Lychee erinose mite - report to Florida or treat it myself?

[savemejebus]

Noticed some mild erinose mite evidence on 1 of our 2 lychee trees. Should I take care of this myself or report it to the State? Worried that Florida will either do nothing or kill the entire tree.

Also, does it matter which sulphur is used for spray? Florida seems to recommend MICROTHIOL DISPERSS as the only one approved, but how is that any different than the typical 80% sulphur stuff?

[Orkine]

Do both.

I understand they are so overwhelmed that they may not get to your tree for some time.
Report so someone can come out and confirm (though I assume you can confirm for yourself) and put a dot on the map for where erinose mite exists.

Then implement  you planned treatment strategy.

I don't know the answer to your question about MICROTHIOL DISPERSS, a thought when I last looked at this was that it was super fine at 3 micron average particle size, which to me might mean better spread.
If you don't have any Sulphur buy the recommended.  If you do, use what you have will be my my approach.
.

[Galatians522]

Do both.

I understand they are so overwhelmed that they may not get to your tree for some time.
Report so someone can come out and confirm (though I assume you can confirm for yourself) and put a dot on the map for where erinose mite exists.

Then implement  you planned treatment strategy.

I don't know the answer to your question about MICROTHIOL DISPERSS, a thought when I last looked at this was that it was super fine at 3 micron average particle size, which to me might mean better spread.
If you don't have any Sulphur buy the recommended.  If you do, use what you have will be my my approach.
.

I agree. The recommended sulfur works better, causes less leaf burn, and is easier to spray. If you can't get that, use what you can find. If you are seeing the brown felt, you have a lot more mites then you realize. Make sure to spray both trees thoroughly and burn or bury infested foliage.

[FruitGrower]

I contacted the Department of Agriculture a few weeks ago and they told me they don’t treat trees for homeowners, only commercial groves. I cut my infected lychees back to prepare to spray with sulfur. What I don’t understand is, I have heard Har say that you can’t spray with sulfur when temps will be >80 degrees, can we spray the lychees this time of year or is does this treatment need to be done in the “cooler” months?

[Galatians522]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

[Julie]

The state sprayed my small lychee tree and it still killed the tree even though it was done in the winter months.  However, my big tree survived the treatment just fine.  However, the state's treatment did not eradicate LEM from my big tree.  I'm a homeowner but was able to get my tree treated by being persistent, the people there are very nice.  If you report it to the state they will not force you to use their treatment, they are very overwhelmed anyway like Orkine said, however there's no reason to report it to them if you are going to do the treatment yourself anyway.  I will need to continually treat my tree with sulphur to keep it healthy.  Not sure how to do that since it's a large tree..

[FruitGrower]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

[Galatians522]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

I don't think you can spot spray a tree and expect any effective level of treatment. Think of this like chemo therapy. If you have the mite, your tree will not have a long or productive life. It may look healthy for a time, but over a period of months or years it will start to decline and will eventually become non productive or die. While the treatment may kill the tree, there is a chance that you can save it with the treatment. After that, you will probably have to keep spraying sulfur to keep the mite from returning--unless there can be a successful eradication of the mite from our state. From now on, growing lychee in Florida will require a much higher level of care than we have been used to. Any trees that are to be kept will likely need to be short enough to completely cover with periodic sprays. I wish FDACS had responded in a timely manner to prevent the destruction of an entire industry in our state. This is very sad for us since we have been growing lychees for over 30 years.

[FruitGrower]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

I don't think you can spot spray a tree and expect any effective level of treatment. Think of this like chemo therapy. If you have the mite, your tree will not have a long or productive life. It may look healthy for a time, but over a period of months or years it will start to decline and will eventually become non productive or die. While the treatment may kill the tree, there is a chance that you can save it with the treatment. After that, you will probably have to keep spraying sulfur to keep the mite from returning--unless there can be a successful eradication of the mite from our state. From now on, growing lychee in Florida will require a much higher level of care than we have been used to. Any trees that are to be kept will likely need to be short enough to completely cover with periodic sprays. I wish FDACS had responded in a timely manner to prevent the destruction of an entire industry in our state. This is very sad for us since we have been growing lychees for over 30 years.

