If you see them, it is not spider mites... that is, unless you are using a 10X loupe. Most common spiders (the ones who make the commonly recognized webs) are considered beneficial; because they eat a lot of small insects, like flys and mosquitos. Outside, common spiders are definitely beneficials; because they eat the aforementioned insects; and also because they are favored food for wasps, which are always beneficial.

Spider mite webbing is often dense and concentrated around stems and leaf axils, not forming a typical 'spider web'. And unless you have a huge infestation, you won't see a lot of it. And johnmerr is correct - mites are tiny little creatures and pretty much impossible to see with the naked eye, unless you knock them off onto a piece of paper. They will look like specks of fine pepper or dirt.

While I am not wild about spiders in the house, I live in the woods and they are inevitable, especially at this time of year. Now and again I see a long strand of cobweb trailing from one plant to another - that is evidence of a true spider, not a mite. Just means I need to be more diligent with my feather duster :-))

Poor Croton :))

I really try my best with Croton. It’s been two years and he varieties between sick and okay, never thriving. We’ll see how he does this winter.

I was just thoroughly inspecting my dad’s cactus. I was nearly convinced it was mites because the webs were more dense and not trailing, then I saw three spiders! I just don’t know if I’m being paranoid, but I don’t want to containmate my other trees.

Obviusly, some of the webs are from spiders. I just don’t want to assume they all them are. Are they others signs I should be looking out for?

speckled leafs

Susanne - Do the leaves look like this?

I also noticed this morning that there were spider webs. The last several months I've had problems with house spiders so initially I thought it was just my usual spider problem, but now I am wondering if it's a case of spider mites. Here are photos of the webs on the key lime. I've been having problems with the key lime plants. The lemons are fine, but I'm not sure if it's because they are are so much larger than the key limes.

Looks like spider mites to me.

Spider mires

yes spider mites and first aid is to wash them off. Then use either neem or horticultural oil

Thank you for the confirmation. I wasn't sure what was ailing my key lime plants. For a few months I couldn't find any sign of pests and a few of the leaves turned spotty or partially white before falling off. I thought it was sun scald then a fungus, but I still wasn't sure what was going on. Then today I saw the spider webs.

I'll wash the plants off. Is it possible to use mineral oil? I read that some people use it in lieu of horticultural oil. I have mineral oil for my wooden cutting boards.

Horticultural oil IS mineral oil; just a refined version.

That's what I had heard anecdotally, but I wasn't sure how true it was
Thank you for confirming. That said, is it okay to use the mineral oil,
even though it's not as refined?

I just noticed this on my key
lime and it's doing worse than I thought. I've been busy for the past few months and I finally had time to take a closer look and saw this on two of key lime. Not sure why the top portion of the stem is drying out and dying? Fungus? Spider mites related?

The mineral oil is okay as long as you add a bit of soap into it with water to make sure it sprays evenly. I'm going to use mineral oil or vegetable oil when I start detecting spider mites on my tree too. So far I don't need it. Good luck!