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Spider mites are a pest that affects the vast majority of garden crops, both ornamental and fruit-bearing. Roses are also not immune to his attacks. If nothing is done, the bushes will dry out and die. Therefore, spider mites on roses are a pest that you need to start fighting immediately after it is discovered. The appropriate remedy is chosen depending on the severity of the problem and other factors.
What does a spider mite look like on roses?
Spider mites are a pest that affects absolutely any type of rose. Very few varieties and hybrids protected from it have been developed so far. In general, its “sphere of interests” is extremely wide; it is a polyphage and attacks more than 200 fruit-bearing and ornamental garden crops. The pest is extremely widespread and lives on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica.
The individuals are small (0.4-0.6 mm), so it is problematic to see them on rose bushes with the naked eye: they are approximately comparable in size to grains of sand. Even the bright orange-red or crimson-crimson coloring of females does not help (males are much more “nondescript” - greenish-brown).
The appearance of a spider mite is typical of arachnids
The pest settles on plants in entire colonies. Their number reaches at least 200 individuals. They and their eggs overwinter in plant or other debris in a flower bed or shallowly in the soil.
In spring, spider mites on roses become active quite early, again laying eggs from which transparent green larvae hatch. They go through their development cycle quickly: if there is enough food, it takes only a week for them to transform into adults capable of reproduction.
The pest can be detected by the thin, translucent “webs” entwining the plant. Most of them are on the youngest and “tender” parts of the bush: buds, just opened leaves, tops of shoots.
Why did spider mites appear on the rose?
Due to their microscopic size and minimal weight, spider mites are very easily transported by the wind along with dust over long distances, especially in dry weather. Therefore, rose bushes are not immune to infection at any time during the season.
Most often, plants located on the periphery of the site are the first to “catch” the pest. Then they quickly spread throughout the entire territory.Precipitation, cloudy cool weather that sets in for a long time, and birds can “slow down” the settlement process a little, but the problem will not be completely eliminated by such methods.
The risk of infection increases significantly if the bushes’ immunity is weakened by poor quality care. The plant is also negatively affected by the wrong choice of planting location.
At home, spider mites most often get on roses after purchasing new, already infected specimens of indoor flowers. Therefore, it is impossible to neglect “quarantine” for them and preventive treatments. Much less often it is “blown in by the wind” through an open window, but this option is also not excluded.
The gardener himself can unintentionally “introduce” spider mites onto roses.
Consequences
Spider mites are pests that feed on plant sap. Moreover, due to the large number, the process goes very quickly. Accordingly, if you do not poison spider mites on garden and indoor roses, the negative consequences, first of all, appear on the above-ground parts.
They are as follows:
- Multiple small discolored dots appear on the leaves - areas of tissue from which the pest sucks out the juice. As the tissues dry out and die, they turn into black “specks.”
- The leaves dry out completely, starting with the appearance of a narrow border along the edge, turn yellow, curl up and die. At first, roses lose 1-2 leaves a day, but quickly enough the leaf fall becomes “massive.”
- The development of plants slows down greatly, practically stops, they weaken and lose their tone literally before our eyes. The bushes stop blooming and forming buds. The existing ones dry out and fall off.
- The rose is almost completely entangled in the threads of the web.The “carpet” of them seems to be “moving” due to the large number of adults.
Spider mites feed on plant sap, so rose leaves inevitably dry out.
If you do not fight spider mites on outdoor roses, you can almost certainly say that the plant will die due to radically disrupted photosynthesis and metabolism processes. The root system will not cope with the task of restoring the aboveground part.
Measures to combat spider mites on roses
There are quite a lot of means to combat spider mites on roses. The appropriate option is chosen taking into account the severity of the lesion, the location of the rose, your own principles of growing different crops in your garden plot and other factors.
Chemical preparations for spider mites on roses
Chemicals in the fight against spider mites on roses are a kind of “heavy artillery”. Such drugs are used when there are no other options left, since the infection process has already gone too far.
Many of them are dangerous to human health, pets and the environment. Therefore, processing is carried out in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. This is especially true for their frequency and concentration of the working solution.
To save roses from spider mites, gardeners use:
- Actellik. Insectoacaricide of enteric contact action based on pirimiphosmethyl. Most often, in order to get rid of the pest, two treatments at intervals of a week are enough.
Due to its toxicity, Aktellik is only allowed to be used outdoors.
- Apollo. Acaricide based on clofentezine. After a single treatment it provides protection for 2-3 months. It destroys eggs and larvae at all stages of development, and “sterilizes” adult individuals, depriving them of the ability to reproduce.
