Just need to vent a little, but I am so tired of spider mites devouring my garden. I keep them down using a water spray, but this is of course not enough to get entirely rid of them, and with the heat wave they are multiplying fast. I spend a lot of time doing this. I’ve tried some various oil concoctions (not neem oil, as that has been a little hard to source where I am, but canola oil was one I found recommended) without much luck, and they left a sticky residue on the foliage, so I stopped doing it.
This is the second year I’ve had problems with this. I suspect they have overwintered on some indoor plants, as the initial chilies were infected before being moved outside. Next season I will ensure a complete plant free environment for some weeks before I sow my crops indoors from seed, and will also look at finally finding neem oil or predatory mites to keep these guys in check.
This year I’ve also for the first time had some issues with inchworms eating my plants. The worst seems to be behind me now, but there was a period of time where I would find and pick off several each evening that I somehow had missed the day before (fat buggers!).
My indoor plants are also suffering from fungus gnats. I’ve not done anything to combat them, and will need to look into nematodes or other helpers. I am not sure about the effect on my herbs, as they seem to be doing fine regardless.
It’s a learning experience, and steadily getting better at this for each season is nice - but I can’t help but long for a proper garden where I imagine keeping a more balanced ecosystem is easier (but at least I don’t have to deal with slugs on my balcony…). Maybe I am deluding myself.
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I struggled with spider mites every season for a few years, until I built up a latent population of ladybugs, initally bought at my local nursery. My balcony garden (between 40 and 100 plants depending on the season) has been big enough to support this, not sure if this will be applicable to yours but I’ll share what worked for me.
The key for me was not using any pesticides and letting the population of mites and aphids swell so there was plenty for the ladybugs to eat - it’s all about getting them to lay eggs, because it’s the ladybug larvae that stick around (can’t fly yet!) and do the most eating, and ladybugs lay eggs where they think there will be enough food for their babies to eat. You want to start a multi-generational war on those mites.
Water the garden heavily at sunset and mist all the foliage so the ladybugs have plenty to drink as well as eat. Make sure it’s dark so they are less likely to fly away. Release them all over the garden, let them eat and lay eggs and begin the war, and keep an eye out for the larvae after a week or so. Don’t use pesticides, and hopefully the cycle continues on and on and keeps all your soft-bodied pests in check indefinitely.
Interesting - I always considered that they would run off immediately, so I have kinda discarded the idea of releasing winged helpers. But if they have sufficient food, that might not be the case. The scale of my balcony is a bit smaller than yours - I’m at about 20-25 plants now mid-Summer.
Do you restart the population every year, or do they overwinter?
Did you ever try predatory mites?
I’ve been lucky to have them overwinter, and I see larvae throughout the year. Haven’t had to bring new ones in since the first couple of releases, but I’d imagine that might have a lot to do with the climate here.
I haven’t tried predatory mites yet but I’m planning to soon, since my new nemesis is thrips, and the ladybugs can’t control those. Tough spot though, since I assume the ladybugs will eat the predatory mites…
does your water spray have a bit of dish soap in it? sometimes dish-soapy water is enough for me to get rid of smaller insects, and i’m using a small enough amount of soap that it doesn’t leave a residue that i’ve noticed.
i think i had to get neem oil from ebay or somewhere because i couldn’t find it locally, but since it gets diluted so much, a small bottle has lasted me for ages.
also, are you letting your plants’ soil get dry in between waterings (if your plant types allow that & aren’t bog plants etc)? letting the soil dry a bit more & watering plants from the bottom via a tray might help with the fungus gnats, since they thrive in damp soil.
you’re spot on, a full garden makes the process far easier, because the solution then is to just sow way more seeds than you’ll need, so everyone has some 😅 best of luck in your container-garden battles, you’ll figure out the right balance of things sooner or later! 🙌
No, I only used dish soap together with the canola oil, and I think the oil is the culprit when it comes to the residue I saw. Maybe I should try dish soap only! Thanks for the tip.
I’ve spent some time the last day to look for it - I found one shop that sells it locally. I am not sure if they are trustworthy or some vibe coded scam, but I will look more into them and order a small bottle if I decide that they are trustworthy. What is your experience using it?
The indoor herbs that are plagued with fungus gnats do get dry, but perhaps not always, so something I can keep an eye on. Sometimes they get a little too dry though, so I have now a failed attempt at some summer savory that I need to reseed if I am ever going to get a taste. Since my broad beans aren’t fruiting, it is not such a rush anyway :p
i’ve found neem oil to be quite handy at getting rid of a variety of creatures chomping at indoor plants. sometimes i combine it with dish-soapy water if i’m tackling something like brown scale, because the soap helps to get through that waxy layer that they exude over themselves.
i’d say neem’s worthwhile generally, but not worth the risk of scams if you’re not too sure about the seller! 😅
best of luck re-seeding / regrowing! i’m sure the heatwaves this year have scorched/dried out a lot of plants, i’m about to try round 2 for chilli peppers this year myself!
i’d say neem’s worthwhile generally, but not worth the risk of scams if you’re not too sure about the seller!
Maybe I’ll just risk it, I won’t be ruined from it :p
