I was wandering if anyone might know an effective way to combat fuchsia mite. I once had 22 fuchsias and I have since lost four of them due directly or indirectly to fuchsia mite. I have made several different attempts at completely removing the mites, but I have had only one successful eradication, which took four years to accomplish and nearly killed an otherwise very hardy fuchsia.

A bi-weekly systemic spray of Triflorine and Acephate for three weeks seems to halt them for about a month and a half during the growing season (which is year round where I live) but they always return in force after this period. I would rather not use this spray anymore since I am not fond of chemical sprays. I have also discovered that if sufficient quantities leach into the soil the fuchsia will suffer greatly and may actually die.

Can anyone help me? Also, how do fuchsia mite spread from one plant to the next? Are hummingbirds transmitting the infection through infected pollen?

Thanks

As Kath says we are lucky in that we do not suffer this pest. One method I use on my plants is to 'dunk' them in a bucket of water that is 'hand hot' - now 'hand hot' will mean a lot of things to a lot of people and one mans 'hot' is another mans 'scalding' so be very careful and wear rubber gloves or better still gauntlets. The water does only need to be 'hand hot', the method is to turn the plant upside down and remove any loose compost onto a sheet or into a bag for disposal, place the plants foliage into the bucket ensuring that ALL the foliage and as much of any stems are covered by the water. Count slowly to 10 - the water I find raises the temperature of the pests and kills them that way and if that fails - they drown in a warm bath ....

I have used this method for many years and although it can be done when the plants are in flower it is best carried out when only foliage and/or buds are present. I am not sure how to post a pic on here yet but if you e.mail me I will send you a line drawing (drawn by Joan Goy) from my booklet. Good luck.

Tight....

I had heard of that method Tight, but never used it myself - Kath:)

Looks like a similar method to the one Dave Clark uses. It's on his website www.fuchsiaclark.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk if any other forum users are interested.

Kath,

I've had a problem with spider mites all summer, from an unchecked purchase. I actually paid for them!!!! Finally got rid of them but it was a costly exercise.
IanS.

The method of 'dunking' was probably born from listening to Dave in the early 80's. I actually put it into my booklet in the late 80's so I have been using it for some time. I usually 'dunk' any plants that I am overwintering with foliage, luckily this year I have been able to strip them all and treat them with 'Provado2" Vine Weevil Killer'. A good tip when treating plants is to use a different coloured label to ensure that a) you get the ones you want, and b) to make sure you only get them once.

With reference to your red spider, again I am in the fortunate position of being self employed and working mostly from home, this gives me plenty of time with my plants. This has enable me to control all pests and in truth I have not seen any aphid (of any colour) and the number of whitefly I could count on one hand. I have sprayed ALL my plants (both in pots and in the garden) religiously on Sundays and Wednesdays throughout the growing season using 'Liquid Derris' purchased from Focus DIY. I have also sprayed them with tepid water (I only ever use tepid water for watering and spraying)throughout the day on hot days and this has possibly also helped to control.

I must say it is something that I haven't been affected by this year, so I can assume that it has had a positive effect.

Woodlice live in areas where there is decaying matter and a good cover for them to hide, a good hygiene regime will help to deter them. I have most of my pots either off the ground on staging or in concrete pot holders and assume this also helped me.

Tight

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Hi,
I visited Antonelli Bros. in Capitola, CA this weekend. They have an amazing selection of fuchsia (& begonia). Some of their plants are several years old with no evidence of gall mite (many are very susceptible varieties). I asked them how they protect against the mite and they spray with Ortho® Systemic Insect Killer once a month at a dilution of 3 Tbs. per gallon. I hate pesticides as much as the next person, but I don't think this one is too bad. As far as I can tell, there are 2 chemicals in this product. One, Acephate, biodegrades in soil to mainly CO2 and other non-harmful chemicals. The second, Fenbutatin Oxide, is used on fruit trees so it can't be all that bad. It is important to note here that the Ortho instructions say not to use this product on anything that you might eat! The Ortho website is: http://www.ortho.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=productGuide.productDetails&partnerId=100004&poeSiteId=10927&strCategoryId=23832&strProductId=101701&strAdditionalBrandId=&dsvs=6BEF1AF8-65BF-F00F-1692-7F23ABAA712C,x,x&CFID=3407719&CFTOKEN=60672481
I hope this is helpful to some of you. It certainly was to me.

I just wanted to add my advice. I have been fighting fuchsia gall might forever! I have tried everything... everything! I live close to Antonelli Bro's and they are still fighting the horrible mite, I'm a regular. Basically because I hate chemicals (but still used them) and see so many hummers at my house (can you believe they SIT around on my plants like they own them?). I used pesticidal oil, it smothers the mite and no harm to hummers "Safer" brand is good. I used it during the winter months when I didn't have a lot of leaves or buds. Basically, I needed to use it every week and then biweekly. Now its gone. Long story to a short essay. In the past, I used to pluck the blooms to keep my oldest ones away from hummers and harm. This year I had two fuchsias that became infected. I quickly isolated and treated with the oil, what a pain in the neck but I kept up with it and its gone. Good luck and don't give up. I've had some bad advice and killed some nice old plants.
Lisa2