FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Controlling pests of bamboo

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Alan
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FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by Alan »

after reading that moso and dulcis are mite proof i decided to place some small plants (one of each) under (and in direct contact with) a heavily infested mature grove of black. it has been more than a year since then and i can definitely say-and prove they are not mite proof yet are resistant. there are sparse infestations along the center and edges of just a few leaves (see images); the moso more so than the dulcis. it also seems the colonies are having a hard time and most of it looks like the colony has mostly died off before it could expand very far. see images
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-alan in seattle
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johnw
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

Alan - Interesting results Alan. Are there particular bamboos that we should avoid importing from the west coast to avoid bringing in these disfiguring mites?

johnw
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Alan
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by Alan »

do you have mites in NS? i dont think the mites we have would survive in your area. if we have a cold dry spell in the winter here there is a noticeable decrease in mite activity the next year (cold and dry for us is a few nights around -10 c). i only tested these two because they are reputed to have resistance and i find many others to be mite magnets. i have also found only s.okuboi and bashania fargesii to be mite poof (so far but neither of these are in direct contact with mites-just nearby). i am interested in this because i want to distribute more mite resistant bamboo in our area to help with the problem. i am really happy with these results, dulcis in particular. had they been s. fastuosa or almost any othe phyllostachys they would have been totally covered in mites.
-alan in seattle
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

Alan - I've seen mites on imported bamboos and took drastic action and apparently won. So I guess we don't have bamboo mites here but we certainly have spider mites, the Crocosmia leaves are nearly brown with them in this unusually dry summer. Seems odd these bamboo mites would not be winter hardy, it's so rare that an imported pest gets killed by cold.

Good to hear Bashania is resistant as I hope to bring one in.

Tonight we are promised 40mm of rain! I have never seen the ground so dead-looking, the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag looks healthier.


johnw
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

johnw wrote:Seems odd these bamboo mites would not be winter hardy, it's so rare that an imported pest gets killed by cold. johnw
An update on mites. As you know Germany had a very bad winter this year, from -15c to -20c and in some places far lower. Some folks on the EBS website forum are now complaining of bad mite infestations so I guess we can safely assume bamboo mites are perfectly winter hardy. Vigilant we must be.

I guess the drought is officially over this summer. Last week we got just over 2 inches of rain and now a low pressure system has joined forces with Hurricane Leslie and is sucking moisture from the southern Atlantic and dumping it on us. By the time they're out of here we may hit 6 inches of rain. Many wells inland and even some on the coast are dry. If we miss the wind and get the rain we wil be happy even though a few unlucky towns here are under water right now. Warm summer weather and the extreme humidity will be back tomorrow.

johnw - +15c and drizzle, fog.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by needmore »

I've had mites 'delivered' 3x here and they have not taken hold yet, one summer I had to keep chasing them of a Sasa and cut/burned several culms. I've seen none the past 3-4 years, perhaps a -8F was enough, I've not seen them since that.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

Brad - Do you think eastern summers are too humid for bamboo mites to proliferate. I can't recall seeing any to speak of in the in the UK and they are certainly far milder than Germany. I wonder how bad infestations are in the Orient? If they do have a cold limit does that mean these mites are of tropical or sub-tropical origin?

johnw - sun shining, storm now east of here.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by needmore »

John I don't think the humid summers are a problem for them, they do fine in TN and other southern states. I think there must be a limit to them around the temps you mention from Germany but perhaps duration of cold temps is a key, we'll stay cold longer I suspect.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

Brad - Something I'm never heard saying - "Let's hope they're not hardy!".
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Re: FYI 1 year moso & dulcis mite test results

Post by johnw »

Brad - Something I'm never heard saying - "Let's hope they're not hardy"!

What is worrisome is that some are native to snowy Hokkaido: "Schizotetranychus longus Saito was originally described from specimens collected from Sasa senanensis (Franch. et Sav.) on the island of Hokkaido in Japan (Saito, 1990a)." (http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/Ba ... oomite.htm)
johnw
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