{"id":25759,"date":"2023-10-13T08:15:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T12:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=25759"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:41:02","slug":"tune-up-your-spider-mite-management-this-fall-purdue-landscape-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/tune-up-your-spider-mite-management-this-fall-purdue-landscape-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Tune up Your Spider Mite Management This Fall-Purdue Landscape Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Purdue Landscape Report:<\/a> Mites are eight-legged arthropods who pierce plant cells to feed on them.\u00a0 Plants that are attacked by mites lose their green color and appear somewhat bronzed. Spider mites will make webs to help them forage on leaves unencumbered by irregular leaf surfaces. The accumulation of webs, and old skins of mites can give heavily infested plants a dusty appearance. This can make plants unsightly and affect their health.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Plants<\/a>

Figure 1. Plants infested with mites appear to be bronzed from tiny stipples.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"serviceberry<\/a>

Figure 2. This serviceberry leaf has live European red mites, eggs and old shed skins that accumulate on the leaf.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Lack of rain this summer and fall has spared spider mites from drowning and being washed off leaves during heavy rains.\u00a0\u00a0 Warm weather in late August and September allowed warm season mites, like two spotted spider mite, European red mite on flowering fruit trees, honeylocust, maple and oak spider mites to flourish. With the daily highs consistently below 85 F, cool season mites like spruce spider mite, boxwood spider mite and southern read mite have been increasing in number.<\/p>\n

Now would be a good time to take stock of which plants have spider mites to help you plan your control strategy.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/a>

Figure 3. Tap the branches over a white sheet of paper. After giving the mites 10 seconds to grab hold of the paper, turn the sheet sideways to let the debris fall off. Then examine the specs to determine if they are spider mites. A 10X hand lens or smartphone can help you see these small pests.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cool season mites, including southern red mite, boxwood spider mite and spruce spider mite may require treatment this fall to keep their populations from building. This could be accomplished with a garden hose and a strong stream of water<\/strong>\u00a0or a 2% solution of horticultural oil or insecticidal soap.<\/p>\n

At this point in the season, there is usually no need to spray trees for warm season spider mites.\u00a0 Because most spider mites will winter on trees and shrubs, these mite infested trees can be targeted for a spray of oil during the dormant season.\u00a0 It is important to note that plants with two spotted spider mites will not benefit from an oil spray because they winter in the ground cover. Also, be sure not to spray oil on shrubs with waxy blue leaves. This wax often protects plant leaves from strong winds and sun in the winter.<\/p>\n

To view this full article and other Purdue Landscape Report articles, please visit Purdue Landscape Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Subscribe and receive the newsletter: Purdue Landscape Report Newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>Managing Spider Mite Mayhem with the Purdue Plant Doctor<\/a>, Purdue Extension Entomology YouTube Channel
\nPurdue Plant Doctor Website<\/a>
\nSpider Mites On Ornamentals<\/a>, Purdue Extension Entomology Bulletin
\nTree Defect Identification<\/a>, The Education Store
\nTree wounds and healing<\/a>, Got Nature? Blog
\nTree Risk Management<\/a>, The Education Store
\nWhy Is My Tree Dying?<\/a>, The Education Store
\nThe Woody Plant Seed Manual<\/a>, U.S. Forest Service
\nNative Trees of the Midwest<\/a>, The Education Store
\nInvasive Species<\/a>, Playlist, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nReport Invasive Species<\/a>, Purdue Invasive Species
\nFind an Arborist<\/a>, International Society of Arboriculture
\nSubscribe<\/a> Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel<\/p>\n

Cliff Sadof<\/a>, Professor and Extension Fellow
\nPurdue Entomology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Purdue Landscape Report: Mites are eight-legged arthropods who pierce plant cells to feed on them.\u00a0 Plants that are attacked by mites lose their green color and appear somewhat bronzed. Spider mites will make webs to help them forage on leaves unencumbered by irregular leaf surfaces. The accumulation of webs, and old skins of mites can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,42,49,54,622],"tags":[60,991,1859,67,895,1860],"class_list":["post-25759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alert","category-forestry","category-plants","category-wildlife","category-woodlands","tag-forestry","tag-infestation","tag-mites","tag-plants","tag-purdue-landscape-report","tag-spider-mites","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 20:50:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25759"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39077,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25759\/revisions\/39077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}