|
What is it?
Strawberry spider mites are related to spiders. However, they are not true spiders of the arachnid species. Strawberry spider mites are small specks when seen on strawberry foliage and fruits, and often look no larger than a grain of pepper. Often you will not even be able to see these strawberry plant pests unless you place a sheet of white paper beneath the strawberry plant you think is infested. By placing a sheet of white paper beneath possibly infested leaves you can then tap the leave and if spider mites are present, they will fall onto the paper looking like a smattering of pepper grains, almost as if someone shook a pepper shaker onto the white sheet of paper.
What does it look like?
Damage from spider mites will show up on strawberry plants in the form of yellowed leaves. The strawberry plant leaves may also have a stippled appearance or look dirty as if mud has been splashed on them from the surrounding garden soil. The appearance of what is known as cobwebbing may occur between the leaves. These are areas where the spider mites have spun webbing to connect a path for their feeding efforts. Cobwebbing may be present on top of the leaves, but is usually only evident when you flip leaves up and look at the undersides. The strawberry plants will not produce much if any fruit, and what strawberry fruit is produced will be especially small and underdeveloped. As mentioned above, you may only see the damage of spider mites, rather than the pesky garden insects themselves because they are usually only visible on a white background. However, don’t let their small size fool you, spider mites can wreak havoc on your strawberry plants and are much more dangerous to your harvest than a few grains of pepper would be.
How does it manifest?
Spider mites are slightly larger than cyclamen mites which also prey on strawberry plants, however they manifest in much the same way. Spider mites cause damage to strawberry plants by sucking the sap from the plant. They usually do this by sucking on the undersides of leaves, attacking the eldest leaves first. As the spider mites continue to feed, the strawberry plant leaves lose their green leaf pigmentation and the chlorophyll disappears leaving behind a stippled appearance of green color and lighter lack of color areas on the leaves. Berry production is greatly reduced or stifled all together as the strawberry plant is not getting and keeping the necessary nourishment it needs to produce the strawberries. Unfortunately, spider mites are active throughout the entire growing season of strawberries. However, it should be noted that these insect pests prefer temperatures which are above 70°, so if your region tends to be cooler you may have less of a problem with spider mites than warmer regions. Once infestations start, spider mite populations multiply quickly and they can have amassed great numbers by midsummer.
What can you do about it?
Purchase a miticide which contains hexakis. This specialized insecticide should be applied to the strawberry plants at the first signs of damage, however make sure you confirm the presence of spider mites by using the white sheet of paper first. Treatment will need to be repeated at seven day intervals throughout the growing season as long as spider mites, or spider mite damage is evident on the strawberry plants. You will need to make sure that you coat not only to topsides of the strawberry plant, but that you also coat the undersides of leaves where spider mites most commonly feed and cobweb. At the end of the harvest be sure to clear away all plant debris and fallen fruits.
|
| |
