re: orange tree dying! help! spider mites

15 years ago

hi everyone ive recently posted pics of my orange (citrange?) tree. People say its in bad condition, which I realize, so I want to take it out.(chop it off!) but it appears some people have said its infested with spider mites, and to certify that, earlier today (about 3 pm) ive noticed lots of webbing and a creepy *@#@%! on a web, i was soo mad! so i want to cut it but i also want to start a garden near it and plant a fig tree. The problem: will my garden be infested after chopping the tree down? can i spray with orange oil or something like garlic all around my yard to make sure the mites die? how can i maintain my to be garden to not have mites? whats a mixture that i can spray every week or so to prevent them? I hate these pests and don't want them destroying great plants or a fig tree! will removing the tree eliminate the mites? I know many people around my area with gardens, for many many years, and dont even know what spider mites are and never experienced them. They are lucky, i am poor beginner! thank you everyone, i aprreciate your feedback and support.

Featured Answer

starloc

15 years ago

Spidermites are killed by oil/water , use neem oil or citrus oil or cooking oil, about a spoon to a litre of water, add a tiny drop of dishwash liquid and shake it up, spray it everywere, soak it, preferably with a presure sprayer, but a hand mist spray is ok, just soak every part top and bottom, all the stems etc, do it a couple of days on the run, then every week for a few weeks , it kills mites no problem at all
Another way is 10% rubbing alcohol in water, it kills them as well, but can make the leaves fall off if you make it too strong, they grow back though

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Comments (7)

aesir22
15 years ago
Spidermite love citrus trees. But I wouldn't start chopping it to pieces (unless there is another reason - I haven't read your other post yet)

Do a search on spidermite on this forum with the search function. It brings up natural and chemical ways to treat the horrid little things. Deal with the infestation calmly - don;t panic and tear the tree up and chuck it out, and don;t worry that every plants within a five mile radius is going to be destroyed.

Treat the infestation then go from there. If for some reason you do need to chop, do that rather than throw away the tree. I wouldn't have the heart to throw one lol, I get too attached :D
aesir22
15 years ago
I have read your threat but it was a few weeks ago and my memory sucks lol. The one where the root stock took over...too bad about that but the citrange is still a nice tree!
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carolstropicals
15 years ago
Hi, I use orange peels to kill spider mites and other insects. I throw them in the middle of salvia, etc. I am trying now to see if the peels will kill scale which I have had a terrible infestation last year.
It is strange having spider mites on your orange tree when the peels kill spider mites. It would seem there might be another insect doing the damage.
Great organic use of orange peels. I know citrus get white fly and scale attacked my citrus trees. So far with the scale I have cut off branches.
monoface_hotmail_com
13 years ago
My citrus tree continues to give plenty of fruit. However, I started to notice that it is dropping it's leaves and a significant amount of branches are dying. The leaves are green and other than the alarming amount of dead branches and branches with a smallert amount of green leaves the tree looks fine. If it continues at this rate, the tree will be dead by next year. Could ants cause this? I have notice ants going up and down the trunk.
meyermike_1micha
13 years ago
Have you checked for scale or aphids?

I am going to stick my neck out and say the roots on your plant are most like the culprit behind your problem, in particular root rot.

Mike
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
Hey, Judy...you need to become your own detective. Ants can be a significant clue but you have to determine what the ants are doing. If they are large carpenter ants, they could be taking advantage of some existing problems within the tree. Carpenter ants don't eat live wood but only that which is already dead. I doubt that this is your problem, though, since you didn't use the adjective 'BIG' to describe the ants!

Are they fire ants? Those nasty little critters love to build their large nests within the root systems of trees and shrubs, are are very capable of causing major problems. The roots are left high and dry in the nesting chambers.

Ants of many different kinds can also be observed climbing all over a plant that is infested with one of the many sucking insects that our citrus are plagued with from time to time. Take a careful look for scale insects (there are many possible suspects), aphids, and mealybugs.

You need to let us know if your tree is planted in-ground or in a container, too. Root problems are always a possibility, especially with the former.