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Spider mites?

g.milnertU_Ilzbug.milnertU_Ilzbu Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Hi,
I have what looks like spider mites (brownish body, redish looking legs, legs look like they only come out the front, not seen any webs though).  They're throughout the whole raised bed, any advice on getting under control, it's been a few weeks now but they just keep coming back theres so many of them, I tried blasting off and fatty acid spray.
Thanks
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Posts

  • g.milnertU_Ilzbug.milnertU_Ilzbu Posts: 10

  • g.milnertU_Ilzbug.milnertU_Ilzbu Posts: 10
    Anyone?
  • ShepsSheps Posts: 2,236
    Bump...
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I can't tell much from the photo sorry. Why do you assume they're spider mites though?
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • g.milnertU_Ilzbug.milnertU_Ilzbu Posts: 10
    edited May 2023
    They're extremely small, they move, they're killing seedlings (carrots), mostly found on the leaves of other plants too particularly ones with softer leaves, look like spider mites but just without the webs, can't think of any other garden pests they could be confused with? 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    It's a bit early in the season for things like mites and aphids. Are you in the UK or are your crops under cover?
  • Winston_The_Gravity_ManWinston_The_Gravity_Man Posts: 263
    If the same colour reduction has been applied to the wee beasties as has been applied to the earth in the photograph then I will venture that they aren't red spider mites at all but BROWN spider mites, if there is such a thing.

    I think the clue might be in the name !

    Also, I might be remembering wrongly but aren't the legs of red spider mites a bit more 'visible' than the photographed ones ?

    When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    You rarely see spider mite without a microscope, at the most .5mm. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Winston_The_Gravity_ManWinston_The_Gravity_Man Posts: 263
    Are they not the little red insects that crawl around on every outdoor surface on sunny days @Lyn ?  I remember, as a kid, watching them running about through a special high-powered torchlit magnefying glass. I never would have thought they did damage to plants.

    Sorry to hear about your daughter's bike being thieved.  There's a lot of cowardly scum about but preying on a woman ? How low can they get ! I hope your daughter wasn't too distressed by the theft.

    When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I'm not sure what they are, but I'm fairly certain they are not spider mites.
    Spider mites don't move much and as said above they are minute.
    The most common spider mite is the two-spot spider mite which is almost invisible.
    It's also rather early in the year for spider mites.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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