Hemlock Rust Mites Early This Year

The HRM is certainly enjoying this spring. This morning I found a field that had rust mite damage already on 2011 growth. Doug Hundley said he saw some rust mite damage last week. Folks, that's really early! So, be sure to scout for mites this spring.

Remember that Dimethoate will control rust mites, but not the eggs. Envidor and Sanmite control both rust mites and spider mites -- all stages. Horticultural oil and sulfur give excellent control of rust mites. Oil will give pretty good control of spider mites too if you have good coverage. Apollo and Savey do not control any stage of rust mite -- not the egg and not the mites. They are only effective against spider mites. The same is true, of course, of Talstar (bifenthrin).

And no, don't expect this cold snap to slow rust mites down. Only hot weather weather does that! And even though it's been warm lately, it still gets cold at night. Perfect rust mite weatheer.

The following are some photos I took this morning.

This shoot already has bronzing from the rust mites. Compare it's color
to the greener needles around it.

Jeff Vance easily knocked off damaged needles from the 2011 growth.

My Samsung Android amazes me sometimes. I took this photo with my phone.
You can actually see the rust mites on the needle.