The Apollo preparation is valued by gardeners for its economical consumption - to prepare a working solution, an ampoule (2 ml) is diluted in 5 liters of water
- Floramite. The effectiveness of this acaricide is ensured by biphenazate. After processing, it begins to “work” very quickly - within 1.5-2 hours. There are no pests on the bushes for 3-4 days, protection lasts for 3-3.5 weeks.
Floramaite is used strictly according to the instructions, otherwise the pest quickly develops resistance to the drug
- Fufanon. Insectoacaricide based on malathion. The mechanism of action is contact. He not only destroys already
It is not advisable to use Fufanon for two seasons in a row - its effectiveness is noticeably reduced.
Folk remedies for spider mites on roses
Folk remedies, if spider mites have already settled on roses, are inappropriate to use in most cases. They are recommended for use for prevention, for example, when the pest is found on other plants in the garden.
To treat roses against spider mites you can use:
- Infusion of onion or garlic. You can use both “feathers” and cloves and heads crushed into pulp. Approximately 0.5 kg of raw material is poured into 3 liters of warm water.Leave in a dark place for a week. The finished liquid is filtered and diluted in water at the rate of 80-100 ml per 10 liters of water.
Onions and garlic are effective not only against spider mites on roses: the pungent odor is unpleasant to many insects
- Tobacco decoction. You can use both fresh leaves and tobacco crumbs. About 300 g is poured with boiling water for a day, then boiled over low heat for 1.5-2 hours. The finished product is cooled to room temperature and filtered.
To enhance the effectiveness of tobacco decoction, you can add mustard powder or ground chili pepper to it.
- A solution of laundry or green potassium soap. Approximately 80-100 g are grated on a fine grater and whipped into foam in 10 liters of water.
The soap solution is used only for treating the bushes themselves; the soil in the flower bed is not sprayed with it.
Biological products
A significant advantage of drugs of biological origin is their safety for human health and the environment. They can be used to treat both home and garden roses against spider mites. However, in the most “severe cases” they most likely will not help.
How can you cure roses from spider mites:
- Fitoverm. A very broad-spectrum insectoacaricide based on several types of fungi living in the soil. It begins to act when it enters the digestive system and upon direct contact with the integumentary membranes. To achieve the desired result, 3-4 treatments will be required with an interval of 7-8 days.
Fitoverm is not always only useful: with frequent treatments it destroys “necessary” insects in the soil and on bushes
- Bitoxibacillin. Intestinal action insectoacaricide. Destroys only adult individuals and larvae of spider mites on roses, paralyzing them. It is safe for eggs, so one treatment will not work.
Bitoxibacillin is most effective in cool weather (up to 22 °C)
Prevention of spider mites on roses in the garden and at home
It is impossible to completely guarantee that spider mites will not attack roses. But a set of simple preventive measures can significantly reduce the risk:
- Carefully inspect roses for suspicious signs similar to spider mite infestation upon purchase. Existing specimens in the garden and on the windowsill also need to be inspected at least once every 7-10 days. Having discovered yellowing foliage, it is recommended to carry out preventive treatment with folk remedies against spider mites.
- Be sure to send purchased seedlings and indoor flowers to “quarantine”. For the pest to “prove itself”, 7-10 days are enough.
- Every year at the end of the season, remove plant and other debris from the rose bed and deeply loosen the soil. The spider mite, and even more so its eggs and larvae, having lost their shelter, will not survive the winter cold. Collected waste cannot be “stored” on the site; it is burned or destroyed in another way.
- Regularly prune, follow the rose planting pattern, and take other measures to prevent “crowding” in the flowerbed. The closer the planting, the faster the spider mite spreads.
- Periodically irrigate the plants from the “shower”. Spider mites do not tolerate high humidity. However, it must be taken into account that the flowers of many varieties of roses lose their decorative effect after such a procedure, so it is not always possible to carry out this procedure.
- Provide roses with proper care, primarily watering and fertilizing. High-quality agricultural technology has a positive effect on the overall tone and endurance of the plant; it becomes less susceptible to diseases and attacks by pests, including spider mites.
Even the healthiest and most “blooming” roses are recommended to be regularly inspected for symptoms of damage.
Conclusion
Spider mites on roses are a dangerous pest that feeds on plant sap. In severe cases, its attack on bushes leads to their death. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore the symptoms indicating its appearance on the bushes. To combat spider mites, both folk remedies and specialized preparations are used.
