I only had 30 mins in the evening so i watched this. So glad i did. I thaught that it was only junipers that suffered from spider mites.
So found out why three pines in my garden are struggling and have not looked at thier best… they have spider mites made all the worst from 50 days and almost no rain.
I love the non chemical method too, so that has started.
Does anyone know if spider mites can affect deciduous trees, like oaks or maples?? Or is it just evergreens?
Spidermites affect all trees and plants conifers, deciduous and even greenhouse plants. An infestation wiped out both my wife’s greenhouses within 2 weeks, because she was unaware, and thought that the yellowing leafs was due to nutrient deficiency.
I regularly spray the foliage on all trees (make sure to hit the undersides!), at least once/twice per week to avoid any big infestation. There may always be a few mites, but just a few don’t do much damage…it’s when there are a lot of them that successive generations get feeding on your trees, that damage is done pretty quickly. Use a pretty aggressive spray of high pressure to knock them off…obviously ease up on pressure if you’re removing foliage!
I pretty much have eliminated all chemicals from my Bonsai by using beneficial nematodes. Bees and butterflies are back in abundance. I still have tons of bugs, but very few pests. From root knats and aphids to catipillars and grubs, the below website has a safe alternative to chemicals.
I keep honey bees in my garden along with my bonsai, so I am very reluctant to use sprays unless they can be quarantined, as the honey bees like to collect water from the bonsai pots.
I have loads of lady birds, butterflies, bees, wasps, toads, and slow worms. So a balance is good without the chemicals.
I know Ryan can’t/won’t recommend specific chemical solutions to mites, but can anyone else?
I have a collected Larch which I just figured out today was heavily infected with Spider Mites. I sprayed it this pm with Safer’s End All II, which is what is allowed here in Ontario, but the ratio of chemicals in it are much much weaker than the US version. Tomorrow and for the next week or two I will hard spray it with water every day, and use the End All II after the tree dries off.
I talked to another RBG Member who has a Larch with a bad mite infestation that he started dealing with a couple of weeks ago, but the techniques he’s tried (in line with Ryan’s suggestions), haven’t appeared to have helped.
Any other suggestions? Especially with the 3 chemical treatment that Ryan suggested. I have no idea what could be used. Home Depot in Buffalo NY is only an hour away! 
Thanks,
Bob
I just stumbled on these yesterday while I was searching for mite control. There are four different insects you can order that attack spider mites and other problematic mites. At least three of the four are predatory mites from what I can tell. The lacewings would come in handy for aphids too.