Nepenthes lowii spider mites

[Cjpflaumer]

Hey guys, after seeing the new leaf on my lowii start to slightly discolor after knowing it has for sure had proper conditions I got out the magnifying glass and I see red spider mites. I have bayer 3 in 1 that I use on my flytraps and sarracenia safely. Should I try this? I also have spinosad. I've seen people say Spinosad and could try neem. I will get whatever I need. Also saw just rubbing alcohol. I greatly appreciate any help. I always open the window at night in the room but I guess that was not good.

I posted this on FTS forum as well sorry if you see it on both.

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[PsychoSarah]

Well, I have used neem oil successfully to treat mites on nepenthes before. Smells bad for sure, and reduce the amount of light the plant gets for about a week after treatment, since the chemical makes the leaves more photosensitive. Nepenthes are pretty tough when it comes to chemicals compared to most CPs, but I can't guarantee that what you have used on other CPs successfully won't harm a nepenthes.

Dilute the neem oil with distilled water before use, making sure to check if you have bought the concentrated stuff. If you did, there will be instructions for dilution. Since the mites can be in the soil too, I carefully remove the plant from the media (it's fine to leave some on the roots so as to not cause a worse disturbance), and dunk the plant top first into a mixed solution of the neem oil and distilled water (shake well before use). Just dunk it so that the entire plant has been exposed, no soaking needed. Neem oil doesn't kill the mites on contact (it messes with their reproduction and growth), but they do hate it, and you'll probably notice a ton of adults popping off the plant once they are hit with neem oil. Repot the plant in fresh media and a clean pot, spray down the soil with neem oil, wait a day or so, and spray the exposed foliage with distilled water. You don't have to do the distilled water spray, but it helps reduce the damage to the leaves that neem oil can inflict. Retreat after 1 week for the best results... and keep the plant away from where it caught the mites to begin with.

Never use neem oil if your plant is going to experience temperatures above 90 degrees (probably not a good idea for lowland nepenthes).

That's the best advice I have to give.

 

[Cjpflaumer]

Well, I have used neem oil successfully to treat mites on nepenthes before. Smells bad for sure, and reduce the amount of light the plant gets for about a week after treatment, since the chemical makes the leaves more photosensitive. Nepenthes are pretty tough when it comes to chemicals compared to most CPs, but I can't guarantee that what you have used on other CPs successfully won't harm a nepenthes.

Dilute the neem oil with distilled water before use, making sure to check if you have bought the concentrated stuff. If you did, there will be instructions for dilution. Since the mites can be in the soil too, I carefully remove the plant from the media (it's fine to leave some on the roots so as to not cause a worse disturbance), and dunk the plant top first into a mixed solution of the neem oil and distilled water (shake well before use). Just dunk it so that the entire plant has been exposed, no soaking needed. Neem oil doesn't kill the mites on contact (it messes with their reproduction and growth), but they do hate it, and you'll probably notice a ton of adults popping off the plant once they are hit with neem oil. Repot the plant in fresh media and a clean pot, spray down the soil with neem oil, wait a day or so, and spray the exposed foliage with distilled water. You don't have to do the distilled water spray, but it helps reduce the damage to the leaves that neem oil can inflict. Retreat after 1 week for the best results... and keep the plant away from where it caught the mites to begin with.

Never use neem oil if your plant is going to experience temperatures above 90 degrees (probably not a good idea for lowland nepenthes).

That's the best advice I have to give.

Thank you so much for the great response. My little lowii is only about an inch across do you think that would be too traumatic? I plan to sterilize the whole terrarium when I treat the plant too.

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[PsychoSarah]

Thank you so much for the great response. My little lowii is only about an inch across do you think that would be too traumatic? I plan to sterilize the whole terrarium when I treat the plant too.

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Hmm, hard to say. My infected plant was far larger. Perhaps dilute the neem oil a bit more, or spray down the soil a bit less. Some people have had leaves grow in warped after using neem oil, but I have never heard of a nepenthes flat out dying or experiencing irreversible damage from it... so long as the plant isn't exposed to temperatures near 90 degrees. Definitely reduce that light level after treatment.

 

[Cjpflaumer]

I am worried about uprooting it too due to its size, but if spider mites may be in the LFS then I will have to. I keep temperatures well below 90 so I wont have to worry about that. I mixed up some neem at half tablespoon to a quart. It said on the bottle half to 1 tbsp per quart so I went on the low end. I googled 'Nepenthes Bayer 3 in 1' and it looks like Sarracenia Northwest use it successfully on Neps, but again, my Lowii is only an inch across at this point. It was almost 2 inches across before it started declining. Since it was an indoor plant I didn't even look for spider mites. I should have checked much sooner.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Again, if you are worried about root damage, you can leave the media intertwined with the roots when you dunk the plant in, and just remove and toss the media otherwise in the pot.

Alternatively, you can dunk the whole pot in or heavily spray the plant and media with the neem oil solution, though the second treatment is an absolute must if you don't toss the media. Make sure the underside of the leaves get coated in neem oil, as spider mites like to hang out there.

 

[Clue]

Hmm, hard to say. My infected plant was far larger. Perhaps dilute the neem oil a bit more, or spray down the soil a bit less.

As a general rule, don't dilute pesticides at lower rates than the manufacturer instructions, or you risk developing pesticide resistance - a much bigger problem than regular mites.

 

[PsychoSarah]

As a general rule, don't dilute pesticides at lower rates than the manufacturer instructions, or you risk developing pesticide resistance - a much bigger problem than regular mites.

True, my advice was bad on that part. I need to think things through more.

 

[Cjpflaumer]

I submerged the entire plant in its pot in plain water for about 15 minutes. I saw lots of hibiscus owners do this for spider mites. I know water can't hurt the plant and 15 minutes fully submerged isn't enough to cause root rot. I then used a q-tip and applied the bayer advanced 3 in 1. It says in Savage Garden it is safe to use and Sarracenia Northwest use it. I just hope the small plant can handle it. I also Sprayed the LFS with neem at the lower end of the recommend dilution. I truly hope this works. I plan to retreat in 5 days. I wish I had seen this problem sooner. I thought it was the conditions it was living in.

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[Cjpflaumer]

Just a little update of the recovery. Seems to be doing loads better now. Thanks again for the help.

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