Do you mean spider mites? I am constantly battling them. I use a diluted castille soap spray. It kills them for sure but they keep coming back. I'm about ready to use a systemic insecticide but I don't know how adenium will react. Has anyone used a systemic on adenium? Here is my response to a recent post. I hope it helps...
I have a continual spider mite problem here, even though they are outdoors year round. If I don't treat it my leaves can look like what you describe. Look for single strand webs on your plant and check the underside of the leaves for mites and eggs. They are teeny tiny so you won't see them clearly. The mites are a reddish brown color and the eggs are white. The underside of the leaves will look dusty or dirty with these colors but if you use a strong magnifying glass you'll be able to see mites and/or eggs. I use Dr Bronner's liquid castile soap, diluted in a spray bottle. Be careful with other soaps that aren't actually a natural soap, but a chemical detergent. From what I've read, what makes Dr. Bronner's so effective is the potassium salt of fatty acid.
"The fatty acids work effectively on soft-bodied insects like aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, thrips and white flies. These fatty acids dissolve or remove the insects cell membranes and their natural protective waxy coatings, causing death from excess water loss."
I don't know if that's true but I've read it on many reputable sites and it works 100% on my plants. It must be a direct hit though so make sure you get everything. Now if someone can tell me how to keep them from coming back I'd appreciate it! It's a year-round battle here with them. And mealy bugs, ugh!

FYI I'm in 10b and it gets super hot here at times. I tried Neem oil in high heat and had significant leaf burn. It's better if you can move in to shade while the oil is on the leaf. It worked really well for me in cloudy weather for plants in the ground. Very effective.

Oh, Pagan, we have year-round whitefly, aphids, scale to combat. I'm certain I've seen several other pests, mites that get into the soil of potted plants, and such.

OK ... I won't worry about those tiny, pinhead sized spiders. I think I'll use the NEEM Oil at 1/2 strength throughout the gardens, just as a preventive measure. I saw a little rust spot on a plumeria a few months back.

Ladybugs would totally get rid of aphids, right? I just saw some at Byron Pike Nursery, an awesome, gigantic FARM with everything you could possibly need for landscaping, gardening, etc. I can spend the entire day roaming that place! Next time I go I'll share pictures.

We have about 50 types of lizards including 20 varieties of geckos and 10 varieties of iguanas. I wonder if any of them may be immune to the nasty taste of ladybug. They are not something you see every day in my region.

However, I've seen ladybugs successfully used in organic farms and in the landscape of hospitals, post offices, and other public buildings. Now if we could only get rid of the 94 known ant species!

I'll give setting some ladybugs loose on that Soursop a try. We have nothing to lose and a fruit-bearing tree to gain, right?

Thanks!

Maria Elena

Halfwaythere,

NEEM Oil : It clearly says on the packaging to apply in early evening when the sun is setting, then spray with a hose in the morning to prevent leaf burn.

I don't think that what I'm seeing in the garden are spider mites. They kind of greet me as little specks hanginh in mid air. It creeps me out that they can possibly nest in my hair! I haven't seen plant damage, red colonies or evidence of dusty webbing or eggs on the underside of the leaves. I only found largish yellow eggs on the underside of an adenium leaf once ... and a red moth that looked like a red rose petal (still unidentified) to go with it.

I am a huge fan of using liquid soap, oil, baking soda, mouthwash, alcohol concoctions in the garden as a first resort. I also DO use a systemic ONLY on non-edibles, mostly succulents. I've used Bonide Systemic on adeniums with no issues. I've also hand-washed aphids & scale from a plant, treated it with Bonide, and never saw a repeat infestation. I've used it for many years ... great stuff!

Maria Elena

María Elena, I've found this information very interesting, it's in Spanish but I know you will understand what it says, is agricultural sulfur, never tried on my plants because i can't find it in my country

http://www.cosasdeljardin.com/2015/03/aranuela-roja-unico-metodo-de-control.html?m=1

I hope it helps!

Labybugs are great and cute, but in my experience they FLY away. They don't stick around!

