spider mites on tomatoes

[pamgarh]

Our tomatoe leaves are covered with reddish brown spots. I am assuming they are mites. WE sprayed with diazon but that didn't work.
We used a mite spray it seemed to help a little, but the mites moved over to a space that hadn't been hit with the spray. HELP. What is effective.

[Newt]

Hi Pam,
Diazon on your food or was it Diazinon?
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/diazinon.htm

Ok, try insecticidal soap. Use it exactly as directed on the bottle and spray the infected plants and the ones next to them. You will probably have to repeat this 3 or 4 times if you have a heavy infestation, but only do it as often as the manufacturer recommends.

If you still feel you need something stronger, try something like this with pyrethrin in it.
http://www.gardensalive.com/item_dis...uctNumber=8101

You might also want to improve air circulation around your plants if at all possible.

Newt

[echo]

i got a container of "Sevin-5" i used last year. worked really well for me. but i just have a few plants in a pots.

[jjj]

Sevin will NOT work on mites, Insecticidal soap, Malathion or Dy-syston will work but take several applications. I would use insecticidal soap if you have to use a chemical, cuz it is the least toxic on a edible plant. Many people have good luck with spraying the bugs off with just water.

Last year we had no rain and I got infested really bad, and actually had to resort to Malathion and even that was tough because I let it go too long before starting to spray. This year I will watch closer and spray the plants with water if it gets dry to try to thwart the buggers.

Are you sure it it bugs though? Do you see small webs, do you see the insects? Take a white piece of paper, hold it under the leaves and tap the plants. If you see small flecks crawling across the paper they you have mites. Mites suck the juice from the leaves, and you will usually see white spots with their damage not redish brown.

But reddish brown spots on your leaves could also be a fungus like Septoria Leaf Spot. If this is the case you will not see any improvement using bug killer, you will need a fungicide.