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My Battle with the Borg


Green Leaf Organics
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Hi guys

Well as we all know life isn't always perfect in Rye garden and pest get in from time to time and when they do we need to deal with them.

 

I have been battling the borg for a while now , for those of you who don't know who the Borg are they are those little red fuckers that love to piss on my parade.... Spidermites 

 

I have done the pyrol thing with good effect and the neem thing with good effect but as a pure organic grower it's always pissed me off that I have to turn to a pesticide even though it's organic to sort them out . On the international sites and overseas you will see there is another option which we have not been able to get in SA easily until now!!!!! Christmas has come early for me and in his sack has brought me 6000 of the best borg killers in the world , P. persimilis

 

P. persimilis are a preditory mite that hunt kill and eat spidermites . Unlike there lesser trained allies the ladybug P. persimilis is ruthless and will decimate the spidermite plague and once done will then turn on themselves and eat each other .

 

Back to Predators Table of Contents

 

Phytoseiulus persimilis

(Acarina: Phytoseiidae)

 

Phytoseiulus persimilis, a predaceous mite, is one of the mainstays of greenhouse integrated pest management programs for control of spider mites on vegetables and ornamentals in Europe, North America, and elsewhere. This mite was accidentally introduced into Germany from Chili in 1958 and subsequently shipped to other parts of the world, including California and Florida, from Germany.

 

Appearance

 

Although extremely small (approximately 0.5 mm or 0.02 inches), P. persimilis can be distinguished with a hand lens. It is fast moving, orange to bright reddish orange, has a teardrop-shaped body and long legs, and is slightly larger than its prey. Immatures are a pale salmon color. Eggs are oval, approximately twice as large as the pest mite eggs.

 

(Note: in the winter, the twospotted spider mite also develops a reddish color, although two dark spots on its abdomen usually distinguish this pest from other mites.)

 

Habitat

 

Greenhouses, interior plantscapes, and crops where twospotted spider mites are a problem.

 

Pests Attacked (Host Range)

 

This species is a specialized predator of web-spinning spider mites such as the twospotted spider mite. In fact, P. persimilis feeds, reproduces, and completes development only on mites in the subfamily Tetranychinae, although it also feeds on young thrips and can be cannabilistic when spider mite prey is unavailable.

 

Life Cycle

 

P. persimilis eggs hatch in 2-3 days, and although the larval stage does not feed, the subsequent nymphs and adults feed on all stages of prey. Total time from egg to adult ranges from 25.2 days at 15°C (59°F) to 5.0 days at 30°C (86°F).

 

The adult female may lay up to 60 eggs during her 50 day-long lifetime at 17-27°C. Generation times of from seven to 17 days are possible, depending on temperature and humidity. Due to its tropical origin,P. persimilis does not have a diapause stage and is active year-round in enclosed habitats such as interior plantscapes and greenhouses.

 

I will keep this thread updated as I go and this may be a good option for anyone wanting to take organic growing to that next level.

 

Cheers

GLO

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Goodluck gro. Im battling with webworms aswell and it's a pain to get rid of them!

 

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

Those little green fuckers can be so destructive.... I have a batch of white widow autos that I was testing for Strainhunters that got infected with them. I used pyrol and manual labour to get rid of them.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest spootch

Ahoy glo where on earth did u get these from ! Yussi Im 5 weeks flower and the mites are wild ? Do you have any advise this far in ? Wanting to add another plant into the cupboard but need to get rid of the infestation some how ?

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  • 2 months later...

They weren't to expencive I think i paid about R600 for 4000. 

I put the details of the bugs on the first post. For a specific applications  they work well. They will die off in temps about 27 and if ypu have used an pesticides it will also kill them. For indoor applications I would rather go preventative with neem or pyrol. But for me they did the job it was late flower and they stopped the borg from destroying my crop.

 

Personally I think they bare more suited for outdoor or greenhouse aplications

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