Hi, i have these extra small monsters on 2 of my haworthia's roots. I can't find what they are i feel stupid.
I put bug-tek and starkle G. Do you think this is enough to get rid of it?
I also removed damaged roots.
I dont know what caused the damage to the leaves, is it the same pest? How do i improve that?
by Roxeelamaa
2 Comments
do you have a clearer photo? it may be easier for others to id that for you if you can get one, i cant really see much of anything
Picture is kinda blurry, but that looks like an oribatid mite. They’re important for soil health since they break down organic matter. They also eat fungi, algae, bacteria, and pollen.
They’re pretty fascinating. There are over 10,000 known species and they live in a huge variety of habitats. Most are harmless, and more importantly they seem to be benign for haworthias. They don’t eat roots or leaves unless they’re damaged, and I’ve never seen them venture up to the flowers.
Getting rid of them is a pain, so it might be best to start getting used to them. They have a hard exoskeleton that makes them immune to most sprays like alcohol, spinosad, neem oil, insecticidal soap, and hydrogen peroxide. I know of one person who thought they were able to get rid of them with about five miticides in rotation, but the two I’ve tried only suppressed their populations for a few months. In addition to essentially having armor, some species also have oil glands that make them repulsive to potential predators.
Your plants basically have their own cleanup crew now.