Agreed, the purpose of spot spraying was to observe for any leaf damage or other ill effects. If all went well, then I would do the full treatment. I guess what you’re saying is, I have no choice either way, cause if I don’t treat the tree it will die/ not thrive anyway.  I guess there’s no good solution to this and it sucks that lychees have gotten to be this much work to grow - in addition to the poor flowering/ fruiting. My hope is that we will be able to eradicate this pest, hence my reason for reporting even though I wasn’t eligible for treatment, but it seems this may be wishful thinking at this point. Time will tell.

[bradflorida]

My mature lychee trees were treated for the lychee mite by the state of Florida last year.  Out of 7 trees, the 3 emperor lychees did just fine, the 2 sweethearts regrew 2/3 of their foliage, one Kaimana regrew only a few leaves and then died, and the other kaimana only has 1/3 of its foliage now.  The emperors were the only ones to bear fruit this year.  Every other previous year, I have had fruit set on all of those trees.

 

[Galatians522]

My mature lychee trees were treated for the lychee mite by the state of Florida last year.  Out of 7 trees, the 3 emperor lychees did just fine, the 2 sweethearts regrew 2/3 of their foliage, one Kaimana regrew only a few leaves and then died, and the other kaimana only has 1/3 of its foliage now.  The emperors were the only ones to bear fruit this year.  Every other previous year, I have had fruit set on all of those trees.

It is interesting that you bring this up. We are noticing that cultivars vary in resilience to this pest and the treatment. Emperor seems to be holding up better for some reason.

[Julie]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

It was a very small tree only like 1.5 years old that died.  The mature healthy trees will survive the treatment.  You have no option but to get the treatment ASAP or remove the trees.  The LEM infection is just going to get worse if you leave it.
 However, the treatment didn't eradicate the LEM in my mature tree.  Reporting to the state isn't going to do anything, the LEM infection is very widespread here in FL.  I agree with everything Galatians said based on my experience.  Galatians, do you have any tips on these questions:

(1) How do you recommend spraying a large tree?  Do I need to buy a backpack sprayer with a blower?
(2) What are the health effects associated with continually spraying sulphur?  For me personally (everyone has to do what's best for them), I'm trying to keep my yard organic and don't spray any of my trees routinely.

[FruitGrower]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

It was a very small tree only like 1.5 years old that died.  The mature healthy trees will survive the treatment.  You have no option but to get the treatment ASAP or remove the trees.  The LEM infection is just going to get worse if you leave it.
 However, the treatment didn't eradicate the LEM in my mature tree.  Reporting to the state isn't going to do anything, the LEM infection is very widespread here in FL.  I agree with everything Galatians said based on my experience.  Galatians, do you have any tips on these questions:

(1) How do you recommend spraying a large tree?  Do I need to buy a backpack sprayer with a blower?
(2) What are the health effects associated with continually spraying sulphur?  For me personally (everyone has to do what's best for them), I'm trying to keep my yard organic and don't spray any of my trees routinely.

Mine are kind of in between planted between 2-6 years ago from 3 & 7 gallon. The smallest, Emperor, is about 5x6 feet, the largest, Mauritius, about 12x15 feet. We’ll see how it goes.
I don’t know what you consider large/ mature trees but I can tell you I was able to spray my large Mauritius with a FlowZone battery backpack sprayer.

[Galatians522]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

It was a very small tree only like 1.5 years old that died.  The mature healthy trees will survive the treatment.  You have no option but to get the treatment ASAP or remove the trees.  The LEM infection is just going to get worse if you leave it.
 However, the treatment didn't eradicate the LEM in my mature tree.  Reporting to the state isn't going to do anything, the LEM infection is very widespread here in FL.  I agree with everything Galatians said based on my experience.  Galatians, do you have any tips on these questions:

(1) How do you recommend spraying a large tree?  Do I need to buy a backpack sprayer with a blower?
(2) What are the health effects associated with continually spraying sulphur?  For me personally (everyone has to do what's best for them), I'm trying to keep my yard organic and don't spray any of my trees routinely.

Julie, unfortunately we have found that it is difficult to spray a large tree even with semi-professional equipment. We are currently planning to keep our trees under 10' or 12' instead of the 25' or more that they were in the past. You would likely be able to spray a 10-12' tree with a back pack or pump sprayer. The difficulty with that is that sulfur tends to come out of suspension and needs constant agitation--so you would have to stop and shake every few minutes.

