PREVENTION & CONTROLS

BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS: Aculops fuchsiae has predators, some believed to have been helpful in California, but these predators cannot get to all of these elusive, wee fuchsia mites.  Control potential here is limited.

CLIMATIC CONTROLS: With 7 nights of temperatures in the teens and low 20's in the winter of 2006, the climatic control potential in  Western Washington and Oregon has become better known.  Even 3-4 nights of low temps seems to kill the mites.  Presumably, the NWFS has found a minimum range of  temperature or perhaps it is the length of the freeze under which gall mites cannot survive. We now know that infestations in gardens with fuchsias that are outdoors all winter is a ‘warm winter’ problem.  On HARDIES in the PNW, freezes, when in the teens and low 20's for 3-4 nights, perhaps less, kill the mites.

CONTROL BY FUCHSIA GROWERS: How fuchsia growers raise their fuchsias has an enormous effect on spreading fuchsia mite.  Advice from the American Fuchsia Society (AFS) based in San Francisco, suggests 3 approaches:

1. Destroy fuchsia mite infected plants.  New starts are inexpensive. They should be purchased from fuchsia specialists who are aware of the problem and have a program to avoid it.  ASK!  If they can't or won't tell you, go elsewhere. 

Then consider…

2.  Grow hardies outdoors, all year in the PNW.  Let freezes control the mites.

3. Raise Gall Mite Resistant and Immune fuchsias.  Some fuchsias show ugly galls, but not all. Brazilian fuchsias, where the mite originated, have developed resistance to the damage.  Mites may be present, but damage is minor. Several species are resistant to the damage and pass that trait on to their offspring.  Some fuchsias are even immune to damage.  Hybridizers in California are raising new cultivars specifically for their gall mite, damage resistance. They are appearing in PNW fuchsia nurseries. 

4. If mite damage appears and destroying the plant is not an option

                                            Prune out the damaged area in the plant parts.   

                                              Use chemical controls- choices listed below.

 

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PreventionFor greenhouse plants and/or plants that don't freeze:

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Start chemical controls in dormancy just BEFORE the new leaves appear.             

                    Saturate the plant &soil.   

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To be successful, you need to be persistent and follow directions carefully.

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For the dormant period (fall & winter) in greenhouses, prune plants severely.

              Deeply planted hardies may be pruned even harder.

              Remove the leaves, young stems & most leaf nodes, galls, & loose bark

                  where the mites reproduce, feed and over-winter. 

              Clean up underneath the plants. Give fuchsia mites as little area as possible

                  to hide in.  

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During the plant’s growth periods (spring & summer), cut out any fuchsia mite

                        infected area: cut two nodes below it.

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Develop a spraying program to delay more mites hatching (see below) & to keep

                        plants healthy.

In general, establish a program to keep plants healthy; stick to it so that you

                 don’t spread mites to neighbors and re-infect your own plants. 

     Do not work on an infected plant and then go to one not infected

     YOU will just spread the mite.

     In handling infected plant material, wear disposable gloves, burn the plant

     material or place it in a plastic bag, tie it up snuggly, and put it and the gloves

     in the garbage. 

     Do NOT compost or recycle it.

    Shower and change your clothes before you work on clean plants—don’t let

    the mites hitchhike on you.

    Disinfect tools and containers.

    If possible, isolate infected plants and keep animals away; they could also carry

    mites to other fuchsias.

CHEMICAL CONTROLS:

 

 

IMPORTANT-  Whatever chemical controls you use…

      1.  Choose products specified for Aculops fuchsiae/fuchsia gall mite or eriophyid  mites & safe for fuchsias or ornamental plants.  Notice whether it’s an indoor or outdoor product. Names of pesticides can be similar and confusing.   Read the label !

      2.  Read the directions carefully and follow them so that plants are not re-infected.

      3.  Read and follow the safety precautions.  Some products are toxic to humans and  other animals.

       

CONTACT SPRAYS- Partial/Temporary Control

After pruning and cleaning up infested plants, contact sprays can help control mites.  Saturate the plant because light applications will build immunity.  With contact sprays you want to get the new hatchlings, so remembering the life cycle,  three applications, 7-10 days apart are needed- or as directed for fuchsia mite on the product. Some will recommend 4 days apart.

