Spider Mites?

[JaneG]

Last spring I bought 10 dwarf spruce from Home Depot. They did pretty good despite the drought, all but one survived.

Last year I noticed a little browning, I assumed due to the dry weather and just getting established.

Now this spring I have teeny-teeny tiny little bugs that have come out in force. They are all over the siding on the shop and are getting in around the doors and windows. One of these spruces is right at the front door of the shop and two others are about 12 feet away.

I have never before had these tiny bugs that just look like a speck on the wall. Could they be spider mites from the spruces, which would explain the browning on the spruces? (Thanks Home Depot! )

I have several mature pines in the back yard, could they get infested?

How can I tell if these are spider mites?

If so, what can I do about them on the plants?

And what can I do about them in the shop??

HELP!

[kHT]

JaneH, we folks that grow Brugmansia deal with Mites all the time. Three are many different types and the best thing is to keep them at bay. Local big boxes don't care if their products have bugs they are more concern on selling not the proper care. Some of the mites are hard to get rid of and I've gone to a little steam cleaning on them before they do a plant in. Hot water will also work besides Ortho product that are on the market or my favorite a blue can of Raid for flying insects but be careful of spaying to close with that. Messenger has been a good source of keeping plants healthy and less bugs.

[JaneG]

Thanks Karma - your brugs are beautiful, you've obviously done a good job on the bugs!

I'm going to work on them this weekend.