Babiana rubrocyanea (spider mites?)

Monica Swartz eciton@utexas.edu
Sun, 01 Feb 2015 20:07:38 PST
Hi Makiko, et. al.,
Your description of browning leaves on Babiana sounds like it may be 
spider mites causing the problem. I have found that all Babiana are 
susceptible and B. rubrocyanea is particularly attractive to the 
little nasties. If the infection is bad, you may be able to see 
webbing between the leaf ribs, though you will have difficulty seeing 
the mites without magnification. If you squeeze a leaf gently between 
two fingers, an infected leaf will feel a bit "sandy" and leave a 
residue on your skin (the plant sap from inside their bodies). They 
especially like warm dry weather and outbreaks can occur very 
quickly. I spray Babiana twice each winter with an miticide 
(Tetrasan, a chitin synthesis inhibitor, has never harmed the 
plants). Unfortunately, all miticides are expensive and should be 
rotated frequently to prevent resistance. Also, some states may 
require a pesticide applicator's license before purchase.
If you think spider mites are the problem, I can send you a small 
amount of Tetrasan to help for now. If anyone else wants to swap some 
doses for another miticide, I would be glad to increase my rotation 
variety.
Sorry for my delayed response, I was gone all of January.
monica



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