Are the leaves on your trees discolored or full of holes? Your trees might be struggling with a spider mite infestation. Spider mites are a tree pest that does major damage in the summer months, so it’s important to learn how to identify and get rid of them.
Ideal Conditions for Spider Mites
Spider mites prefer hot weather, so you’ll see signs of them in the summer months. They tend to attack trees and bushes that are already struggling from heat stress. Often, you’ll see spider mites on trees or bushes that have been poorly placed on the south sides of buildings, especially near walls. This type of area can easily reach over 100 degrees on hot days, making it difficult for plants to survive and ideal for spider mites to attack.
Spider mites usually target Alberta spruces, burning bushes, dogwoods, apple trees, and willow trees, but vegetable gardens, oak trees, rosebushes, and other plants are also at risk.
How Spider Mites Spread
Spider mites primarily spread by flying to new host plants. However, they can also be introduced to new areas when people transfer infected plant matter to another location. Make sure you keep infected plant material away from other parts of your yard to prevent this from happening.
Signs of a Spider Mite Infestation
Spider mites can damage tree foliage quickly. They suck out nutrients from the leaves, turning the foliage a pale green or yellow color and eventually creating small holes (called stippling) in the leaves. This affects the tree’s ability to create food for itself.
New leaves may try to grow, but if you don’t get rid of the spider mites, they will quickly attack the new growth also, making it difficult for the plant to recover.
Spider mites are so tiny you likely won’t notice them, even if you look closely. You can follow these steps to check for spider mites:
- Shake a branch over a white piece of paper.
- Place your palm on the paper like you’re smashing a bug.
- Check for red blood streaks where the mites were crushed.
If you see signs of spider mites, make sure you get rid of them before they cause irreparable damage to your plants.
How to Get Rid of Spider Mites
We add mite control to our tree and shrub spray in the summer to combat spider mites. We also offer a program that focuses solely on spider mite control. It includes two treatments that start in June and are spaced a month apart. While our treatments won’t heal any previous damage to the leaves, they will prevent further damage to the tree. And sprays in subsequent years will continue to protect the tree.
Because spider mites attack in large numbers and reproduce very quickly, we suggest spraying the affected plants with a hose to try to slow down spider mites until the first treatment can be applied. While knocking them down with water will help temporarily, in the long run, our spray will be the most effective way to get rid of spider mites.
Call or text our office at 801-226-2261 for a free tree service quote today!