 

Contact sprays include horticultural oils and soaps which smother the mites (as well as other pests) like Safer Oil & Ultra Fine Oil (by Sunspray), Volck Oil (by Chevron), Hot Pepper Wax…

To be most effective, use with a ‘spreader sticker’.  

Control potential is limited with contact sprays; plants may get re-infected.

 

If you have had serious gall mite damage and/or have many fuchsias, you may choose stronger products with active ingredients that kill fuchsia mites. They have a much higher control potential, are relatively safe when correctly used  and are longer lasting.  For example- Sevin in 2012 has an active ingredient called carbaryl  that kills eriophyid mites.  However, it is a hazard to bees and aquatic life.  Keep away from standing water;  remove any blossoms that may attract bees. Spray outdoors and let dry if bringing back indoors.)  NOTE:  a product listed as effective on "mites" refers to spider mites and not to eriophyid mites.  Look for key words: miticide, acaricide--eriophyid mites

  

SYSTEMICS-  The Most Effective Control

 

Most effective are products with systemic qualities, but again, there are hazards to consider.   

Commercial nurseries have access to products not available to the public. "Avid" brand is one that is effective on fuchsia mite but leave these treatments up to the professional grower.

BRON:

American Fuchsia Society- www.americanfuchsiasociety.org;

                Growing fuchsias highly resistant to fuchsia mite (DAMAGE)…completely negates the need for spraying.

                                                                                                 Carlton Koehler, Entomologist,

                                                                                                 University of California at Berkeley, 1985

The following information has been gathered from the American Fuchsia  Society, Dr. Peter Baye  (San Francisco Botanical Garden/Strybing Arboretum), Mary Cooke (Redwood City), Regine Plows (1998- Ft. Bragg), Marjorie Wickham (1985- Mill Valley) and other AFS sources in California. Both Peter Baye and Mary Cooke currently maintain a mite garden to test resistance.  Previously, Regine Plows and Margaret Wickham had used microscopes to detect mites and compare their numbers to the severity of the damage.  They found mites on some plants that showed no symptoms of mites.  (In other words, with the mites there and no symptoms, the resistance is really to the damage, not the mites themselves.  Think of it as a "carrier" of some disease that does not seem to affect the host.)   From 1982-4, University of California entomologists formally tested plants’ resistance and response to various controls.  

This is not a complete list, and there are conflicting reports. Some fuchsias seem to be resistant in one garden but not in another.  Mites are transported passively and need insects, birds, wind or gardeners to move them around.  Because of this, even in the midst of a mite infected area, they may have never been exposed to mites. The following list will be updated and corrected as more information is gathered.

Along with information from PNW gardeners who have had fuchsia mite infestations, THE REALLY GOOD NEWS IS THAT it has been  found that the mites are killed when frozen (in the low 20's or teens for 6-8 hours) for 3-4 nights on hardy fuchsias outdoors all year.

KEY:

R= resistant.  Fuchsia gall mites will attack this plant, but damage is lessened to various degrees and at various stages in their growth pattern.  The ornamental value of the plant is retained.

I= immune.  Mites may be present but no galls are produced; little or no damage seen.

SPECIES:

Section Fuchsia

            RF… ayavacensis, cinera, crassistipula, decussata, dependens, gehrigeri, loxensis,  nigricans,  petiolaris, tincta,

                        venusta.

            I-  F… boliviana & F. boliviana ‘Alba’, canescens,  denticulata, hirtella, mathewsii,

                                                 rivularis subsp rivularis , simplicicaulis, sylvatica, vulcanica.

.                                   

 NOT resistant-  F. triphylla cultivarsF. harlingii;  andrei, hartwegii, santae-rosea, scabruiscula  & sessilifolia- conflicting  information- from ‘immune’, ‘resistant’ to ‘not resistant’).

Section Quelusia from Brazil  

            RF… alpestris, coccinea, regia subsp. reitzii, regia subsp. serrae &  regia ‘Radicans’     

            I-  F…brevilobis, campos-portoi, glazioviana hatschbachii, regia subsp. regia.

