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Pests- possibly spider mites?

15 years ago

My poor houseplant plumeria has been invaded! Can someone help me identify the pest, and the best way to get rid of them?

The leaf loss started slow, a few weeks ago. I figured that it was normal to lose some leaves, that it was overdue because I'd really never lost any. At first I ignored it, until the rate started to quicken. About a week ago the leaf loss rate got crazy, and just days ago I was finally able to spot a pest- and there were tons of them. I'm not sure how seemingly overnight they became visible in full force. Now all my leaves have a yellowed mottled appearance.

I've been using Garden Safe Houseplant & Garden Insect Killer for 3 days now, I ran to the store immediately after spotting the pests and my husband suggested it was aphids, and I have seen a significant reduction but I still see them around. For fear that eggs will hatch, I just spray my poor plumeria every day. Upon further research, I'm leaning towards calling these spider mites. We did have webbing.

I'm down to just 8 leaves, as you'll see if you check my album I made hoping to identify the pest, I used to have a lot more, and these pics were taken after I had lost about 10.

I grew this plumeria from a cutting since last year, it's my pet project and my baby, and I'm devastated at the prospect of it dying. Does anyone have any advice? Can a plant this far in decline be rescued? How do I get rid of these pests for good?

In addition to the indoor pesticide I've been using, I've tried gently spraying the plant to get rid of as many as possible, and when dry I rub the remaining leaves between my fingers hoping to crush/remove eggs.

If anyone can help me identify the variety of plumeria this is, I would appreciate it. If I do lose it, I would love to get another.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plumeria Album- one healthy picture from a bloom, and a lot of pics in decline

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