Red Spider Mite

[pumpkin cuddler]

Hello
This will possibly sound silly but I just wanted to know!!

We have been growing plants on our kitchen window ledge for years. Never ever had a problem with red spider mite.
This year we thought we would grow some cucumbers. They came up great and produced nice cucumbers. All of a sudden red spider mite is all over the leaves and the plant is dying very quickly.
My question is - where do they come from?
We have never had red spider mite on any of the plants and we have grown other veg on the window in that past. As far as I am aware the pots were clean as I tend to give them a scrub after each use.
So where do they come from??
Also does anyone know how to not get them rather than how to get rid of them once they have arrived as this would be better. But, is that a silly question as if that was the case red spider mite would not be a problem to so many people.

[wormlady]

Hiya
Neem oil is fab for getting rid of spider mites, its organic and works really well. You can buy it from Home and look for the garden neem. I think you get spider mites when you have warm, still conditions such as you get in greenhouses (or over a radiator maybe?). We had them on our chilli plants in the spare room, they were absolutely covered before we noticed but neem did the trick.

[lainey lou]

Neem oil is good for nits too - apparently!

[SueA]

Apparently there's a predatory mite you can use against them too. Here's a link to a bit about red spider mite.
Defenders - Safe Effective Natural Biologist Pest Control for Gardeners
I would imagine that even though you've never seen them in your house before that they have been around in the garden & have possibly got in through the windows etc. & hibernated somewhere in a tiny crack or crevice just waiting for you to put out some juicy plants for them to infest!

[Protea]

Do you have a wooden windowsill? Spider mites are bu**ers for hiding in wood and overwintering (which is why you shouldn't use the same bamboo canes for runner beans each year!).

You could try to disinfect the windowledge and get into all the cracks and crevices but to be honest you're better off not using that ledge to grow anything on this year (think of it a bit like a rotation!).

The predatory mite phytoseiulus persimilis is the chap you need to kill them, but it takes time to build the population up and they're expensive, so if its just a couple of plants i'd try a spray.

There is an organic pyrethrum spray called Aquablast bug spray if you don't want to use chemicals.