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Orchard Updates & Garden Knowledge – Spider Mites
🌱 Summer Gardens & 🐛<!–
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Productive Summer Gardens…. and a Farm tour!
This newsletter features an invitation for a community tour (register below) and information about spider mites which are one of the most common indoor and outdoor garden pests that we encounter.
We still have a few spots for vendors for our Fall Festival at Weaver Creek Park on October 12 from 12pm-4pm. Vendors can sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/bCQMQ7XeSbuMYFG27
We would like to invite any community members who might be interested in volunteering at the festival to learn more by signing up here: https://forms.gle/GE6sDomuVCh27dVp6
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Rooted in Community – Community Tour
September 7th, 9am-4:30pm
Join an inspiring food and farm tour in Wheat Ridge and Arvada! This tour is more than just a journey through fields—it’s an opportunity to have in-depth conversations and cultivate meaningful connections with local producers. Register today to learn more about the regenerative urban agriculture movement in Wheat Ridge and Arvada!
Partners and tour stops include Wheat Ridge Center for Music and Arts, Grow Girl Organics, Happiness Community Gardens, Sunnyside Farms, Mile High Farmers and more!
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Beef & Cabbage Stir-fry
If your garden is also growing huge volleyball sized cabbages this year, this recipe may be for you!
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Spider mites
What?
Spider mites are arachnids and closely related to ticks and spiders. Small groups of spider mites can quickly grow to large infestations in a matter of weeks. They can be especially challenging pests on indoor plants where they face no major predators.
What do they do?
Spider mites feed on plants and can lead to discolored, gray or bronze splotchy leaves. Some research has shown that plants which are water stressed can actually be more nutritious to the mites! And curiously, the damage caused by mites often mimics water stressed plants!
When?
Spider mites lay eggs on plant material and go through a roughly 2-week life cycle. They overwinter as adults hidden in crevices around plants and in plant debris.
Spider mites infestations can occur when broad spectrum insecticides wipe out insect predators which would normally feed upon the mites and keep populations in check.
Spider Mites
What can be done?
For small infestations, a jet of water is often enough to dislodge these pests from many plants and when outdoors predators can often keep small populations of these arachnids in check.
There do exist a range of chemical treatments for spider mites which can help manage larger recurring infestations. For indoor plants, it can be particularly helpful to apply treatments at specific intervals to target young spider mite hatchlings which may have been protected in crevices on the plant.
Techniques for Management.
Keep plants watered and healthy – a stressed plant will be more susceptible to infestation.
Trim heavily infested areas and wipe down leaves.
Use a properly labeled insecticidal soap with the active ingredient Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids or a horticultural oil when needed but always, above all, follow all product labels. The label is the law. (see links below for more information on managing these spidery buggers).
Additional Information from trusted education based resources.
https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05507.pdf
https://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/u-scout/tomato/spider-mite-damage.html
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html
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