Mostly_Harmless said:

Also, thoroughly inspect and clean every pot, all benches, greenhouse frame, and staging. Mites will hide and overwinter wherever they can. Under the lips of pots is a favoured spot. Mealy bugs do this too.



They are more visible in the cooler months, larger and more red. They can go dormant pregnant. Hot and dry are their preferred conditions. This time of year they are more easily spotted before damage occurs, still being sluggish and showing their larger size and richer colours. Once the season is under way we tend to only realise they are present when damage is observed.

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Mrvince said:

So should I just be spraying and taking care of them as soon as I see them?

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Quote:

Red Spider Mite Life Cycle:

The mites go through 5 development stages. Egg to adult takes about 14 days at 21ºC, or less than a week at 30ºC.

Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves. Each adult female can produce more than 100 eggs in 3 weeks. They reproduce at alarming rates - 10 spider mite in May are capable of becoming 1,000 by June & 100,000 by July!

High humidities can reduce the egg laying rate of the mites.

During the autumn, when day lengths shorten the mites turn deep red in colour and migrate from the plants to hibernate in crevices within the glasshouse structure.

Red spider mite can overwinter without feeding and re-emerge in the spring and summer to re-infest plants.

NB. Artificial lighting may stop the mites from hibernating.

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Eywa_devotee said:

Up the humidity to saturation. Spray with safer's soap solution. Any other potasium based liquid soap will do...  Make sure to get under the leaves where they hide. The next day spray plants with dilute Epsom salt solution, and the next day, finish them off with a strong pesticide of your choice, use VERY sparingly if the end goal is to consume the plants...

Alternately, just transplant the plants outdoors and the spider mites will usually go away on their own due to predation by other bugs unless it is very hot and dry.

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