My arborvitaes are infected with spider mites. Using insecticide "soap" kill most of them for a while, but it's impossible to kill all of them, so they come back eventually.
I heard I can buy bugs to kill them. Any idea where I can buy them? I don't think home depot sells bugs.
I live in Seattle.
-peter
Whatever you do, don't use Sevin. It kills the parasites that kill spider mites. It will make the problem much worse.
Spider mites thrive in hot dry conditions. Hose down your arborvitae every other day until you have them under control. Black lady bugs (Stethorus species), both adult and larvae, eat mites. You could mail order these or ask at your local farmer's coop. As you mentioned a fine spray of soapy water helps too, try to spray under the leaves from below. If none of this is possible or practical, you might need to resort to using an insecticide such as malathion or dimethoate, but mites are notorious for becoming resistant to the repeat use of any one product.
Peter, you can buy them at
Leslie zone 5, Eastern WA (and very happy to have a news server again!)
Thrips are effective early-season predators, feeding primarily on spider mite eggs. Spider mites provide an important food source for predators such as minute pirate bugs and big-eyed bugs. Minimizing early-season insecticide applications, which may reduce populations of beneficials, will reduce spider mite outbreaks. Naturally occurring predatory mites exert some level of control. In some areas, releases of predatory mites have been used to manage spider mites in field corn. If predatory mites are to be released, be sure to release the appropriate predatory mite species for the area and time of year. Also use the correct release rate and the correct timing. Definitive guidelines have not been developed, but make releases before significant spider mite outbreaks occur.
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