Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Controlling pests of bamboo

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johnw
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Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

I would give up on bamboo completely if bamboo mites got into my plants. I have repeatedly warned Canadian bamboophiles of the the threat of importing bamboo mites from sources known to have the problem or located in bamboo mite areas. If you must import bamboos do quarantine them a great distance away from all other bamboos. If you spy anything suspicious or even of a very minor nature spray repeatedly, switch chemicals often and chop the tops off and burn if necessary, drench the rootblls repeatedly. If the mite problem on your imports is serious or if the problem perisits bag the entire thing or the remains, put in the garbage or better still incinerate it and bag the pot but do not re-use it.

A friend from here moved out to Vancouver, BC in 1999 and took some F. murieliae seedlings with him. He had read that Fargesias were resistant to mites and so chose to grow only them. They had been clean until recently. For those with their heads still in the sand take note of this photo of his murieliae that he sent me last night. If this doesn't wake everyone up to the threat nothing will. Sadly all must be destroyed and there is to be a huge bonfire and dig tonight.

Note the typical initial damage in the lower right corner, these hypen-shaped white rectangular patches on the leaves.

johnw
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johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Rufledt
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by Rufledt »

Wow that's crazy. How fast did that plant go from good to that?
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

Rufledt wrote:Wow that's crazy. How fast did that plant go from good to that?
Apparently very minor last year and they went beserk this summer when the humidity dropped. Frankly I've never seen such devastation, and a Fargesia at that.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
Alan
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by Alan »

wow that's bad! looks like what they do to s. fatuosa...and i am saying that from here in mite central. is the plant somewhere near a heat source where the mites don't freeze off in the winter?
-alan in seattle
zone8
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

Alan - As I recall he Fargesias were quite a distance from house and the greenhouse so there are no heat sources anywhere nearby.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

On the EBS's German website a thread has been set up for persistent enqueries into the possibilities for growing bamboo commercially - see "Commercial bamboo growing areas in Germany - Information / Sources" or "Kommerzieller Bambusanbau in Deutschland - Informationen / Quellen".
Several links are given including this extremely interesting one on "Pests" or "Schädlinge".

Hopefully this google translation below will work, click it, click line 5 Commercial, then click Pests:

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... land.de%2F

You will have to struggle your way through it as the translation is hideously bad. The link can fail, showing only page one and omitting the photos so you may have to check back to the original German text to see if you are missing anything. You should see 6 pages in total; note there are wide gaps of white between the various pages so scroll down.

For anyone with doubts on the winter hardiness of bamboo mites this will be an eye-opener.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
canadianplant
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by canadianplant »

I think I may be the luckiest one out of all of us, in regards to mites. Even with protection the cold here should knock them back enough to not be a problem (if they are here). This happens with mites and most pests up here in NW ontario.

Since this year there is a lack of snow (I think you have more in halifax John!), pests shouldnt be a problem. I think the only thing I have to be worried about are army worms. Its been almost 10 years since they were prolific..... and now that I have 8 trees plus 100 other plants outside.... im super paranoid.
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

Do not be complacent about bamboo mites. If bamboo mites can survive the winter in Hokkaido they will surely do the same in nw Ontario. And mite eggs will sit there until conditions are just right and then the explosion..

Snow? The only snow I see here is on the northside of my neighbour's garage but not enough to make a snowball.

The new generation nitidas seem to be much less evergreen than my old generation cultivar...... :roll: However the culm colours are amazing.

-1c & partiall sunny
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
canadianplant
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by canadianplant »

The bamboo I had got hit with a minimum of -25C, due to crappy protection. Can they survive that?
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

If they survive in Sapporo and are widespread in Hokkaido they can survive any temp. Most temperate bugs can handle subzero temps as they've had long enough to adapt and I'd bet the eggs of many tropical buds can as well.

I bet you saw we had snow on the Weather Channel as they report from the Hfx International Airport which is 40 km inland from city centre and a wildly different climate. When the big ice storm in Onario & Québec happened the airport had ice (not a lot), we had rain. It's colder and hotter there, often foggier than the city. It's right on the dividing line between coastal and inland and weather can be volatile there. No idea why weather is reported from there as no one lives within 5km so pretty much useless. We are closer to the Hfx Shearwater Airport temps.

0c & sun
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
jd.
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by jd. »

johnw wrote:If they survive in Sapporo and are widespread in Hokkaido they can survive any temp.
Climate data for Sapporo shows an average minimum of about 19°F (-7°C) in January, relatively friendly for temperate bamboo. :)
Asahikawa in Hokkaido shows a colder average January minimum of 9°F (-13°C), still typically milder than -25°C.

Regarding other kinds of plant mites (not bamboo mites), I recall reading of freezing temperatures specifically used as a method to kill them using temperatures such as -20°C for 24 hours or -25°C overnight.

Even at -25°C (-13°F), perhaps winter snow may provide an insulated shelter to keep a mite population alive just as snow may provide a shelter to keep bamboo leaves alive and fresh.

That said, I've never had bamboo with bamboo mites so I don't know the extent of their persistence.

I will confirm that the bamboo does not like -25°C. :blackeye:
canadianplant
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by canadianplant »

Sopporo

Sapporo
-1 C (30 F) day average
-8 C (18 F) Night average

Hokkaido
0 C day average
-7C night average

My city
-5C to -9C day high
-16C to -21C nightly average

Wow those numbers are depressing... LOL

THat is a big difference. The real question is, what exactly is the temp limit of bamboo mites? Anyone have a legit number?

I will say, that the last 30 years or so, the average temps have changed (2-5C, if i remember), so have our length of fall, spring (both 2 weeks later) and winter.
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

Here the average max / min for January & Feb is 0/-9c and 0/-8c. pretty close to Sapporo.

I'd bet Hokkaido has some very cold inland areas so it would be interesting to see the ranges of both bamboos and mites.

Re: regular mites being killed by low temps begs the question where do they come from every year?

The extreme outbreak in western PEI in quite shocking given the climate there. It would be interesting to have the mites positively identified.

johnw - +5c, pouring.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
tncry
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by tncry »

Johnw - it's too bad I didn't have time to take care of my plants properly this year. Compare my pictures of the mites to any pics you see online. Looks pretty definitive.

TC in PEI
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canadianplant
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by canadianplant »

John - I guess your thinking along the lines of "If the bamboo survives the winter, so will be mites". Which makes complete sense.

PEI temps are fairly close to the cold side of Hokkaido no? I would be more worried if mites poped up here, but still, an outbreak like TC has, possibly the only one in PEI, is bad...

TC - I really hope your sprayfest helps, and even more so, I hope that the mites dont spread to your healthy bamboo. I HATE using chemicals, or advocating the use, but its probably the only way to stop the spread of the mites, aside from digging and burning them (last ditch effort though of course).

Maybe winter will help a bit....

Did you notice any loss of mites after the spraying?
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