Sabal Minor and Banana 6A Massachusetts Planting

[Colin1110082]

I planted Today I planted a sabal minor 3 gallon plant from northeast ohio palms today. It looks great and the fronds look great. I also have this banana but the thing is it has spider mites on it. This is a huge outdoor plant and is not a small indoor houseplant. What could I do to kill these quickly? Yesterday and the day before I hosed it down with water then applied miticide and they are still there! I might try that dish soap and rubbing alcohol solution as well. What should I be looking for when it comes to the eggs? I just don’t know how to kill them and I need help. Thank you

[PalmatierMeg]

Targeted miticides (insecticides don't kill mites) are expensive and toxic (mask & gloves). I suggest you make a soap & water spray using Ivory soap chips mixed with water (never use detergents on plants). Spray the whole banana plant with that solution. Wait a few days and if you see more mites (they reproduce all the time) hit it again. The soapy water will suffocate the mites.

[SeanK]

In addition to the suggestion from @PalmatierMeg , you could try Neem Oil spray. Again, the intent being to suffocate the mites.

[Harry’s Palms]

Yes , the diluted soapy water works well. When I used to have houseplants , that is what I used. I don’t have houseplants anymore. Harry

[Colin1110082]

Neem oil I’ll buy and I have isopropyl alcohol, dawn dish soap, and handsoap. I can make a mixture using warm water, isopropyl, and either dove dishwasher or hand soap. I also can get those ivory chips. How about this when could the mites disappear if I do cycle through the neem oil and soap and how often should I do it? 

[Colin1110082]

4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Targeted miticides (insecticides don't kill mites) are expensive and toxic (mask & gloves). I suggest you make a soap & water spray using Ivory soap chips mixed with water (never use detergents on plants). Spray the whole banana plant with that solution. Wait a few days and if you see more mites (they reproduce all the time) hit it again. The soapy water will suffocate the mites.

Is the little black dots the eggs? I just wiped it with a wet paper towel and it had little black dots on it. The mites are gone it’s so weird they all disappeared then tomorrow they will be back. They disappear then come back. Maybe they aren’t mites who knows. But will a mixture of isopropyl, hand soap, and water work? 

[RFun]

6 hours ago, Colin1110082 said:

I planted Today I planted a sabal minor 3 gallon plant from northeast ohio palms today. It looks great and the fronds look great. I also have this banana but the thing is it has spider mites on it. This is a huge outdoor plant and is not a small indoor houseplant. What could I do to kill these quickly? Yesterday and the day before I hosed it down with water then applied miticide and they are still there! I might try that dish soap and rubbing alcohol solution as well. What should I be looking for when it comes to the eggs? I just don’t know how to kill them and I need help. Thank you

The plants look better than some of the ones found here in the Georgia Coastal area.

[Colin1110082]

1 hour ago, RFun said:

The plants look better than some of the ones found here in the Georgia Coastal area.

Thanks!

[Colin1110082]

17 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Targeted miticides (insecticides don't kill mites) are expensive and toxic (mask & gloves). I suggest you make a soap & water spray using Ivory soap chips mixed with water (never use detergents on plants). Spray the whole banana plant with that solution. Wait a few days and if you see more mites (they reproduce all the time) hit it again. The soapy water will suffocate the mites.

I just sprayed it with a dove and isopropyl spray and I noticed that the spray is causing dark dots to form so I didn’t do it on all leaves. Is this okay or is there something else I could do before I get those chips you were talking about or neem oil. After I noticed these spots immediately after I sprayed it down with the hose

[Colin1110082]

Uh oh 

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, Colin1110082 said:

I just sprayed it with a dove and isopropyl spray and I noticed that the spray is causing dark dots to form so I didn’t do it on all leaves. Is this okay or is there something else I could do before I get those chips you were talking about or neem oil. After I noticed these spots immediately after I sprayed it down with the hose

All you need is a bar of Ivory soap to shave the chips off of. Regarding neem oil, if you use it be sure to keep the plant in deep shade or the sun will literally fry it. I used it on Dypsis seedlings a few years and burned up the whole lot.

[Colin1110082]

6 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

All you need is a bar of Ivory soap to shave the chips off of. Regarding neem oil, if you use it be sure to keep the plant in deep shade or the sun will literally fry it. I used it on Dypsis seedlings a few years and burned up the whole lot.

