bamboo mite observations

[A.G.Smith]

Here are a few observations to hopefully start a new discussion on mites.
I live in the pacific northwest growing, and occasionally selling p. nigra, s. fastuosa (viridis, temple and one unknown-will post id req), s. yasadake kimmei, p. aurea and aurealsulcata and have a small moso planted last year.
this year i noticed a few things:
the mites like the s. fastuosas best. i have some p aurea between the nigra and fastuosa and there are no mites on the aurea. the moso is also untouched (i also noticed that aurea & moso have a fuzzier underside to the leaves.)
the p.nigra groves seems to have a cyclical mite population, which seems best controlled by regular feeding/fertilizing & mulch.
normally, since our winters are mild in seattle, i dig & pot in the fall and sell them in the spring. that way they still come back the next summer instead of taking the full year off. this year i would like to try and de-mite and isolate them before sale but still experimenting.
i ordered some avid & thinking of digging & then treating rather than treating the whole grove (it's expensive).
i do know a for-sure way of getting rid of mites and that is to cut culms down completely to wait for new growth. unfortunately everyone buying bamboo wants immediate results.
any thoughts or ideas? thanks!
-alan

[CaroleMeckes]

Hi Alan,
You must have a different kind of mite than what I have found in central Texas.
My experience is that the mites love Phyllostachys nigra and will also go after the aurea big time. I have some moso that they also like and I have not examined the semiaurdinaria fastuosa. (I will check tomorrow them tomorrow).

I am very happy to report that due to the extremely dry summer we have had here in central Texas that many of the mites have withered away.

Pruning back some of the branches and leaves where the mites were also helped a lot.

A few years back I did an experiment, where I cut off all the leaves on a small plant and watched the new leaves grow with no mites. I realize that is not a realistic way to go as the new leaves will get infested when they are near the other plants and it is very time consuming to snip off leaves.

I did notice that the aurea grew leaves back faster than the nigra.
After all was 'said and done', Mark ended up digging up the aurea plant that I had worked on, as he did not want the aurea growing in that spot anyway.

I continued to snip off leaves on other plants and was 'entertained' watching the new leaves grow...

Carole

[stevelau1911]

I've been wondering what are bamboo mites? I've seen no pest activity on my bamboos so far. In my area which is 6A, I've looked at many groves and haven't seen anything that resembled pest activity.

[A.G.Smith]

hi Carol, i have done a lot of thinning and indeed it helps and will thin more, but as the new growth comes in the mites just take over again. i would like to just cut everything down & wait for regrowth but my neighbor has mire infested boo also. i am thinking of trying avid and them a systemic while they are in pots (to minimize environmental impact). i just looked at them again after posting and actually the moso has some mites but the aurea is definitely clean. maybe it's not aurea?
-alan

[CaroleMeckes]

Bamboo mites (Schizotetranychus celarius) are very small and make tiny webs on the back of the leaves and cause the leaves to look spotted.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/540/thumbs/1040928-47bmtePld.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=975)

Here's a link to some pictures of bamboo mites:
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=540

Carole

[A.G.Smith]

Steve, they are a spider mite that lives under white webbing on the underside of leaves and feed on the chlorophyll giving the leaves a spotted almost variegated look but boo that is heavily infested looks ugly.
-alan

[stevelau1911]

I'm hoping mites don't survive up in the north. I've seen aphids before that are similar to mites in my area, but never mites. Bamboo groves are few and far between in my area, so I'm hoping that prevents my boos from mite infestation.