Bad news in Prince Edward Island

[stevelau1911]

It shouldn't be that much of a problem if your bamboos are still that small since you can spray them all down with a commercial grade miticide if necessary. I've read about natural mite eating parasites, or predators which can wipe out their population.

Here's a link to some bamboos which you might have already which are supposed to be mite resistant which might be good to have if mites become a major issue.

http://seattlebamboo.com/mite.html

Mite resistant bamboo

Indocalamus herklotsii
Indocalamus latifolius
Indocalamus tessellatus
Phyllostachys edulis
Phyllostachys dulcis
Pleioblastus fortunei
Pleioblastus viridistriatus
Pleioblastus viridistriatus 'Chrysophyllus'
Semiarundinaria okuboi
Shibataea kumasaca
Bashania fargesia
F. dracocephala
F. nitida 'eisenach

It looks like most of your bamboos are in the 5-10ft range and well established so they will probably leap in size next year. It might be a good idea to eradicate every last mite before shooting season. I don't know that much about mites, but I'm guessing they reproduce asexually, and exponentially like aphids. My guess is that 1 surviving mite can turn into millions of them within a few months given the right conditions. Just to be safe, I have quarantined and sprayed miticide on all my new plants for several weeks before moving them out because I don't want any outbreaks in the groves.

[Tarzanus]

I don't think they can reproduce asexually, Steve. They make love just like other insects.

[stevelau1911]

I don't think they can reproduce asexually, Steve. They make love just like other insects.

http://www.ehow.com/info_10035701_mites-reproduced.html

It looks like they can reproduce both ways.

[Tarzanus]

They are born pregnant.
Well, parthenogenesis is quite normal in both animal and plant kingdom, but usually it only protects the species from extinction in case of extreme conditions.
When we've had a lot of mites and aphids a couple of years ago, ladybugs started multiplying and after a while, balance was established. Things usually tend to resolve on their own, perhaps this winter will kill them, or maybe their predator species will multiply as well...

I hope you get rid of that terrible pest.

[tncry]

I can't eliminate the plants until next weekend johnw. I figured the cold temperatures wouldn't have the mites doing much else anyway.


TC in PEI

[Alan_L]

Tncry: no comment on mites, but that spot where the Harbin Inversa was planted is beautiful!

[canadianplant]

Seems obvious in this PEI case who was at fault.

The present big concern is SODS and so nurseries out west do not even trade material with growers in SODS-affected areas and are hesitant to trade with nurseries outside the affected zone (nurseries that is tht grow SODS susceptible material). If SODS ever was found east one would be obliged to take the same drastic action as one would with bamboo mites. Perhaps PEI agricultural inspectors could raise more than a little hell with Canadian Bamboo World.

That is an even better suggestion. Im sure they would like to know that its present now in some way shape or form.

[Alan]

has anyone tried Kontos? i heard from Rosemania that it's a new product with good systemic action

[ShmuBamboo]

As for mite resistant boos, I have seen huge stands of Moso devistated by mites, so Moso is not resistant that I am aware if. I have also seen them on Rufas.

As for miticides, I have heard that Avid works well from several PNW growers and read that Floramite and Hexygon work well too. Note that Avid and Floramite are both available on Amazon. Avid and Flormite are not listed as being effective against the eggs, and Hexygon is not effective on adults. They are all systemic and thus you do not have to spray the undersides of the leaves for them to be effective, which is very hard to do (in my experience). I have not tried any of these myself, but I am planning for a potential infestation as I grow mainly Phyllostachys here (likely unavoiadable, unless I stop brining in new varieties of bamboos here). I spray ag oil on all the new boos that I bring in here. Oil sprays are effective against eggs, crawlers and adults, and using oil sprays and a miticide is a good combination. Use a sticker/spreader wetting agent as well to get better spray coverage.

Here is another site with bamboo mite sprays and more detailed information about the evil Ms Rickel bamboo parasites:

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/PDFiles/bamboo.pdf

From what I have read, Kontos and Pylon are more for greenhouse and indoor mite control applications. Pylon is highly toxic to pets and humans. Kontos says that it is not effective against large established mite populations. You also have to be very careful when using that stuff (and any miticide) outdoors.

http://www.ohp.com/PIB/PDF/kontos_490_pib.pdf

Roses tend to get spider mites in hot climates, and I used to get them to the point that they completely defoliated my roses in San Diego in late summer. I used to be very active in the ARS when I lived in San Diego and I grew test plots of AARS roses there. I used to spray Cygon E on the rose gardens, as well as in my orchid greenhouses to control spider mites.

