Nina Shishkoff

Ben said:
>The yard i have has an
> aphid spider mite problem and the woman that im renting the house from
> doesn't like pesticides "nor do any of us" but she has a major
> problem. I was thinking of treating the trees with systemic pellets.
> Or ordering spider mite and aphid predators. Which i doubt would do
> any good since they have already established a pretty good hold on the
> lemon trees they live in.

Find out if the citrus mites in CA are pests of other plants. Most
are specific to citrus, I think, but I am not an entomologist. Aphids
are easy to control. However, just for fun, you might want to try
aphid predators; the conditions you describe are ideal for predators.
If you have a "slight" problem with aphids, your predators won't have
enough to eat, and will either leave, or will starve. If you have
lots of aphids, the predators will go forth and multiply, keeping the
aphid population down to reasonable levels. Predators will never
eliminate a pest problem, but they'll keep it in check. If you like
your landlady, try a spidermite predator, too, but make sure you get
one that will eat the kind of mite you have.

Nina.