FMV

[Figgerlickinggood]

Looks like fig bud mites. I have them a a few of my trees and cuttings. I gave them a good spraying down with Bonide Tomato and vegetable spray, it has sulfur in it. I sprayed them after sunset so the leaves don’t burn. This is a picture of the bottle

 

[ETXfigs]

@ETXfigs I have a pretty bad infestation going on with Fig Bud Mites right now too. I'm new to this and I didn't know they were a thing until my leaves started looking just like your picture #1 and I started researching. A lot of the most useful info I found had been previously posted by @Figless

I had some bifenthrin (synthetic pyrethrin) on hand and tried treating with that. I've done 2 weekly full-plant treatments with extra focus on the buds and new leaves, and it definitely appears to be working so far. You can see in the picture the new mark-free leaves growing above the older scarred leaves. I'm going to do 2 more weekly treatments and then wait and watch for any new signs of damage.

Figless knows a lot more about this than I do, but this seems to be working for me so far, and since you wouldn't need to wait after the neem like you would with the sulfur, you could get a head start while you wait if you have some on hand.View attachment 10563

That worked good. The new leaves look great. Im going to wait and use the sulfur.

 

[Figless]

@Ben I did try Permethrin pyrethroid too little or no effect. Two things jump to my mind. I had the tape down pretty low on my cutting starts. Most likely too low I do not recommend using tape except to seal the tops of cutting. more than a half inch to an inch. Using the tape to low makes everything pesticide protected which is not to your advantage . The second thing that jumps to mind is that I did not employ bifenthrin the relatively new Wonder pyrethroid that is much longer lasting. I also used Spinosad some time after I used wettable sulfur. I found it worked very well the first time, in rotation, but then diminishing results. Since my cuttings were sealed using the cup, and lid method I used to dip rather than a spray. At the time I used this I wrote a thread on the subject asking whether a dip would be appropriate. Nobody thought it would, but to my mind I could see no reason not to dip, and so I did. Dipping Works excellently, but only for sealed cuttings with fig pops, or cup, and lid for obvious reasons. I personally would recommend wettable sulfur has the go to treatment. But would include Spinosad, or perhaps bifenthrin in rotation.

 

[Ben]

@Ben I did try Permethrin pyrethroid too little or no effect. Two things jump to my mind. I had the tape down pretty low on my cutting starts. Most likely too low I do not recommend using tape except to seal the tops of cutting. more than a half inch to an inch. Using the tape to low makes everything pesticide protected which is not to your advantage . The second thing that jumps to mind is that I did not employ bifenthrin the relatively new Wonder pyrethroid that is much longer lasting. I also used Spinosad some time after I used wettable sulfur. I found it worked very well the first time, in rotation, but then diminishing results. Since my cuttings were sealed using the cup, and lid method I used to dip rather than a spray. At the time I used this I wrote a thread on the subject asking whether a dip would be appropriate. Nobody thought it would, but to my mind I could see no reason not to dip, and so I did. Dipping Works excellently, but only for sealed cuttings with fig pops, or cup, and lid for obvious reasons. I personally would recommend wettable sulfur has the go to treatment. But would include Spinosad, or perhaps bifenthrin in rotation.

I ordered some spinosad after I read some of your earlier posts. I'm planning to start using it on alternating weeks with the bifenthrin while I'm doing my active treatment cycle. I have some wettable sulphur, but I've been hesitant to use it since I worry about burning the trees.

I know for future cuttings to be much more aggressive in my cleaning/treating process. A 6-inch stick is a lot easier to treat than a 5ft fully leafed out tree. An ounce of prevention...

 

[Figless]

I ordered some spinosad after I read some of your earlier posts. I'm planning to start using it on alternating weeks with the bifenthrin while I'm doing my active treatment cycle. I have some wettable sulphur, but I've been hesitant to use it since I worry about burning the trees.

I know for future cuttings to be much more aggressive in my cleaning/treating process. A 6-inch stick is a lot easier to treat than a 5ft fully leafed out tree. An ounce of prevention...

@Ben I too was worried about employing wettable sulfur, especially because with a suspending agent you're getting a stronger dose than most members have. I am happy to report that I have yet to burn a fig tree using this method. I cautioned in this post because some members have used neem oil first. Using Yucca extract even a 1% solution will probably be enough. Historically when people have employed wettable sulfur they omitted using a suspensing agent so got a much weaker dose when they used the wettable sulfur. Don't Be Afraid just be careful.

 

[bushdoctor82]

I ordered some spinosad after I read some of your earlier posts. I'm planning to start using it on alternating weeks with the bifenthrin while I'm doing my active treatment cycle. I have some wettable sulphur, but I've been hesitant to use it since I worry about burning the trees.

I know for future cuttings to be much more aggressive in my cleaning/treating process. A 6-inch stick is a lot easier to treat than a 5ft fully leafed out tree. An ounce of prevention...

I sprayed sulfur heavy throughout last Summer on a few trees that were showing mite issues and never had any leaf burn. I use Bonide and their literature states, “use lower application rates for prevention or control of minor insect/disease problems and when temperatures exceeds 90F. Use higher application rates for major pest problems, when temperature permits”