Spider mites, broad mites and russet mites: how to tell which one you have before you spend money treating the wrong thing, what the life cycle means for treatment timing, and which biological and chemical options are workable on a crop that will be inhaled.
Identification comes first because the three behave differently. Two-spotted spider mites leave stippling and webbing on mature leaves and are visible with a cheap loupe. Broad and russet mites are far smaller, usually invisible without magnification well past a hand lens, and announce themselves as twisted new growth and glossy or curled leaf tips that are routinely mistaken for a nutrient problem or heat stress.
Two things decide whether a treatment works. Mite eggs are not killed by most contact treatments, so a single application clears the adults and leaves the next generation to hatch: the interval between applications matters more than the product. And warm, dry, still air is the condition they multiply fastest in, which is why a mite thread usually turns into a climate thread.
Where to start