Fear the mitey

I grow several different types of elephant ears, Colocasia mainly. Some of them have a little problem with spider mites, and some don't. Our summer has been so dry for the most part, the mites have had it easy this year (they like low humidity, which is why they thrive indoors in winter in cold climates). This one variety of 'Pink China' Colocasia is especially bad:

That's not some fantastic new variegation on the leaves, it's damage from those little pests! The leaves should be solid green. Yikes.

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Do elephants get ear mites?

If you have pets that have ears, then you may have become familiar with ear mites at one time or another. They're not too difficult to get rid of with some drops, and after a few days of treatment (stop squirming -- these drops will make you feel better!) your cat or dog will be back to normal, rid of the tiny pests that were causing so much itching.

The other day I noticed that the elephant ears plant on my deck -- the one I walk past several times each day but apparently don't really look at -- was infested with spider mites. These mites are a big problem on plants I'm overwintering inside, as they prefer the dry air. Strange to see such a bad case outside in our St. Louis humidity.

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Hopefully helping houseplants

As much time and energy I spend on my outdoor plants, I've never been great with houseplants. I'm just not a houseplant guy. I have plenty of houseplants, and I enjoy them, but I certainly do not baby them. I like houseplants that can take some abuse -- you know, the kind that only need water once a week, and won't suffer too much if you skip a week.

This small palm was doing fine near one of the windows until the cats decided it looked enough like a bamboo and started chewing on the leaves. So I ended up moving it to the basement under my lights. Then spring arrived and I pretty much forgot about it for months.

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Mites on bamboo, or bamboo mites?

If you grow houseplants, chances are you've seen the plant pest called "mites" at one time or another. Mites are tiny sucking insects that mainly live on the undersides of leaves, feeding on the juices of the plant. Unless there's a very heavy infestation, they typically don't cause too much harm, but their feeding results in light "speckles" or "spots" on the leaves from where they've removed the chlorophyll. Many species also create webs on the plants, which is why they are often called "spider mites".

For temperate bamboo growers, mites are one of the most troublesome pests. Although bamboo can host "regular" spider mites, there are certain species of mites that attack mainly bamboo (and closely related) plants: these are called "bamboo mites".

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