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I have a whole bed of a variety of roses. It is quite beautiful and very easy to care for. However, I suddenly find myself infested with spider mites. I had them previously on an inside rose plant and even with mite spray, was forced to throw the plant away after several failed attempts to get rid of them. Help! How can I get rid of these terrible things that are ruining nearly all of my roses. Thanks!
My first question would be whether you're sure they're spider mites or not. If it's not spider mites then your spray may not have been the right thing to get rid of them. If it is spider mites, I usually start by thoroughly hosing off the undersides of all the leaves to get rid of as many as possible. Then once the plant dries off, I spray with something that says it kills mites on the label. The trick is you have to get the undersides of the leaves since that's where they live. Particularly on plants that are in the ground, that is easier said than done sometimes! And you also will probably need to repeat the treatment several times over the course of a couple weeks, if it's a bad infestation it's practically impossible to get rid of all of them on the first treatment, so if you only treat once chances are they'll be back.
I recently discovered a solution that works on everything from spider mites to Japanese beetles and array of other insects. It really works well and is safe for the roses as well as your environment and pets. The product is called Pyola. Use one teaspoon of Pyola to several parts water in a sprayer. As the previous poster mentioned, spray down the rose plant and underside leaves with water. Let the water dry and then apply the Pyola solution. Be sure to apply the solution in the morning or evening and not the middle of the day when the temperature is at its highest.
I have used this solution for about 3 years on tree roses, hedge roses and shrub roses and never looked back. If you Google “Pyola” there are garden supply stores online that offer this product. The nice part is one bottle lasts a long time because a little goes a long way.
