Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Controlling pests of bamboo

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jd.
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Location: Midwest, USDA Z5 / AHS Heat Z5

Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by jd. »

canadianplant wrote:"If the bamboo survives the winter, so will [...] mites". Which makes complete sense.
I second that hypothesis.
johnw wrote: I'd bet Hokkaido has some very cold inland areas so it would be interesting to see the ranges of both bamboos and mites.
That sounds like a good excuse for a vacation to Hokkaido, to map bamboo. 8)
johnw wrote: Re: regular mites being killed by low temps begs the question where do they come from every year?
Mites only need to find one sheltered place to overwinter and birds can spread the survivors. I frequently notice birds roosting in the bamboo here.
Alan
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by Alan »

given how rapidly they reproduce I would not be surprised if the bamboo mites up there are not only more cold resistant, but have evolved as such. down here they seem to have population booms & busts, which I thought had something to do with the weather but maybe not.
my latest treatments so far have been successful on potted bamboos with avid foliar spray and weekly kontos soil drench.
-alan in seattle
zone8
johnw
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by johnw »

canadianplant - I suspect Hokkaido is much colder in the inland areas than PEI. I just googled 'record low Hokkaido" and came up with -41c for Asahikawa in the northern interior.

Here is an interesting article that says Sasa kurilensis occupies 89% of forested areas in Hokkaido so one might expect to find it around Asahikawa, infested or uninfested. That pic of the advancing front of Sasa into snow meadows is pretty scarey eh?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3287379/

I have been corresponding with a doctor in Ishikari on the west coast for about 16 years and he gets mountains of snow and dips to to -20c's once in awhile. He collects up in the mountains and I see Sasa in his photos, the wind up there is brutal but again lots of snow if it doesn't blow away and it guess it could considering the terrain. But how do we explain a Zone 7 plant like Skimmia japonica being native there? It is just hardy here and only with careful placement.

I think tc said the mites had already come through one winter. Let's hope your rid of them now tc but I'd keep at them and assume the worse and hope it pays off. Your bamboos are doing so well there and the property and soil are to die for - go at it tooth and nail!

+5c, missed the wind last night
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
moriphen
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Re: Bamboo Mite Reality Check

Post by moriphen »

johnw wrote:canadianplant - I suspect Hokkaido is much colder in the inland areas than PEI. I just googled 'record low Hokkaido" and came up with -41c for Asahikawa in the northern interior.

Here is an interesting article that says Sasa kurilensis occupies 89% of forested areas in Hokkaido so one might expect to find it around Asahikawa, infested or uninfested. That pic of the advancing front of Sasa into snow meadows is pretty scarey eh?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3287379/

+5c, missed the wind last night

Lets not give Caryn Rickel any more information to confuse everyone in Connecticut with :o. Off topic it is amazing and now that i think about it not unexpected for a grass species to dominate when a new environment opens up.
M
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