At a small farm in Northern California, in the midst of rose bushes abundant with colors of reds, pinks, whites and yellows, there was an acute problem of Spider Mites attacking organic rose growers. The farmers began to observe it in early summer. They found small spots on the lower surface of the rose plant leaves and more plants were becoming yellow and wilted. Said growers like Maria Garcia, a rose farmer who has been in the business for over a decade, came to realize that they were dealing with a pest whose potential to cause generation-fouling economic losses was well established.
A disease that frequently affects rose gardens include the spider mites and this is more so when the climatic conditions are hot and dry. These small spiders are plant sap drinkers which damage leaves resulting in small red spots and eventual yellowish discolouration. Spider mites can go as far as stripping plants of all their leaves if not attended to and this will drastically affect their ability to produce beautiful flowers. Maria owned a farm and was among many other farmers in the region that experienced this vice; she had no option than to take action.
Identifying Spider Mite Infestations
Spider mite may not be a familiar issue to many people, but anybody who grows roses, as Maria does, knows about them. All of them can be prevented early and are not very dangerous if diagnosed on time. Spider mites are small in size and tiny often being smaller than 1mm, and they are mostly located on the lower surface of leaves. They build fine websp, which can be an indication that there is an infestation of the arthropods. Since they suck on the plant’s sap, they cause formation of small yellowish spots on the affected leaves that end up falling off.
It was very important for organic farmers such as Maria to identify a viable method without cluttering the environment with the chemicals the conventional pesticides entail. This required her to find a sort of intervention that would help her to get rid of these mites without affecting other insects that are beneficial to her rose garden and the ecosystem at large.
Beauveria bassiana Is A Sustainable Solution
Thus as an organic method Maria tried Beauveria bassiana which is a naturally occurring fungus that is used to control pests such as spider mites. There is science-sourced proof of a pest control solution; Beveria WP (best insecticide for spider mites), which is made from Beauveria bassiana. When used in foliar application, the fungal spores stick onto the spider mite’s body and gradually penetrate it which results to the death of the spider mite. This made Beauveria bassiana organic one of the best options for the farm that Maria has been operating.
The microbial pest control expert from the University of California, Dr. John Mathews reasons that, “Beauveria bassiana is one of the best biocontrol agents for the spider mites; they are safe for the environment and most importantly they don’t affect other organisms. ”
Spider mite management or optimum strategy of controlling these mites
Maria advised herself and in the morning She used Beauveria bassiana foliar spray on the roses that were affected by the pests by making sure that she covered both the top and bottom of the leaves. In just a few weeks, she was able to observe a decrease of the spider mites, thus proving the effectiveness of neem. These recommendations she got were not chemical based insecticide but a biological one that would work well with her organic farming nature.
Besides the above treatment, Maria adopted other cultural practices to prevent attack from spider mites by increasing the garden’s humidity and housing roses from time to time and also, introducing predatory mites in the garden.
Conclusion
Applying biological control with Beauveria bassiana together with cultural practices Maria was able to salvage her rose crop from the ferocious spider mites. According to the study, for farmers who are involved in growing organic roses, Beauveria bassiana poses to be one of the best solutions for the pest since it is environmentally friendly. For the smallholder farmer, for the home grower, you might not get a more potent rose spider mites treatment than products like Beveria WP.
