Mites or something else??? Tiny white spots

8 years ago

Many plants throughout the whole yard, not just ones in one area of the yard are getting light or white tiny spots... The beans, the sunflowers some other flowers.

Google tells me spider mites, is there anything else that can also do this kind of damage.

The heaviest is this flower.

Ugh

I have not put any kind of "controls" in the plants beyond heavy spray with the hose a couple times a week, but that does not seem to be enough. Unless y'all tell it is a sign of over watering!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author
8 years ago
Maybe leaf hoppers?
User
8 years ago
Look underneath the leaves. Rub your finger over the bottom of the leaf and see if it turns red. If so, you have red spider mites. I'm beginning to get them too. They are bad during the dry season, and hard to control. I usually just knock them off daily with a strong spray of water. I've also used my homemade Murphy's Oil Soap spray to smother them: 1/3 cup Murphy's Oil Soap, 1 tablespoon baking soda to 1 gallon of water. Be sure to spray it early morning or early evening so it doesn't burn the plants. Get the bottom of the leaves really saturated.
Related Discussions
Is it thrips or spider mites or something else???
Q
Comments (5)
This is caused by a type of sawfly larvae. They are little worm like caterpillars that eat into the forming buds and surrounding leaves and create little webbed nests attaching the bud and leaves together. When they start getting older, you will see more evident black spots that almost look like coffee grounds on the leaves and in the webbing. This is their feces. If you pull the webbing apart and expose the bud, you will see the small larvae which are usually green in colour and can be quite small at first. There are sometimes 2 or 3 in the little webbed area. Some roses seem particularly susceptible to this type of Sawfly and others are rarely touched. William Baffin is one rose here that they absolutely adore and routinely attack in large numbers. No need to spray or dust as it will have limited effectiveness. Just pick them out of the cocoon and step on them, or use your finger and thumb and gently squish them around the bud and leaves.
...See More
Aloe - Bacterial Leaf Spot, Insect Nibbles, or Something Else?
Q
Comments (5)
Looks like mechanical damage from here, I'd forget it. Sounds like a lot of water, even for gritty mix. A lot of fertilizer too (I'd suggest too much, that's why it's so fat & plump as you said). Personally, if it were mine, I'd use a smaller pot. Unless the roots are huge, it's not good to have so much empty mix (assuming that's what's under the rocks). Some succulent growers use little to no fertilizer, feeling it's both unnecessary & makes for overly lush growth. Tho' I grow indoors only, my Aloes are in West window & I only fertilize them once or twice a year, in Summer only. Anyway, back to the damage, it looks like maybe it was bent against the edge of the pot, or a nearby one, looks mechanical (& not spreading) to me. I'd only be concerned if it somehow spreads.
...See More
Spider mites or something else...?
Q
Comments (1)
I'm going with the "something else" :-) Spider mites produce very fine webbing, usually between the leaves and their branch/stem attachment. The webbing is why they are referred to as spider mites. And they are red, not white, but very tiny......almost microscopic. The best way to determine is to hold a piece of white paper below a branch and shake it gently. The mites will fall off and you can see the minute things in contrast to the whiteness. Pretty much anything other than water is harmful to JM foliage. It is quite sensitive to virtually any type of insecticidal or fungicidal spray and the use of any of these products often creates a phytotoxic reaction. Just hose the plant down with a strong stream of water. If small enough, you can use your fingers to gently wash off individual leaves. And if it IS spider mites, the increased humidity resulting from frequent spraying of the foliage should keep them at bay. Spider mites prefer warm and dry environments.
...See More
Black spot or something else?
Q
Comments (14)
The product shown is neem oil with the azadirachtin removed. It will burn leaves in hot weather, as will baking soda--or even in moderate weather if the plants were not well hydrated before spraying. The large purple smears could be spray damage. Neither of these products gives very good control of spot diseases. The bad foliage has several problems, not altogether clear what. As suggested above, the definite white spots are where rose slugs have peeled off the undersurface, leaving a translucent window. You have a very mild case so far. Just wipe the worms off the underside, or ignore it. I don't know what to make of the fine white speckling and abraded look in images 2 and 3. I suspect rose mosaic virus, which is incurable but not usually a crippling problem. While some of the spots could be downy mildew symptoms, you can be sure that leaves with active DM will drop off the stems within a week or so. If spotted leaves do not drop, it isn't DM. Also DM usually attacks the newest foliage first. I don't see any spots that look like blackspot (fringy or notched). Anyway, KO is virtually immune. However, KO commonly gets cercospora spot disease in my area. Some of the spots are probably that. It won't likely be a significant problem. Finally, brown discs lining the leaf margin are a reliable sign of fertilizer burn. Your rose may be suffering from too much TLC.
...See More
whgille
8 years ago
It looks to me like powdery mildew. When watering I try not to wet the leaves, unless they are greens. The beans have a slight thrip damage but nothing to worry about.

Silvia
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
8 years ago
Hoppers will do that - I have tiny green hoppers that do it to my onions, once the weather gets hot. They tend to fly up when plants are disturbed.
SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author
8 years ago
I am hoping hoppers and not mites, seems like mites are harder to control. I had read that many organic and chems don't really work on the mites, but will kill the things that eat the mites so you can get a population explosion of mites if you just throw some chems down. I worry about water spraying them too much to keep the buggies off bc I can really only do that after work. Fine line of cleaning the leaves with watering and getting them too wet and inviting mold and fungi.
wisconsitom
8 years ago
I'd say leaf hoppers or the similar "plant bugs". Yes, there really is a class of insects known as plant bugs. Both feed by inserting a "stylet" into the leaf and sucking out the juice. That's what I think I'm seeing here. BTW, the first plant is some kind of verbena.
jane__ny
8 years ago
Leaf miners on your third pic. Not sure what it is, beans? Can't do anything about leaf miners, they really don't hurt the plant. The other plants look like it could be some sort of mite. I would use Neem Oil on a cloudy day.

Jane
wisconsitom
8 years ago
Yup^-good catch, def. leaf miners on dem beans.
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
8 years ago
Def. does NOT look like leaf miners to me - did you click to enlarge the photos?

Leaf miner damage on a bean leaf commonly looks like this:

Mites or something else??? Tiny white spots

Comments (9)

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author

User

Related Discussions

whgille

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author

wisconsitom

jane__ny

wisconsitom

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Mites or something else??? Tiny white spots

Comments (9)

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 TampaOriginal Author

User

Related Discussions

whgille

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 TampaOriginal Author

wisconsitom

jane__ny

wisconsitom

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author

SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author