Preparing for wintering plants indoors -

[Redwood Ryan]

To Ryan and all...do you think that cleaning and desin(s)fecting of winter storage room is necessary? I can't believe the insect is waiting all the season, when the room is empty, to attack the trees brought in. Thank you.

If there are bugs in the room, yes it is necessary. Believe it or not, mites will "hibernate" in cracks and crevices, waiting until the plants come back. They're persistent.

 

[coh]

Can they live a whole summer without plants to feed on? I have no idea. But say you bring your plants in and then get a mite infestation, you can't really be sure the plants didn't come in with a few mites. I would guess that most our trees have a few mites on them, it's just that conditions/predators outside usually keep them under control. But bring them inside to a drier, safer environment and then they start reproducing like mad...

 

[petegreg]

Can they live a whole summer without plants to feed on? I have no idea. But say you bring your plants in and then get a mite infestation, you can't really be sure the plants didn't come in with a few mites. I would guess that most our trees have a few mites on them, it's just that conditions/predators outside usually keep them under control. But bring them inside to a drier, safer environment and then they start reproducing like mad...

This is actually my opinion. Wintering my subtropicals in a cold room I think I deal only with what I brought in with them. Cleaning the residues of insect infestation is all I do while they are in. It does not spread or worsen in a cold room...
Right, it is a different story with the figs, that need to stay in a warm environment. The scale insects really sucks. Someone has problems with carmonas...I've got a lot of of species kept as indoors or at least protected in the winter and I've found the figs as the most problematic.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Can they live a whole summer without plants to feed on?

Actually yes, they can. They hibernate until there is a food source. Search for mites on MJ forums and you'll see that people say mites can survive long term in a room waiting until plants show up again.

 

[BrianBay9]

I believe the bugs I get come in with the plants. No way to prevent it completely no matter what I do. Mostly I clean and disinfect to reduce issues with fungus. My set up (grow tent) keeps humidity pretty high so fungus is always a concern.

 

[sorce]

I got moved in a couple days ago.


Six! Damn!

Orange, lemon, ficus Ben x3, daughters ginseng.

I done Good shtack ranking!
Except for the new lemon seedling!

Minus 30 ish.

Sorce