Fortunately, sulfur is incredibly safe--many products are even labeled organic, including the product recommended for mite control (microthiol dispress). My Dad also feels that this product gives better coverage, for what it is worth. I am not an expert regarding long term exposure, but it was my understanding that some people actually take sulfur supplements, so I am thinking the toxicity level must be quite low. I can say from personal experience that it is corrosive so you would want to wear eye protection and remove any metal that will tarnish (such as jewelery) before you spray.

[Julie]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

It was a very small tree only like 1.5 years old that died.  The mature healthy trees will survive the treatment.  You have no option but to get the treatment ASAP or remove the trees.  The LEM infection is just going to get worse if you leave it.
 However, the treatment didn't eradicate the LEM in my mature tree.  Reporting to the state isn't going to do anything, the LEM infection is very widespread here in FL.  I agree with everything Galatians said based on my experience.  Galatians, do you have any tips on these questions:

(1) How do you recommend spraying a large tree?  Do I need to buy a backpack sprayer with a blower?
(2) What are the health effects associated with continually spraying sulphur?  For me personally (everyone has to do what's best for them), I'm trying to keep my yard organic and don't spray any of my trees routinely.

Mine are kind of in between planted between 2-6 years ago from 3 & 7 gallon. The smallest, Emperor, is about 5x6 feet, the largest, Mauritius, about 12x15 feet. We’ll see how it goes.
I don’t know what you consider large/ mature trees but I can tell you I was able to spray my large Mauritius with a FlowZone battery backpack sprayer.

The tree that I had that died was about 1.5 years old and was planted from a 3gallon.  I'd say a tree 12x15 would be fine.  However, you have no option but to spray or remove the tree.  A tree can't exist with this infection without treatment.  Trust me, I waited like 5 months for the state to come and my trees got worse & worse.

[Julie]

I think leaf burn is the main reason for not spraying above 80. If all you have is a stump with no sprouts, I don't think that will be an issue. I was told that the issue with leaf burn can also be avoided by spraying in the evening so the spray can dry over night.

Right now it is basically a naked tree with no sprouts. I’ll go ahead and spray now but my understanding is that you need 2-3 months of treatment so eventually I’ll have to spray when it leafs out. Now that I hear Julie’s tree was killed, I’m even more concerned. I guess I will test it out on small sections at first.

It was a very small tree only like 1.5 years old that died.  The mature healthy trees will survive the treatment.  You have no option but to get the treatment ASAP or remove the trees.  The LEM infection is just going to get worse if you leave it.
 However, the treatment didn't eradicate the LEM in my mature tree.  Reporting to the state isn't going to do anything, the LEM infection is very widespread here in FL.  I agree with everything Galatians said based on my experience.  Galatians, do you have any tips on these questions:

(1) How do you recommend spraying a large tree?  Do I need to buy a backpack sprayer with a blower?
(2) What are the health effects associated with continually spraying sulphur?  For me personally (everyone has to do what's best for them), I'm trying to keep my yard organic and don't spray any of my trees routinely.

Julie, unfortunately we have found that it is difficult to spray a large tree even with semi-professional equipment. We are currently planning to keep our trees under 10' or 12' instead of the 25' or more that they were in the past. You would likely be able to spray a 10-12' tree with a back pack or pump sprayer. The difficulty with that is that sulfur tends to come out of suspension and needs constant agitation--so you would have to stop and shake every few minutes.

Fortunately, sulfur is incredibly safe--many products are even labeled organic, including the product recommended for mite control (microthiol dispress). My Dad also feels that this product gives better coverage, for what it is worth. I am not an expert regarding long term exposure, but it was my understanding that some people actually take sulfur supplements, so I am thinking the toxicity level must be quite low. I can say from personal experience that it is corrosive so you would want to wear eye protection and remove any metal that will tarnish (such as jewelery) before you spray.

Thank you so much.  How often do you recommend spraying?

[savemejebus]

As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, my perception of a minor problem turns out to be a whole-tree infestation. I pruned the tree back over the weekend and there was not really any limbs not completely overrun by these damm bugs. Going to start spraying sulphur this weekend.

[Galatians522]

Thank you so much.  How often do you recommend spraying?
[/quote]

That is exactly the question that we have been trying to get an answer to ourselves. In theory, you only need to protect new flushes until they harden off. My memory says that takes about 28 days. If it is dry, you might only spray twice in that period, if it is wet and the sulfur gets washed off you may need to spray more frequently. But, theoretically, you wouldn't need to spray again after that until you had another flush initiate. We will have to see how all of that works in practice. I'm sorry that I can't give you a better answer, but I hope that helps.