                                    (F. magellanica from Chile & many of its hybrids are NOT resistant. Although not in this section, but also from Chile, F. lycioides is NOT resistant.)

Section Schufia

.           R-  F arborescens

            I-   F. paniculata

Section Skinnera

            IF. excorticata

Section Encliandra

            I-  Encliandras (& cultivars).

Section Jimenzia

            RF. jimenzii

Section Procumbentes

            RF. procumbens

Section Ellobium

            R- F. fulgens

            I-  F. splendens

Section Hemsleyella

            RF. membranacea, F. tilletiana

    

 HYBRIDS/ CULTIVARS:

 Encliandra cultivars:

            Chance Encounter, Cinabarina, Coral Baby, Goodness Gracious, Hinnerike,Isis, Lottie Hobby, Mason’s Tiny Tots, Mendocino Mini, Miniature Jewels, Minutiflora, Ocean Mist, Panylla Prince, Peaches & Cream, Reflexa, Think Pink, Tomarama, Variegated Lottie Hobby… too many to list.

OTHERS: Background included, if known. Checking the species above, one can see where resistance originated.   

I- if known as immune

                                                                                                              

Andenken an Heinrich Henkel  (F. boliviana x  F. triphylla ?)

Angel’s Earrings & Dainty Angel’s Earrings-

            from Suntory, Japan, believed to be crosses of a regia and F. glazioviana.

Aurora Borealis (F. splendens x F. fulgens)

Baby Chang (F. splendens x)

Baby Tutu

Baby Two Step

Balkönkoningen) (aka Balkon)- I

Bell Buoy

Bergnimf (F. sessilifolia x F. fulgens)

Beth Robley

Bow Bells

Brutus

Cara Mia

Carnival- I

Chang (F. splendens x)

Checkerboard

Chickadee

Constance (Sport of Bright’s Pink Pearl)

Curly Q

Curtain Call

Daisy Bell

Eleanor Leytham

Englander

Eternal Flame

Exoniensis (F. splendens Cordifolia x Globosa)

Fabian Franck (Gottingen x F. pilaloensis)

Fanfare (F. denticulata x)- I

First Success (F. paniculata x F. splendens)- I

  1. F. x colensoi  (F. perscandens x F. excorticata)

Golden Anne

Golden West  (Fanfare x)

Graf Witte

Hobo

Hidcote Beauty

Jamboree

Jubie Lin

Kaleidoscope

Lady Boothby  (F. alpestris x Royal Purple)

Lechlade Chinaman (F. splendens x F. procumbens)

Lechlade Gorgon (F. paniculata x  F.  arborescens)- I

Lena

Leverkusen [Andenken an Heinrich Henkel   (F. triphylla x F. boliviana x?)  

Little Ronnie (Sport of Lorna Doone)

Lord Byron

Machu Picchu [Speciosa (F. splendens x  F. fulgens) x unknown]

Mantilla (F. boliviana x San Francisco?) or  F. triphylla x F.pringsheimii?)

Maori Pipes (F. excorticata x F. triphylla)

Martin’s Yellow Surprise  (F. piloensis x F. fulgens)

Mary Fairclo

Megan

Meip Aalthuizen (F. arborescens x F. venusta)

Miracle

Mood Indigo [(F .lycioides x F. magellanica) x  Florentina]

Mrs. Victor Reiter  (Amy Lye x Mrs. Rundle)

Netalla (Sport of Chang)

Nonpareil (aka Gypsy Queen)

Other Fellow

Perky

Pink Jade

Pink Link

Pink Marshmallow

Praesident Walter Mario- I

Psychedelic

Purple Rain [(F. lycioides x F. magellanica)  x  (F. excorticata x Ting-A-Ling)]

Raspberry       

Red Fanling

Rubra Grandiflora  (F. fulgens x)

San Francisco (Robert Blatry x Mrs Victor Reiter)

Santa Cruz

Scarlet Ribbons (Fboliviana x Mary)

Schiller

South Coast

Southgate

Space Shuttle (Speciosa x F. splendens)I

Tangerine (F. splendens var. cordifolia x)- I

Tarra Valley (F. x colensoi x F. splendens)

Texas Longhorn

Tinkerbell- Hodges

Troubador

Trumpeter

Wave of Life

White King


Fuchsias with waxy or hairy leaves are more likely to show less fuchsia mite damage.

