The Bane of my Summer Garden Experience

I am getting older. I have 3 kids. I work. I am busy! With all that I finally found something that relaxes me. Gardening. This is my second year with an in-ground garden. I’ve done a few years with a few pots and last year I dug through grass and rocks to take my new found hobby more seriously. It flourished! Pounds upon pounds of potatoes, more okra than I could eat, juicy watermelon after juicy watermelon and beautiful sometimes mis-shapped tomatoes. The gratification that I got from growing something and then being able to eat it was everything!

During the winter I mapped out exactly where I would plant in the spring. My husband and teenage son helped me double the size of growing space. I planted my potatoes and onion bulbs and counted down the days until I could add more!! I just knew this summer would be even more successful than the last. I even decided to add a few roses in the front of my house that I purchased from the same place I got many of my transplants. The spring came in hot and hard! However my potatoes were growing beautifully. I would occasionally dig up a few new potatoes for dinner. I noticed that the leaves were turning yellow. The heat maybe? Then my tomato plants looked a bit spotted.

I watered; I neemed. The problem was still getting worse. I decided to pull my potatoes early. Sad that I wouldn’t get the massive harvest I was so excited for. The next day I went to water my roses and noticed how badly they were struggling. Covered in webs. A slow painful death. I checked my tomatoes and what do you know? Webbing! Spider mites… tetranychidae… ass holes… so many names, one culprit. I asked for advice. Some told me neem and moisture. Some said pull the whole plant. I wish I would have but looking at my half a dozen 5 feet tall tomato plants I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It very seriously brought tears to my eyes lol. So I cut all the damaged branches. I neemed daily, yes daily. At least an hour a day with a sprayer in a Texas heat. I added liquid fish to my concoction.

It didn’t matter. Each day I could see healthy leaves becoming spotted. My sadness turning to rage when realizing I didn’t just happen to get spider mites. The owner of the garden store I shopped told me nonchalantly how they were infested this year. Hence why not only were my vegetables in the backyard being destroyed but my roses decimated. I couldn’t believe that she would sell plants knowing that they had a pest issue which isn’t usually visible by eye!! It took everything in me not to jump over the counter and… BUT that’s the old me, the new me left a bad review on maps, yelp, Facebook and every other platform available lol.

So as I was saying, the sadness turned to anger. I tried it all. Neem, hard water, introducing predatory mites, green lacewings EVERYTHING! I was losing. Defeated. I still didn’t have the heart to pull up my garden. Even though by this point mites were on my tomatoes and watermelon and everything else. I buckled. I used a pestacide. Then ordered all the bugs I had in the past. It just so happened shortly after I did this cooler weather came in with lots of rain. My garden started to look a lot more healthy. New growth on my almost bare tomatoes, melons and peppers by the handfuls. I didn’t see any webbing anymore. I released the bugs when I got them. The thing is, I still have spider mites. Not like I did before, but they’re still there. I will take my phone and tap a leaf on it. On the black screen occasionally I will see a little red spec moving. I have also seen little white ones (the good ones I introduced)

I don’t know if there is a way to completely eliminate spider mites once you have an infestation outside of pulling up your whole garden and treating the soil but I do know a ounce of prevention is the best bet. Always check the transplants you purchase. Tap a leave or two against your phone when the screen in black. Look for webbing. Neem before you have a problem not after. I’ve dealt with squash bugs and tomato horns. I promise you it is so much easier to fight an enemy you can see opposed to one you can’t. If only one or two plants are affected, pull them! Save the rest of your garden! Here is to hoping for a better spring garden next year. Happy gardening.