Two Spot Spider Mites

murphydavid

I'm new to them and have lost a number of plants and nearly lost more because they are more or less invisable to the naked eye (unless they are making noticeable webs) and to me give identical symptoms to drought (under watering) and or surprisingly drowning (over watering). I think it was the continual hot weather that delayed me finding them. The leaves look a little less green and a bit white spotted then curl at the edges slowly wither away and fall off till the whole plant is naked then you water like mad and new shoots appear only to follow the same pattern. So I bought a microscope (I was surprised how cheap it was) and looked at the underside of a leaf and there they were complete with many eggs. Seems so obvious now but at the time (drought and all) I did not have a clue. Just thought the sun was burning up the leaves.
Anyway if you think the sun is burning leaves off your plants give a thought to spider mites.
And having searched the web and my garden I notice all the Ladybirds are missing and can't detect any other natural predators. Is it the heat? So have resorted to insecticide spray first I tried a systemic. They were still alive 2 days later - maybe new hatchlings then I tried a contact killer still alive 4 days later. They seem to have some sort of immunity and insecticide is not cheap. Thinking of making my own soap based one.
So some thoughts here that may help others who like me have suffered a strange sudden demise of loved and expensive specimens. And I would love to here from anyone who has solved this while I fight on and hope for the best.