Last Updated on April 15, 2024 by Real Men Sow
Greenhouse Gardeners often encounter problems with red spider mites. These spider mites also become a problem to those growing plants outside or in the greenhouse when the weather’s warm in summer.
Spider mites hide under the leaves of your plants and feed on the sap. The eaves will then turn pale and mottled. They create a faint silk webbing onto your plants, and that practically means their attack on your plants is getting out of hand. Mild attacks won’t cause long-term damage but severe attacks might cause the leaves of your plants to drop or kill them off.
Best Way to Get Rid of Spider Mites
You’ll have to use a handheld magnifying glass to catch them. They can come in red, yellow, or pale green. They’re red when it’s autumn.
Conditions When The Spider Mites Attack
Spider Mites start to breed from spring when the temperature is always above 10°C. They love hot and dry conditions, the time where plants are already under stress. They love tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and aubergines. Strawberries, grapevines, peaches, and nectarines aren’t safe from them either. They may also attack your ornamental and house plants..
Their females find somewhere else to shelter from the winter when the temperatures drop in late autumn.
Preventing the Spider Attack
Cleaning your greenhouse during winter is one of the best ways to prevent them from attacking. Your greenhouse area should be cleared off weeds and debris all the time.
It’s best you take good care of your plants and make them healthy as possible since spider mites choose the weaker plants as their target. Promote proper airflow, meaning your plants should have plenty of space in between them.
Keep your greenhouse cool in the heat of the summer through shading, ventilation, and wetting the paths.
How to Control Red Spider Mites
Your watering schedule should be properly checked, making sure your plants are receiving enough of it. Spray a fine mist of water to your leaves’ underside and growing points. You may also cut isolated infestations then toss it to your compost heap.
If the first ones didn’t work, you may cover your plants with lightweight cloth for a couple of days immediately after spraying the water. Doing this would trap moisture, which isn’t what the spider mites want. Never use pesticides to kill them off, leave your greenhouse doors and vent open so the spider mites’ predators would be able to do their job with them.
You may also purchase a biological control such as the Phytoseiulus persimilis. This is a type of predator mite that is the same size as the spider mite. They search for their prey like the spider mite.
