Should I discard a plant that had spider mites but looks cured?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I am a newbie to hoya culture with a nicely growing small leaf Cumingiana [cummingiana?], one stem about 18" long. About 4 months after I got it, I noticed the characteristic webbing of spider mites, although I saw no mites. I immediately isolated the plant in a large plastic bag and applied miticide three times at five day intervals. None of the other plants have shown any signs of mites, although I have not checked with a magnifying glass.

The Cumingiana looks fine, no sign of mites, although I need to check with a magnifying glass or the white paper test. It is still quarantined in a large bag. My question is whether it is worth taking the risk for this one plant of putting it with other plants, after some period of time, if careful checking shows no mites, or it would be smarter to just discard it and get another one? Will the other plants have been exposed to mites anyway if the infestation got to the point of a visible webbing (but no mites) on the Cumingiana? There are about 150 plants in the room, about 20 of them are hoyas. The others all appear to be pest free.

If it is not too risky, is one month a long enough quarantine time with careful checking with a magnifying glass?

Thanks in advance. This forum has been critical to my being able to grow these plants.

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Comment (1)

aurorawa
7 years ago
If you don't notice mites via magnifying glass or webbing, I see absolutely no reason to get rid of the plant. One month is adequate for quarantine, and you used miticide. As far as your other plants being infected, you never know unless you look. It is quite possible, especially if your cummingiana was asymptomatic, that you never had spider mites to begin with, unless you confirmed via paper test or magnifying glass.

I just treated for spider mites on a citrus tree (thankfulky, it is my big one that over-winters in the garage, away from my hoyas) for the first time today. Here is what I observed:

There is webbing. This webbing shows up UNDER the leaves and attaches to the petioles. If you look on the undersides of the leaves, the mites ARE visible to the naked eye, but are so tiny that they just appear to be little moving specks.

Here is how I treated the tree:

I used my thumbs on every single leaf, top and bottom, to smear/squish the mites. I then sprayed each leaf, top and bottom, with a sharp stream of water. I then applied Forbid. Now, it's a waiting game.
metrovavin thanked aurorawa
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Should I discard a plant that had spider mites but looks cured?

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aurorawa

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