A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Spider mites and rex begonia question.

Is there any danger in spraying rex begonias with insecticidal soap ( Safer's ) ? I know they don't take too well to having wet leaves and I don't think they have any spider mites, but unfortunately right now I'm battling an invasion that I didn't catch quickly enough, and I do have a lot of infected plants - 3 types of ivy, a gold dust dracaena, a hypoestes and a fittonia.

I think the best would be to spray all my plants, but I hesitate for the begonias - I have 4 of them and they're doing great, but they were close to an infected plant. Should I spray them, or just watch and hope they remain bug free ?

Begonias are not particularly spider mite prone, especially when there are other more favored hosts available. Chances are that they are not infested. Check the undersides of the leaves in good light and look for little dust-like particles to be on the safe side.

The insecticidal soap is probably OK on your Begonias, but look at the label carefully for listed plants. It is also a good idea to test first by spraying one leaf and then waiting 3 to 7 days to see if there is a negative reaction.

Good luck!

Thanks once more for your reply, Will... I've checked and re-checked my begonias ( under good light and with a magnifying glass ) and they do seem bug-free. I guess the little devils are so busy munching on everything else that they forgot about my rex !

There is no warning against begonias on the bottle, but I will do as you say - spray one leaf and see what happens.

I'm now off bug hunting...