Cynthia,

Guardare la informacion por si acaso, pero no tengo aranuelas roja.

Maria Elena

If you have a farm nearby that will sell you ladybugs, the chances are they also have live nematodes and milkspore for sale. They control the ant population. I use them to prevent ants from colonizing one section of my yard where I have bulbs and sedum. You can't kill them all but you can force them to move somewhere else and prevent their return. Small-area management.

In short, it's time to study the ecology of your property.

The ecology of the islands ... They are all giant ant hills. Yesterday, I volunteered to move some pretty red-tipped bromeliads out of a corner and into my 92-y/o neighbor's front walkway. They look fabulous!

Typed while looking at four swollen, fresh fire ant bites on my poor thumb & wrist. They crawled right into my gardening gloves. My ankles also have about four bites ... I stupidly wore sandals. Hey, it was a walkway ... full of fire ants! ... attacking in armies of four!

anything with clarified hydrphobic neem extract is worthless as oil soap. it doesnt have the active ingredient that virgin neem oil has (its processed out)

Hi, Jose. Where are you located .... Just curious.

This post was from 3 yrs ago. I have since had some experience with this particular Neem. You're correct ... This product is flawed. It never helped rid anything of pests. Sometimes it does a temporary warding off but never permanently. Also, I do not recommend it for too much because, contrary to what people claim, it does burn leaves. I've had better results with granular systemics.

PLEASE HELP! How do I kill an infestation of Fungus Gnats with common organics.

I read that if you grind up orange peels, with some water into a pulpy slurry and spread it over the soil mix...it will kill off the gnats, etc. It smells nice, too.

Open to other suggestions, even garlic water, soapy water, cigarette water, whatever. Really don't want to use insecticides, yet. But those gnats have to go!

Frank/NYC

Hi, Frank. I think all of us who live near greenery and keep our windows open deal with this same problem continually. Prevention is key, but eradication is nearly impossible.

Fungus gnats / fruit flies are attracted to standing water and moist areas (soil, fruit/veg peels in trash, open drain pipes). Once they begin populating your home, they're pretty annoying to deal with. They are always in several stages of development and when you kill off the visible ones and think you've solved the problem, the nymphs take over, and then the eggs hatch. You have to treat for about 3 weeks to get rid of each cycle.

Organic recommendations:

- Yellow sticky strips that tuck into potted plants to trap the flying insects.

- Cinnamon sprinkled over the soil acts as a fungicide and will kill the nymphs and eggs. I use a granular systemic (Bonide) in the soil of my non edible houseplants and it works, but is a pesticide.

- Nymphs burrow into raw potato slices placed on top of soil ... Throw away after 2 days and place fresh ones on soil.

- The smell of apple cider vinegar attracts them ... Place 1/4 c ACV and a drop of honey in several small recipients and cover with cling wrap and tape. Poke holes large enough for gnats to go in but not to come out ... This worked very well for me also. I left them a month wherever I saw gnats. When I looked inside, they were full of drowned gnats. https://youtu.be/NzsxwNL7Fn0

- Because I now live near the beach, I use 30-watt electronic bug zappers that stay on all night.

Preventative measures:

- Mix some baking soda and vinegar and pour it down any open drains. Gnats are known to make colonies inside drain pipes, including the kitchen sink. Do this weekly until the problem is resolved.

- Seal off any unused drain connections (washing machine, dish washer, filtration systems).

- Check for and eliminate standing water (dish rack, under sink, refrigerator tray, etc.).

- Eliminate the kitchen trash bin. I hang a small 4 gallon drawstring bag every morning on the pantry knob and take it out every night. Never allow a trash bag to sit overnight in your kitchen ... Gnats can populate it with maggots in 2 days.

- Unless you're going to stay on top of treating soil in indoor potted plants, keep them outdoors.

- While it's OK to leave fruit on the counter, refrigerate it once it's ripe or gnats will be attracted to the sweet aroma of oozing sugars.

- Maria Elena