Note that some plants have a parent that is resistant and one that is not.  To determine which characteristic the offspring received, it has to be tested in a mite infested garden and even better, directly inoculated with mites.

If you notice errors here, please do contact us:

NWFS Gall Mite Committee- Salli Dahl, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.; Frankie Dennison, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.; Gwen Jensen, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.;

CULTIVARS HYBRIDIZED FOR GALL MITE RESISTANCE TO DAMAGE

            In the 19th century, only a handful of nurserymen-breeders generated a dazzling genetic legacy of fuchsias

            we now enjoy.  I would suggest that the hundreds of amateur fuchsia growers today, working independently,

            could cumulatively accomplish even more by growing seed saved from mite-resistant plants that are pollinated

            randomly among the rich varieties present in their gardens.                                                                    

                                                                                                                        Peter Baye, AFS Bulletin, September/October 2005

HYBRIDS BY DR. PETER BAYE, San Francisco Botanical Garden/Strybing Arboretum: Dr. Baye has been hybridizing fuchsias for the garden and testing for gall mite damage resistance for many years. Some have been deliberate crosses with others done by Mother Nature.  In the PNW, they will be tested for hardiness; most will probably do well. These may not be all of them, nor are they all available outside of California- yet:

(Name- (parentage). Blossom type (Single…). Growth (Upright-Lax-Trailing).  Blossom color- Sepals/Petals.  Comments.)   

 'Albrae'-  [Campo Hatschbach  (F. campos-portoi x F. hatschbachii) x likely Campo Molina pollen   parent- F2 open pollination].  S  Lax.  Red/Purple. F.magellanica blossom form.    Easy to propagate as sticks. Hardy.

'Alta'-  (Campo Victrix x Lye’s Unique- sibling to Galfrey Lye & Galfrey Blush).   S U, Deep     pink/Smoky-pink;  tall & unbranched plant.  Strongly resistant; slight damage to leaves.

'Arouet Fils'- (Voltaire x F regia subsp regia).  S U.  Red/Purple.  Dark, purplish leaves with red  veins.   Probably hardy.  * Being propagated for nurseries.

'Blush Fandent'-  (F. denticulata x).  White tube, blush to white- green tips.  Prolific bloom; not   vigorous; hard to propagate with green tips. 

'Campo Molina' (F. campos-portoi x F. magellanica ‘Alba’).   S Lax. Red/Purple.  Small leaves;  woody, tall plant that will spread by suckering. Immune; no galls form. Rust resistant.  

'Campopple'- (Mrs. Popple x Campo Victrix). S Lax.  Red/Purple.  Strongly resistant; slight gall  mite damage to leaves.  Probably hardy.

'Campo Thilco'-  (F. campos- portoi x F. magellanica).  S Lax. Red/Purple.  Prolific & long  bloom  period;  easy.  Immune to gall mite damage; no galls form. Hardy.

'Campo Victor'-  sibling to Campo Victrix (see below) but lighter in color. Probably hardy.

'Campo Victrix'-  (F. campos-portoi. x Venus Victrix).  S Lax,  Pale pink- green tips/Dark pink.  Spherical tubes. Flowers 3 per node. Strongly resistant; slight gall mite damage to leaves.   Hardy. 

'Dell Campo Queen'-  (Campo Thilco x F. regia subsp. regia) S Lax. Red/Purple. 

Dr. Godronson'- - (Dominyana x F. denticulata).  S U.  Scarlet.  Large (larger than Dr.  Mahoney), waxy flowers, reflexed sepals; purple stems; large, oval purplish leaves.   Strongly resistant; slight gall mite damage to leaves. 

'Dr. Mahoney'- (Dominyana x F. denticulata).  S U.  Scarlet with pinkish highlights.  Large,  waxy flowers; purple stems; large, oval purplish leaves.  Strongly resistant; slight damage  to leaves.

