Spider Mites - what now?

[kirstenaline]

Hi Everyone,

We recently purchased a home that has a beautiful hops plant growing on an arched trellis. It is gorgeous and I fell in love with it. No sooner after moving in, I noticed the top of the arch looking very dry. I wondered if it needed more water as we had very warm weather the last month, but I quickly realized we had a lot more going on. After a ton of research I have come to the realization that the plant has a terrible infestation of spider mites. With a 2 year old and two dogs, I am not interested in using a crazy insecticide right now, and instead would like to find a way to save the plant, even if that means cutting it completely back and starting from scratch.

Here are some pics, and it has worsened a lot since these were taken (we were on a trip the last week). Today I went out and tons of the leaves are covered in webs. Nasty little things.

What is the best way to move forward with making it happy again for the coming year, and getting it back to it's beauty? I am happy to give it the loving care to have it brought back down to the ground, if necessary.

Thanks for your help with this very big newbie!

Kirsten

 

[day_trippr]

Woof. That's indeed an epic infestation.

If I faced this problem I'd cut off everything that's obviously infested and get it far away from the bines. Then I'd mix up a simple "insecticidal soap" and apply it so the entire plant has been thoroughly soaked. Do this either early in the morning or when the sun is fading to avoid burning the plant.

5 tablespoons of "real" soap (eg: castile) to 1 gallon of water. Repeat 4 days later to kill anything that hatched in the interim. I've used this successfully to stop an infestation in its tracks...

Cheers!

 

[kirstenaline]

Awesome, super helpful. How do I know where to stop cutting back with the bines? Don't want to hurt the already suffering plant anymore than necessary! But also want to give it the best chance at coming back!

 

[feinbera]

Do you live somewhere it doesn't rain during the summer? Don't laugh, I live in California, it apparently doesn't rain here during any part of the year anymore...

...anyway, if so, I found that giving them a good, hard spray from below (so as to soak and pressure-wash the undersides of the leaves) helped a lot. Apparently, it works both by physically dislodging the mites, and creating a damp environment which any remaining hangers-on don't like. But if you live somewhere where summer = thunderstorms, probably you don't have the same problem with an excessively dry environment that I did, so, your mileage may vary.

 

[day_trippr]

Awesome, super helpful. How do I know where to stop cutting back with the bines? Don't want to hurt the already suffering plant anymore than necessary! But also want to give it the best chance at coming back!

You'll have to judge for yourself - the pictures aren't clear how much of the plant is really damaged at this point. Those leaves that are obviously goners would be a good place to start...

Cheers!

 

[sabotenfighter]

Had the same problem early this summer over here. We have an extremely humid climate but the suckers still managed to infest one of my plants pretty bad. I used a spray bottle with a mix of cheap vodka and water to spray the under leaves. Its necessary to do this for a few days, working from the top down as you spray. Downside to this or the soap method is that it can kill beneficial bugs, such as ladybugs. Another option is to get a bug blaster wand from a nursery and hose the plant down real good.
Realistically, as the plant has already coned out, I would just harvest when ready and then cut the bines near the base and keep an eye on it early next year as it starts to climb again.

 

[kirstenaline]

Thanks, all very helpful.

Since I am not harvesting any of the cones this year (things are just too crazy moving into our new home and construction), it seems like cutting it back and spraying what I leave behind is the best idea.

Is there any rule-of-thumb as to how far down I cut the bines to start fresh for next year?

Thanks!

 

[sabotenfighter]

If you want to enjoy them a bit longer, just cut down to where its not brown, as for cutting in preparation for winter, cut down to a couple inches from the ground. New bines will pop up before winter, but theyll die in the first freeze.

 

[SanPancho]

Do you live somewhere it doesn't rain during the summer? Don't laugh, I live in California, it apparently doesn't rain here during any part of the year anymore...

umm...... its raining outside my window right now.