Red tick on indoor plants: how to protect your favorite flowers from a pest
Spider mites cause a lot of trouble for gardeners and flower growers. They like to live in hot and dry climates, which makes them different from other small pests. The red spider mite is one of the varieties of such parasites that destroy any plants. Consider how to recognize and fight it.
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Description of the pest
Red spider mite.
The red spider mite feeds on plant sap; it is large enough for parasites of this species. The female reaches 0,5 mm in length, and the male - 0,3 mm. And yet, it is very difficult to see it with the naked eye. The tick settles on the lower part of the leaf, feeding on its juice, multiplies very quickly, causing great damage to both garden and indoor plants.
The tick adapts well to adverse environmental conditions, it quickly adapts to the pesticides that people poison it with. At an ambient temperature above 14 degrees, the tick begins its vigorous activity, and at temperatures above 30 degrees it multiplies.
Structure and life cycle
The red spider mite has a flat body, and in females and males it differs in shape. The male has a wedge-shaped body, and the female is elliptical. Its red color has a greenish or orange tint. The mites are too small to see with the naked eye, you need to look at it with a microscope.
Ticks can live in temperatures ranging from 10 to 34℃. The total life cycle is 14 days at a lower temperature of 21℃, and less than a week at a higher temperature of -30℃.
Red spider mites have the ability to hibernate without food in winter, and come out and re-infest crops during favorable seasons.
The red spider mite goes through several stages.
Where does it live and what does it eat
Mites can be found under the leaf surface near the veins. They can also switch sides. Sap sucking or feeding makes the leaves yellowish white and mostly mottled.
When heavily infested, these red spider mites will spin webs, first on the undersurface and then on full leaves, sometimes entire plants will be covered in dense webs. Under severe conditions, cultures can even die.
Reasons for the appearance of a tick in the house
Home flowers can be infected in three ways:
- when buying an already infected flower;
- the ticks were carried by the wind through the window;
- when using soil infected with larvae and eggs of parasites.
Signs of pest infestation
First of all, we pay attention to the leaves covered with cobwebs, small pests move along it - spider mites. Light spots form on the leaves, and after a while the leaves turn brown, curl and eventually dry out. One has to look for pests under the leaves, and because of their small size, one needs a magnifying glass to spot them.
What harm do red mites cause?
Although the initial attack by the mites may seem harmless, their tiny size and ability to reproduce very quickly exacerbate the problem.
Because the pests themselves are hard to spot, it's easy for a gardener to miss the subtle signs of an initial infestation if they don't carefully inspect their garden every day. A less vigilant gardener may not notice these signs until the leaves begin to turn yellow, die off and fall off, and the plants become covered with cobwebs, not to mention hundreds or thousands of very mobile and hungry mites.
The bell has adapted well to temperate climates and lives in gardens, surviving well in the ground in winter. He prefers to eat the juice of the leaves of fruit trees, garden crops, shrubs, flowers. Indoor flowers also often suffer from attacks by these parasites, orchids are especially vulnerable.
Since red spider mites feed exclusively on plant sap, they can only cause economic damage, but it can be significant. Plants begin to get sick, lose leaves and may die. Such a parasite cannot bite a person or an animal, its oral apparatus is not adapted for this.
Red tick control measures
There are different ways to deal with the red tick, which one to choose depends on the degree of damage to the plants. If an indoor flower is infected, then it must be immediately isolated from others. With small foci of infection, folk remedies will suffice. If there are a lot of pests, then chemical methods will have to be used.
You need to understand that ticks cannot be removed at a time, the treatment of plants must be carried out at least 3 times, and it may be necessary to fight until the cold weather.
Chemical processing
As soon as mites are found in the garden, it is immediately necessary to treat the plants three times at weekly intervals with any preparation sold in garden stores:
- Marshal;
- Neoron;
- Nissoran;
- Demitan;
- Fufanon;
- Danadim;
- Actophyte;
- Apollo;
- Vertimek.
These are acaricides and insectoacaricides. The first are made on the basis of sulfur, nitrogen, bromine. Insectoacaricides contain organophosphorus compounds.
It should be remembered that chemicals are dangerous not only for ticks, but also for humans. Therefore, safety precautions must be strictly observed. Wear clothing that completely covers the body, a hat, a respirator and goggles.
Before processing, you need to protect the roots of indoor and garden crops by covering them with cellophane. Strictly follow the instructions for the drug. Spraying should be done before 12 noon.
Folk methods
In addition to chemicals, there are also home remedies to get rid of spider mites. We will need: plant spray, water and dishwashing detergent or salicylic alcohol. The first method is to spray the plant affected by the spider mite with clean water.
This operation should be repeated regularly, and it is also worth moving the plant to a less sunny place.
If the above home methods do not work, the only way to deal with spider mites is chemicals.
Biological methods
Garden stores sell predatory mites, amblyseius and phytoseiulus, which eat the larvae and adults of the red spider mite. They are sold in paper sachets, which you just need to lead to the plant. Once the red ticks are destroyed, the predators will also die.
Features of processing delicate plants
Some indoor flowers require delicate care, they can not be wiped, sprayed, watered from the shower. To combat red parasites, the following measures are proposed.
| Steam Room | Bring flowers into the bathroom and open a hot shower. Wait until the room is filled with steam, and leave the flowers there for 15 minutes. |
| toxic greenhouse | Place a container with finely chopped garlic or turpentine next to the flower. Cover the container and flower with polyethylene and leave it all for several hours. |
Preventive measures
Plants, whether garden or indoor, need to be examined more often, once every 5-7 days. At the first sign of infection, immediate action must be taken. At first, it will be enough to treat with hot water or folk methods. For indoor plants, the following preventive measures are suitable:
- The purchased soil must be calcined in the oven, using separate baking sheets for this.
- When buying a new plant, carefully inspect it, there should be no plaque on the leaves. The purchased plant is best placed separately from other flowers for two weeks.
- Fallen leaves should be cut off immediately.
- Keep an eye on the humidity, do not allow the soil to dry out.