Originally Posted by hoosierbanana
I used Forbid, Avid and some Azatrol. The translaminar action of Forbid and its residual action do make it very effective. It is labeled for ornamentals and non-bearing trees in the U.S. and the same chemical is labeled for many fruits and vegetables in Canada though. Neem oil could be effective as systemic but might not do the job as a spray, getting contact with them is difficult because they are so small and sheltered in the buds.

Ricky, you are correct that if the mites do not carry FMV they will cause no lasting symptoms after they are gone. If they do have FMV you might not see symptoms until one or 2 years later, the tree does not need to be weak, or underfertilized or anything like that. Some buds will have more virus than others and those will be the ones to show symptoms. When you prune a tree with FMV that is when you see it the most. Fig bud mites are so small you cannot even see details at 40x, just squirmy grub looking things.

Argentine ants are on some of my trees too this year, the damage they cause does make it harder to tell if a tree has virus symptoms.