Red spider mites on paw paw plant

Lissa says...
Red Spider Mite hate water. They proliferate during dry. When you water your plant make sure you water UNDER the leaves as well where the mite hang out. It's common in my experience for pawpaw to look gungy during winter and come back again with new growth in the warmer months. You've already re-potted it, give it a good feed and water it regularly. Make sure it's mulched in a pot. Old grass clippings or something similar.

Thithi says...
They were small, prob about half the size an ant. As I watered my paw paw, 2 of them jumped out of the soil and climbed up the trunk, also found 1 that was already up there. Should have taken pic, but they were fast. Have googled red spider and red spider mite. Yep, look 99% like red spider mites.
Are you sure red spider mites are too small for the naked eyes?

Thithi says...
Well, it was a fat red full stop then. I saw one or two of them in the garden sometimes, never knew what it was until my friend, who is kind of a farmer, said it was red spider mite. My eye sight probably is ok but not great :) It was easy to spot because it was running fr veggie patch onto light grey concrete block. Yes some of them were just like a moving dot, and some of them fatter that I could even see their tiny legs. I don't see a lot them though. Not sure if they are responsible for my paw paw sickness.
In winter, the underneath of paw paw leaves had white powdery substances,not red. Leaves turned yellow with blotchy white spots. Mature leaves got affected first.
How do you make Your homemade white oil, should I also spray the paw paw leaves.

MaryT1 says...
You must have super mites, Thithi :)

Homemade white oil - 500 mls water, 5 mls vegetable oil, a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid - shake well and spray. I use it for almost everything: mites, aphids, leaf miners, scales etc. Add 5 mls of baking soda for fungus.

peter30001 says...
there is no way you would see s/mite legs unless you were super man.
if they were s/mites there would not be 2 of them there would be 100s.
i think what you have is an insect that you would describe as a s/mite but
much larger, i see them ocasionaly but
dont know there name.
s/mites congregate mostly on the leaves and you will see little white dots on the leaves where they have been sucking.

Thithi says...
Lol, I'm no superman, so it was not s.mite. There are so many little creatures in the garden that I don't know if they are friends or foes. Thought my friend would have known it better. Thanks Peter.

Anyway my pawpaw leaves did have white dots in winter.

Thanks Mary, will try to spray it on paw paw leaves. I tried to take pic of sick leaves but it was not clear enough, and the problem is not that bad ATM.

Brain says...
I would use confidor as a last resort, as it can be quite poisonous. Make sure you read labels and use as directed.

Julie 1 says...
sternus, Confidor, or any other pesticide, doesn't have to kill you directly to have an effect on your health. Some people are badly affected by chemicals and prefer not to take the risk.

Julie 1 says...
So it's OK to add more? That doesn't make any sense. I don't have any choice in many of the chemicals I'm exposed to every day, but I don't have to add to the load.