I think that’s what happened with my banana. It gets full sun and that mixture I made probably fried it. Ivory soap won’t cause marks? If you look mine got torched. I think it will recover, I washed it really well. As for the soap, is there a specific brand you recommend using? Thanks

[PalmatierMeg]

17 minutes ago, Colin1110082 said:

I think that’s what happened with my banana. It gets full sun and that mixture I made probably fried it. Ivory soap won’t cause marks? If you look mine got torched. I think it will recover, I washed it really well. As for the soap, is there a specific brand you recommend using? Thanks

Ivory bar soap is for sale everywhere. Pure soap, not detergent/deordorant bars.

[Las Palmas Norte]

As part of my insecticide, I use clear liquid dish soap derived from natural ingredients. No chems.

[Colin1110082]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Ivory bar soap is for sale everywhere. Pure soap, not detergent/deordorant bars.

Okay, but I’m worried will it burn my banana?

[Colin1110082]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

As part of my insecticide, I use clear liquid dish soap derived from natural ingredients. No chems.

I tried it the dishwash it burnt my tree I posted an image further up 

[PalmatierMeg]

28 minutes ago, Colin1110082 said:

Okay, but I’m worried will it burn my banana?

I've slathered Ivory soap solution over many plants. None ever burned. If you are still unsure do a test spray on one leaf before using it on the whole plant.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Banana leaves are much more tender/sensitive than many other types of leaves. However, I have not experienced damage from a solution of natural liquid soap and water. Luckily these grow fast and replace damaged leaves quickly. If in doubt again, rinse the solution off with a garden hose sprayer after several minutes.

We've had an unusual infestation of aphids this year, but the bananas are doing fine.

Musa sikikimensis 'Bengal Tiger'

 

Musa basjoo

[Colin1110082]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I've slathered Ivory soap solution over many plants. None ever burned. If you are still unsure do a test spray on one leaf before using it on the whole plant.

Is this the stuff I just want to make sure before I buy because when I search ivory soap up a million different soaps come up and I just want to make sure before I go and purchase and also will it kill the eggs because the eggs are the biggest issue they just keep having babies

[PalmatierMeg]

Looks like it - I thought everyone knew what Ivory soap is. I don't know if it kills eggs but you can re-treat over a period of days to kill newly hatched offspring. You will never get rid of mites once and for all. But the longer you putz around doing nothing the sooner your banana ends up on the compost pile. 

[Colin1110082]

34 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Looks like it - I thought everyone knew what Ivory soap is. I don't know if it kills eggs but you can re-treat over a period of days to kill newly hatched offspring. You will never get rid of mites once and for all. But the longer you putz around doing nothing the sooner your banana ends up on the compost pile. 

Okay I’ll get it now and it will be here tomorrow for now I’ll keep hosing it. It’s just when I searched up ivory soap a million things came up and I wasn’t sure which one to buy if one was better than the other 

[RJ]

12 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Looks like it - I thought everyone knew what Ivory soap is. I don't know if it kills eggs but you can re-treat over a period of days to kill newly hatched offspring. You will never get rid of mites once and for all. But the longer you putz around doing nothing the sooner your banana ends up on the compost pile. 

It’s an old timer soap that’s why. It’s also the only bar soap that I’m aware of that’s fully biodegradable and floats in water. Was the only bar soap that was allowed at a old wilderness survival camp I went to as a young man way back when 😂

[Colin1110082]

2 hours ago, RJ said:

It’s an old timer soap that’s why. It’s also the only bar soap that I’m aware of that’s fully biodegradable and floats in water. Was the only bar soap that was allowed at a old wilderness survival camp I went to as a young man way back when 😂

😂 The first thing I thought when I heard Ivory soap was elephant tusk soap lol

[Colin1110082]

15 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Looks like it - I thought everyone knew what Ivory soap is. I don't know if it kills eggs but you can re-treat over a period of days to kill newly hatched offspring. You will never get rid of mites once and for all. But the longer you putz around doing nothing the sooner your banana ends up on the compost pile. 

I think you’re on to something! When I tried the dish soap immediately after it started to scar the plant, this ivory stuff isn’t scarring as far as I see. A bunch of it seaped into the soil so I hope that doesn’t cause any issues, next time do you think I could add rubbing alcohol? I’ll do this every other day for 2 weeks and see what happens. So far so good! I doused each side of the leaf and stem with this stuff. Thank you! 😊