[Alan]

Shmu, What I have noticed is that any bamboo will pick up mites (see some recent posts for photos). Thay are even on my bashania fargesii in very small numbers; but they also seem to have a much easier time really taking over certain species. I have a castillon that they have really taken to right in between (and in contact with) two dulcis groves that seem to have none. There is no way to rule out chance but since the castillon is in between the dulcis groves i dont see how mites could have gotten on it without first passing through the larger dulcis (i actually planted the castillon there to protect it from the supposedly resistant dulcis)...but there is another place on my property where another dulcis (which the actual mother plant of the two other groves) has indeed picked up some mites - not a major infestation but i did leave them there for a while to observe the spread which was quite slow.
Last year i put one each of a small potted dulcis and moso under and in contact with a heavily infested nigra & left them there for 18 months (see post "mite test results" for photos). They both got mites on them but the colonies were sparse. Not sure what to do with this conflicting data except to say no bamboo is mite proof but some may be a less liveable place for the critters. It is odd, however that if there is a plant they like better right next to one they dont they seem to go for it like a magnet!
My reason for all this is that i was hoping that by distributing these "mite resistant" sp. in my area it could help a little since it is such a big problem (seattle). It is such a big problem in fact that a guarantee of mite free plants for local use would be meaningless. I guess YMMV is more apropo than ever!

[ShmuBamboo]

Well, when I read 'bamboo mite resistant,' I think that they are resistant to boo mites and do not get them. So some questions I have about your observations and experience with boo mites. Do the more resistant types 'do not show mite damage as much' or do they 'harbor mites but in smaller numbers'? Perhaps the terms need to be changed to something like, 'more resistant to boo mites'? There seems to be an obvious variation in species resistance. When I was at a large bamboo plantation on the coast (very mild climate) a few years back, they had massive acreage (and I mean the guy went nuts planting the stuff) stands of Moso, and they had obvious mite damage all over them. So I think that there may be a climate factor involved here, as much as a boo species specific one. Or there may be differences in clones or chimeras, as there are a million and one clones of Moso out there, as there are always seeds available to grow them. Castillon also has different clones. Several books I have say there are several types of Castillons, and I have two obviously different clones or chimeras of Castillon. While I do not have boo mites, one Castillon is more affected by winter cold than the other. The cold intolerant type is half dead now from 10 deg. F. exposure, whereas the other type is doing "fine." By fine, they have recovered from their usual 'winter looking like crap' mode. They came from different sources and I have 2 of each type in 10-15 gallon tubs. Certainly one is more cold resistant than the other.

The power is flickering... floods have arrived with a vengence to this part of the PNW... gotta leave it here...

[Alan]

the rain is nice though. nothing like clean air. by resistant i mean not proof...like a nylon rain jacket. sorry about the confusion. the colonies on the dulcis & moso were sparse and easily pruned away but the damage looked similar although more on the edges and mid-leaf. i suppose this if because of the pubescense on the moso. the colonies on the bashania are very sparse and not connected. here are a few photos

[tncry]

Well, I cut all the culms on two spectabilis, one japonica and one nuda plant. I also cut out all the old growth on two aureocaulis plants. Then I sprayed the ground and surrounding plants with a miticide. Hopefully that helps contain the mites for this year and I'll have to be vigilant next Spring.

I have read many times that burning bamboo canes can be quite a show. I confirmed that for myself today.

On a side note, while routing around the base of the aureocaulis, I found three nice thick rhizomes (close to an inch) running underground. If winter goes half decent, I may get a few nice sized shoots next year. That being said, one of my spectabilis downsized this year so who knows.

TC in PEI

[johnw]

What did you use for a miticide? Did the mites appear to be at all active?

Too bad you didn't film the fire and post on youtube? I've never seen the show.

johnw

[tncry]

I used Malathion as the miticide.
The mites were definitely active.