The reasons for the appearance of a spider mite on a rose and how to deal with the pest

Growing indoor plants requires a lot of effort and knowledge from the grower. Before a thin sapling with two or three pale leaves turns into a lush blooming bouquet, it will take more than one year, and all this time a caring owner watering and fertilizing the soil, curing his pet from diseases, and protecting from insects. Among the most vicious pests, especially often parasitizing the rose, the spider mite stands out. This barely noticeable insect is able to turn a delicate plant into a wilted bush in a few days. Therefore, it is very important to correctly assess the danger and in time to process the home rose from the spider mite.

How do you recognize a spider mite?

The pest is so small that it is difficult to see it without a magnifying glass. The length of its body is no more than 1 mm, but the harm that this insect does to home flowers is difficult to exaggerate. The fact is that the tick feeds exclusively on plant sap. Colonies of meager bugs occupy the inner part of the leaf and slowly suck out life-giving moisture. First, the leaf is covered with small white dots, then it turns yellow, dries up and falls off, and the plant dies.

Important!

Despite its name, the pest does not always weave a web. Only with overpopulation, when there are a lot of individuals, they are able to entangle the entire plant with a thick cobweb.

The insect lives from 30 to 45 days. However, during this short time, the female lays more than a hundred eggs, of which young individuals appear on the fifth day. Unfortunately, many insecticides, whose action is aimed at combating this pest, cannot do any harm to the eggs of the tick and only kill adult insects, which greatly complicates the processing process.

Why did a tick start on a home rose?

The spider mite chooses a warm and dry place. If a flower stands on a windowsill over a radiating heat radiator, and has not been watered for a long time, it will be the most suitable place for spider mite breeding.

Many gardeners think a dry, warm climate is ideal for growing indoor plants. However, such conditions are also suitable for the appearance of a spider mite. If you do not immediately destroy the pests that have settled on one flower, after a while all the plants in the room or greenhouse will be infected with spider mites.

In addition, an insect can enter a person's home along with a new, just purchased specimen brought from a flower shop.

Advice

A new rose, bought in a store, must be carefully examined and set apart from other plants for a while. This will protect the rest of the flowers from a possible attack by a spider mite brought in along with the purchase.

Very often, ticks enter the house from the street. In hot and dry summers, colonies of these pests live well on trees, from where they move to a person's dwelling through a balcony and open windows.

When unfavorable conditions occur, females of spider mites can hide in a window frame or in the thickness of the earth, which is filled with a flower pot. As soon as it becomes dry and warm again, they will crawl out and begin their destructive activity.

Signs of an affected plant

If the defeat of the spider mite could not be prevented, treatment must be started as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences can be very dire.

Here are the main signs of a spider mite affecting a home rose.

• The plant becomes weak and lethargic.This is due to the destruction of the cells of the leaf plate and a decrease in the area of ​​photosynthesis.
• The attractiveness of the rose is lost. A healthy plant with bright foliage and beautiful flowers becomes frail and faded.
• The buds on indoor roses gradually become smaller and lose their bright color.

The spider mite not only depletes the flower, but also carries various fungal and infectious diseases.

How to treat roses from a tick?

Having noticed traces of spider mite activity on a home rose, you must immediately start processing the plant. To improve the condition of the flower, it is necessary to carry out the following wellness measures.

1. Collect and burn affected foliage. It will no longer be possible to restore these parts of the plant, but a significant number of harmful insects will die along with the foliage.
2. Rinse the remaining leaves and stems thoroughly with water.
3. The flower pot, tray and the flower itself must be treated with one of the insecticides. The soil in the pot should also be spilled with a poisonous substance.
4. The flower and the container in which it grows must be placed in a tight plastic bag and tied tightly. In such conditions, ticks will withstand no more than three hours and will soon die. To consolidate the result, the plant can be kept in the bag for 1-2 days. Only in this way will it be possible to finally cure the rose.
5. After 5, 10, 15 days, the treatment against mites will need to be repeated. The fact is that most insecticides do not work on eggs laid by females. In just five days, the younger generation will hatch, and the results of measures to combat parasites will be reduced to zero. Therefore, you will have to deal with the pest constantly, and the processing of a home rose must be done at least three times in a row with a break of 5 days.

Important!

To permanently get rid of the spider mite, it is necessary to process all the flowers that are in the same room with the infected plant.

In addition, you must thoroughly wash the windowsill and wipe it with alcohol. It will be useful to treat the cracks of the window frame with laundry soap and alcohol, wash the curtains.

It is very important to choose the right drug to combat ticks on a home rose. Today, many different insecticides are produced that can easily cope with any parasite. The most common of them are "Aktellik", "Fitoverm", "Neoron", "Sunmayt", "Aktofit", "Fufanon". All of these insecticides have a wide spectrum of action and destroy not only adults, but also the larvae of parasites.

If, for some reason, treatment with toxic insecticides is not possible, folk remedies for tick control will serve as an alternative.

• You can treat the leaves of your pet with an infusion of onion peels. To prepare a natural insecticide, you need to take 10 g of onion husks and pour 1 liter of water. After the mixture is infused, wash the leaves of the plant with it.
• A spider mite on a home rose cannot stand the effects of garlic, so this useful product can also be used to fight the pest. Garlic (1 head) is chopped, poured into 1 liter of water and insisted for about a week. Then prepare a garlic solution by mixing 1 tbsp. l. infusion and 1 liter of water, and the plant is sprayed with the resulting product.
• A tincture of dandelion roots has a detrimental effect on the tick. To prepare it, you need 30 g of chopped medicinal dandelion roots, pour 1 liter of water and leave for 4 hours, after which you can process the plant with the resulting mixture.

A careful daily inspection will allow you to timely identify the spider mite and take the necessary measures to save your favorite plant, for which the rose will thank you with magnificent fragrant flowers and bright green foliage.