'Galfrey Blush'- (Campo-Victrix x Lye’s Unique- sibling to Galfrey Lye).   S Lax.  White flushed  pink/Dusky carmine pink.  Self-branching; light green foliage.  Strongly resistant; slight  gall mite damage. 

'Galfrey Lye'- (Campo-Victrix x Lye’s Unique- sibling to Galfrey Blush).   S Lax.  White- tipped   pink/Dark carmine pink. Long pedicels, wine red stems; early boom; prolific.  Strongly   resistant; slight gall mite damage.   

'Grand Harfare'-, (Fanfare x F harlingii)   S Lax.  Orange tube/Orange- black-green tips/Dark,  smoky orange-red;  Long, fluted tubes, glossy sepalsdark green glossy leaves,  Erect, arching growth.

'Harfare Chinook'-  (Fanfare x F harlingii) S Lax.  Salmon-coral.  Like Grand Harfare in shape  and texture.                  

'Horicon'- (California x Campo Victrix)  S Lax.  Medium pink-orange/Darker pink.

'Issac Rowan'- (Corallina x F hatschbachii).  S Lax.. Red/Purple. Prolific bloom; slower growing,  compact shrub.

'Jan Jolie'-  (F. regia x- pollen parent possibly Hanna- sibling to Ruddy Rodney).  S Lax.   Red/Purple.    

'Kyle Peter'- (Corallina x F hatschbachii).  S Lax. Red/Purple.  Prolific, long bloom; recurved sepals; purple-red stems, purple flushed green, leathery leaves. Highly resistant-  infrequent galls. Rust   resistant.

'Mendonoma Belle'- (Albrae x F. regia hybrid).  S Lax. Red/Purple. Vigorous plant.  Fully  resistant.  Probably hardy. 

'Miri'-  (Campo Victrix x Lye’s Unique).  S Lax. Tube- watercolor washed pink. Light pink-     green tips/ Dark smoky-pink.  Medium height; serrated, bronze-purple leaves.  Strongly  resistant; slight damage to leaves.

'Porphyrio'- (Campo Thilco x F. regia).  S Lax.  Red/Purple.. Late blooming; large, vigorous,  arching, much-branched plant; purplish foliage. Highly resistant- infrequent galls. Rust  resistant. Hardy.

'Popplecorn'- (Mrs. Popple x Campo Victrix- sibling of Campopple).  S Lax. Red/Purple.  Sepals  hug corolla. Strongly resistant; slight gall mite damage to leaves. Probably hardy.

'Ruddy Rodney'- (F. regia x- pollen parent possibly Hanna- open pollination-sibling to Jan  Jolie).  S Lax. Dull red/White with pale red veins. Probably hardy.

'Strybing’s Peach',- S Lax.  Peach tube & sepals/Pale yellow. (F. fulgens x F splendens ),  terminal panicles with prolific bloom, not vigorous, irregular shape.  Highly resistant.

'Strybing’s Speciosa'- Sibling to St’s Peach.  Darker red and more vigorous.

'Trailing Starcross'- (California x Campo Victrix- sibling to Horicon)  S T.  Medium, warm  pink/Darker pink.

'Turner Mathew'- (Corallina x F hatschbachii).   S Lax.  Red/Purple.  Larger flowers than either  parent; long slender tubes & sepals; very large leaves, reddish foliage.  Strongly resistant;  slight damage  to leaves. Probably hardy.

MARY COOKE’S HYBRIDS- 2006:

An AFS member from Redwood City, California., Mary has been hybridizing for gall mite resistance for ~ 5 years.  She anticipates some doubles and trailers and is registering them with AFS beginning in 2006 with these two:

'Jim Lewark'- (Campo Victor x Other Fellow)  S Lax, white/orchid.  Infrequent, self-limiting gall formation.

'Elegant Rose'- (Campo-Victor x Other Fellow)  S Lax, shades of rose, sibling to Jim Lewark. Only occasional crinkling of a few leaves.

                                

To locate these fuchsias, contact nurseries listed on our Growers' List.