Too Much love?: pider mites

» Treeman - pider mites

Hmmmm....not sure the products you are using are really miticides. Diazinon definitely isn't. The oils probably won't have much permanent effect either. Neem is listed as a miticide but the Greenlight brand has a very low concentration of the active ingredient...azidiractin. I suspect the Bayer product contains a systemic insecticide (Imadcloprid) that is very good for sucking insects but probably won't affect mites.

None of these products normally would cause leaf drop exept maybe the oils if they were applied too heavy. Also sometimes the environmental conditions are just so to cause an adverse reaction to oils. In the future i would use the Light horticultural oils for aphids and scale tho. the heaver volck oils are more prone to cause injury.

There is also the possibility that you may be harming the natural controls...the benificial insects and mites that naturally control pests. Mite outbreaks following insectide applications are really quite common. In killing the insect pests we often inadvertently kill the predators and also reduce the competition the pest insects provide the mites. the mites rapidly fill the vacume.

I would be inclined to cut the plants back by about a third and resume a normal fertilzation and water regime...simply avoid added stress. In you hot climate the partial shade is probably a blessing just be sure the plants have adequate moisture during the hot months ahead.

-- posted by Treeman