I think I’ve finally got rid of my flat mites!

[Mark07]

It took me a while to realise what was going on with my plants and what was causing the red spider like damage. I could never see any sign of tiny webs or any minute spider mite looking bugs on my plants. It turns out it wasn’t spider mite at all….they were flat mites!

These little b*ggers..

These are a lot smaller than the common red spider mite and do a lot of damage. I see this mite now on a lot of new Cacti I buy and believe it to be the cause of a lot of damage to our plants which we mistake for red spider mite. I’m no expert on these mites but I think I have finally gotten rid of them in my collection.

Firstly you need one of these to spot the little b*ggers

This little magnifier is one of the best items I’ve bought and had I not bought it I would still be believing that my problem was with the common red spider mite. Using this great little tool I was able to see the little blighters crawling all over an otherwise healthy looking plant. The more I looked the more I found them, everywhere! I use it regularly now, pretty much every time I visit the greenhouse!

I tried all the usual off the shelf pesticides that mention mite control but nothing worked until I came across a post on the internet that suggested using a diluted spray of this stuff:

Ivermectin drops 1%. This little dropper bottle meant to treat small pets like Rabbits, Ferrets and Rats for mites worked wonders on ridding them from my collection. I added it at 5 drops per 100ml of water in a spray bottle and drenched my plants. After about a week I couldn’t find any more mites and I’ve yet to see a single mite or its damage 12 months later.

I would highly recommend both the magnifier and this treatment if you are suffering with the usual mite damage to your plants and are scratching your head at the cause since you can’t see these with the naked eye or even a normal magnifying glass!

I was worried this would kill good bugs like spiders etc in the greenhouse but it hasn’t appeared like it’s affected them at all and still have lots of the common spider types hanging out

[Ali Baba]

They are pernicious little things and quite hard to get rid of so be vigilant. They are very slow to reproduce compared with two spotted mites so can take a long time to reappear in large enough numbers to be detectable. Insecticide based on rape seed oil works too if you repeat spray.
I frequently find them on commercially available cacti, whereas two spotted mites are relatively uncommon

[Mark07]

They are pernicious little things and quite hard to get rid of so be vigilant. They are very slow to reproduce compared with two spotted mites so can take a long time to reappear in large enough numbers to be detectable. Insecticide based on rape seed oil works too if you repeat spray.
I frequently find them on commercially available cacti, whereas two spotted mites are relatively uncommon

Thanks Ali Baba, I do use Bug Clear Ultra 2 as well occasionally which is based on rape seed oil and had noticed that did work better than other pesticides before I discovered the ivermectin drops.

I’m always on the lookout for them and will be vigilant

[Ali Baba]

It’s nice to see someone else who has had the sense to get a magnifying glass and identify their pests ! I’ve been banging on for years about how ‘red spider’ is flat mite and not two spotted (which is also called red spider because it spins webs, which flat mites don’t).
One handy tip for spotting them is to look for the eggs. They are bright red ovals and are often laid in a conspicuous spot such as in areoles. Easier to see than the mites which tend to hide away in crevices.
Fortunately I’ve managed to keep them out of my collection with careful inspection of new plants plus quarantine.

[SimonT]

I use a digital camera to spot pest which is another way to give a bit of magnification.
I agree that a pesticide containing rapeseed oil pesticide works well for mites but it can mark some plants, so you need to test it first.
I've not seen any mites this year yet but I'm just assuming they're just sulking because of the bad weather!

I quarantine new plants and this catches most issues. But it is not 100%. It just takes 1 egg or mite to get through
and these are tiny <1mm so they can easily be hidden somewhere in the plant. If they get through quarantine then they can
rapidly amplify their numbers and spread to lots of other plants very quickly.

[Mark07]

Thank you both for the tips, appreciated. Fingers crossed they don’t reappear anytime soon. In the meantime I’m there like Inspector Clouseau with my magnifier trying to spot any signs

[habanerocat]

An X10 eye loupe and eye-loupe holder work well for me.
.

[Mark07]

An X10 eye loupe and eye-loupe holder work well for me.
.
Clipboard01.jpg

I like it!

[AlexBateman]

Sorry for the not completely on topic post. I am new to posting and simply cannot work out how to post a new topic (sigh!), so replying to this one seems the least bad thing to do.

I am looking for suggestions as to what these black bugs are on some of my cacti? They are particularly bad on this Mammilaria. They are less than 1mm in size. Black and possibly have legs, but they are not very evident at all. I have included a photo. Are they a type of mite? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks
Alex

[iann]

Takes a year or two to hope you might have eradicated them. They're much more active later in the year. I've got my fingers crossed that I've at least got them under control. Haven't seen one so far this year, but I'm trying not to let my guard down.