I have been growing Ipomoea for awhile now and several of the plants obtained spider mites of species Tetranychus urticae.
Previously these had bothered some species a little but had done very poorly on Ipomoea tricolor in comparison. However over time they adapted to it and then after this they spread to other plants like Ipomoea nervosa and Ipomoea aquatica.
In one of my areas where I grow the plants I just left the mites alone, they became an infestation and then after awhile another small bug showed up and started eating them and they are hard to find now. However in my other area there were no such bugs and the mites were prolific. I still ignored them however as that they didn't interfere with flowering and I don't trade living plants with a few exceptions like some cacti.
This area was lit however with a 315 watt ceramic metal halide light, it is a good light for growing plants indoors, but my bulb burned out and I didn't have a replacement. It took 4-5 days to get a new bulb and get it installed. During this time the plants were in darkness.
When the light finally came back on however, I noticed something I did not expect.
Nearly all of the mites on the plants that sat in the darkness had died.
It was a spider mite apocalypse and their world ended.
I have my suspicions why this happened, but I'll keep that to myself for now.
