Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Controlling pests of bamboo

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tncry
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Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by tncry »

Mites!!! On Phyllostachys and Pseudosasa. Trying to figure out a gameplan.


TC in PEI
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

Were they new bamboos?

This is a catch 22 situation. Do you tarp and protect the bamboos for winter and at the same time protect the mites? Or do you not protect them and risk loss in the hope that the mites will at the very least get knocked back some?

How bad is the outbreak? At least get out the gloves and pull and burn the conspicuously damaged leaves. I suppose they could winter under leaf sheaths too and the persistent ones on the Pseudosasas.

Can you take a leaf to a nearby lab or hospital for a postive i.d. under a microscope? Presume the damage is typical or is it spider mite damage?

johnw
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ShmuBamboo
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by ShmuBamboo »

Spray with an ag oil solution ASAP. Soak the plants; both sides of the leaves when temps are below 60 F. That stuff does a good job on isolated plants. You can also go more extreme with a miticide like Avid. The earlier you spray, the better.
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by stevelau1911 »

I've used Forbid Miticide on all my new acquisitions, and it seems to be working since I haven't had any infested plants coming out of my quarantined area.

All you really need is about 1 ounce given that all of your bamboos are still very small, and probably don't require any more than a gallon of spray which won't be that expensive. Miticide is highly concentrated so it only takes a few drops per gallon to become effective.
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

As Schmu says start with the oil, however unless a garden centre has some old oil you'll have to buy mineral oil as the old stuff is gone in Canada. Forbid may not be available in Canada and if it is you'd have to get a licensed sprayer at a local garden centre to come and drench or spray, same for Avid as these are both not available to the home consumer. Spraying with oil will preclude using a miticide unless the sprayer can recommend a systemic miticide as a drench.

If it's just on a couple of plants that can be easily replaced a bonfire might be the thing. I think Meredith says the mites can live on grass blades, I had never read that before but it makes unwelcomed sense.

johnw - +15c and overcast
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
tncry
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Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by tncry »

The bamboo that show signs of mites were planted last year and were protected last winter. I have never seen any signs of mites before but they must have been present in small numbers. They are only on the bamboo that I purchased from Canada's Bamboo World.

These bamboo are located at the cottage and essentially I plant them, protect them in the winters and provide no other care. I did throw down some grass fertilizer for the first time this summer. The plants are located in small openings in a planted mixed pine/spruce forest. These tall evergreen trees provide great windbreak from the winter winds.

All that being said, I have very little time to devote caring for the bamboo this year. I may only see them once more this year to protect them in November or December. I would love to meticulously selectively remove any mite damage and burn it but time is the variable I can't control. (Building a new house, 9 month old, job etc...)

There is a Phyllostachys nuda plant that shows the most damage. That leads me to believe that it was an orginal harbourer of the pest. It is a small plant and I'll chop it to the ground because it has very slow and disappointing to date anyway. There is also mite damage on spectabilis, bissetii, and atro but none on aureocaulis, alata, or rubro. It seems quite random because some plantings are hundreds of feet apart with mite damage, while others are only 30 feet apart and a single plant is showing signs.

I won't have time to spray anything before the temps get too low to spray. I am wondering if my best gameplan would be to slash and burn infected plants or not protect them and let winter do it's worst? The bugs seemed to have survived last winter under protection. The only new plants I added this year were rhizomes from Steve and a couple Fargesia's which never came close to contacting any of thse planted Phyllos.

Thanks for the advice so far. But slash and burn OR Old Man Winter?

TC in PEI
tncry
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Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by tncry »

I'll post some pictures when I get home and get some decent internet speeds.


TC in PEI
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

As with any outbreak the primary response should be to contain the spread as fast as possible. If you can spray with oil do so and possibly let winter do the rest - if indeed the winter will get them above the snowline.

Still will there be eggs about and if so given the really good snow cover in PEI will they winter under it?

If you can't spray then burn and drench if at all possible.

You will probaly have to repeat spraying and drenching next spring and summer.

Hard to say which boo was the vector as the one with the most damange may simply be the one the is the most susceptible to mite damage.

I just spied spider mites on 2 Arisaemas I had just moved into the cold greenhouse, why would mites be active during the wettest stretch we've seen in years. Obviously judging from the extent of the webbing this must have been going on for at least a few weeks. I will snip off the leaves and bin them.

johnw
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canadianplant
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by canadianplant »

You know what kind of mite it is exactly? Red/white spider mite etc?
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

Bamboo mites! Other mites would not be a concern with frost in a few weeks.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
canadianplant
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by canadianplant »

THankfully, I dont have those here.

I dont spray my outdoor plants either (if I had bamboo mites.... that would be different, or a bad outbreak in general). IF i did I would use a teaspoon of oil ( olive or horticultural), big squirt (roughly a teaspoon) of DAWN dishsoap (the only one that I know that is fully biodegradable) and water in a sprayer hand sprayer. Keep it well shaken to distribute the oil well. Safers soap is essentially the same thing, with a few more bidegradable, "safe" active ingredients.

Either way, as John suggested, subsequent sprayings every 2 weeks, for 2 months should do it. I may also "bug" (har har) bamboo world about at least half replacement if they are damaged. Mention that they are willingly selling damaged product, and you may get a hold of the canadian better business bureau.
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

Of course this spraying is best done on newly received plants that are in quarantine. Once you have an outbreak in a collection outdoors the mites can migrate, according to the books, to neighboring bamboos, grass blades, corn and sugar ( :roll: ) cane = out if control / probably a lost cause. Seems new bamboos should be watched closely every few days before things get out of hand.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
tncry
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Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by tncry »

There were no signs of mites last year or even during early summer.

TC in PEI
tncry
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Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by tncry »

Mite damage on Pseudosasa japonica.
Image

Image


Mite damage on Phyllostachys nuda.
Image

Image

I just can't believe how fast they propagated!

TC in PEI
johnw
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Re: Bad news in Prince Edward Island

Post by johnw »

Hate to say it but I've never seen damage as bad as that out in BC, not even a tenth that.

Looks like the point of no return for those plants unfortunately.

johnw
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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