webs since. I have formed a 6th bud. The topped one is growing thick laterals like crazy. The other little guy is trucking along working on a 5th leaf set.

On a side note, it looks like my cutting from the Tropical has rooted! We transplanted her this morning and will see how she does! :)
Terri Williams
Original Author
8 years ago
Lin, 7a Western NC. In the moumtains.

Spiders, spider mites, powdery mildew, and new buds....oh my

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linaria_gw

cicivacation

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Spiders, spider mites, powdery mildew, and new buds....oh my

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linaria_gw

cicivacation

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