In part two of our "Robin Goes to Willow Creek" series, we hear about the mighty mites that protect our rosehip crop.
Our Willow Creek farm is home to one of my favorite crops: rosehips. When I visited two weeks ago, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the flowering roses and the smell of roses in the wind. But I’m not the only one who favors these plants. Spider mites, tiny crawlies measuring less than a millimeter in size love making their homes on the leaves of these plants. A female spider mite can lay upwards of 20 eggs in a day which will hatch in around three days and begin laying eggs of their own in about five. These mites feed voraciously on the leaves of whose undersides they occupy and can cause big trouble for those who choose to grow plants they favor.
One surprising way to combat these spider mites is with more mites! And that is just what we are doing at our Willow Creek Farm. Last week I got the layman’s rundown on the predatory mites we are using to keep those pesky spider mites at bay. This year we are employing the help of two types of mites; neoseiulus californicus and phytoseiulus persimilis. Like the mites on which they prey, these mites are small in size but big in reproduction!
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Sun Valley Group's Flower Talk
