Re: fuschia

Found this post by a person in SoCal on the web:

Sadly I know about this mite all too well. I am a member of the local  
fuchsia society, which manages a large fuchsia bank of thousands of  
different varieties of fuchsia as part of a larger 87-acre botanic  
garden. The garden has been plagued with this mite for several years  
now. The mites lives inside the foliage, specifically in young growth  
parts such as new buds or new growth shoots. Saliva from the little  
microscopic critters causes distortion followed by deformation of the  
plant parts that eventually will become very severe and overtime will  
significantly damage the health of the fuchsia or even kill it all  
together. The mite is HIGHLY infectious, as it is easily spread from  
one plant to another (method of transmission is unclear, although I  
suspect hummingbirds play a role) and the mites are dammed difficult  
to eradicate.

I myself have been battling fuchsia mite for several years with  
varying degrees of success. If fuchsia mite is caught within the first  
season of infection and the plant is sufficiently small enough for you  
to be able to spray the surface of all the leaves, then an insecticide  
that works systemically can kill it if sprayed in 2 or 3 successive  
and regular applications. You can find a suitable insecticide at any  
Home Depot or Lowes in the garden center. Any insecticide that  
specifically says it kills fuchsia mite and is a systemic will do the  
trick, but make sure the bottle specifically says it will "kill  
fuchsia mite" and not just simply "kills mites."

If you have other fuchsia currently not suffering from this problem,  
then you do not want to delay in dealing with it, in fact the other  
fuchsia are probably already infected but the symptoms have not yet  
show up. If you do decide to spray then make sure you wear adequate  
protection as recommended on the label and spray all other fuchsia  
according to the application directions as well as the infected plant  
in case they too are infected. One last and very important note: MAKE  
SURE YOUR FUCHIAS ARE WELL WATERED AND ALL LEAF SURFACES ARE DRY  
BEFORE APPLYING. DO NOT SPRAY THE SOIL SURROUNDING THE PLANT, AS THAT  
WILL KILL THE ROOTS. TRY NOT TO ALLOW TOO MUCH SPRAY TO DRIP FROM THE  
FOLIAGE TO THE SOIL SO THE ROOTS WILL NOT BE DAMAGED. DO NOT WATER THE  
FUCHSIA UNTIL THE INSECTICIDE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO DRY ON THE SURRFACE  
OF THE LEAFS. ONLY APPLY WHEN TEMPURATES ARE MILD.

Good luck

Hope it helps.


On Jul 21, 2008, at 5:03 PM, David Franzman wrote:

> Hello out there
> Does anybody know what to do about the fuschia mite that
> is devastating fuschias all over the west here?
> David
>
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Island Jim
Willamette Valley
44.99 N 123.04 W
Elevation 148'
Hardiness Zone 8/9
Heat Zone 5
Sunset Zone 6
Minimum 0 F [-15 C]
Maximum 86 F [30 C]

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