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Help! Spider mites.

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

So here's the situation: I got a Daniella Ficus about a week ago, and today I noticed that it has what I am pretty sure are spider mites. It doesn't seem to be a bad infestation. Right now all I've seen are a few webs, a few small mites and what appear to be a few adults. However, I am moving in a week and I don't want this infestation to spread to my other plants since during the move all of my plants will be in close quarters for 4 or 5 days. Is there some way to successfully get rid of them in that amount of time, or am I better off giving it to someone who has more time to deal with this problem? I know ladybugs are natural predators, but I don't think I have enough time to get some and have them eat the whole problem, but I'm honestly not sure. Any advice on this topic is greatly appreciated. I'm already attached to this little guy and I don't want to lose him.

Edit: I just found some scale on him as well. =[

Comments (5)

  • 8 years ago

    Are you aware that spider mites are practically invisible to the naked eye? So small that no one can possibly tell the difference between an adult and a youngster.

  • 8 years ago

    indoor plant.. or outdoor potted plant???


    frankly.. if i bought a plant a week ago.. and it has scale.. i would return it for refund ...


    if it were an outdoor plant.. i might go all systemic granules on it.. AFTER I PROPERLY IDd the problems ... [or an indoor plant i could put outside for summer]


    but all that said.. you are spot on in your lack of ability to isolate it ... becasue of the move.. and it might just be most cost effective to find it a new home in a garbage can .. and go buy a new friend.. after you are settled in the new place ...




    ken



  • 8 years ago

    rhizo_1: Yes, I am aware they are hard to see. But I also know what I saw. The webbing caught my eye and I saw what I thought was a baby spider at first, then I saw another. They were probably as small as the head of a pin. After more investigation, I realized they were mites. I saw small, barely visible, tiny (yes, very hard to see, but not impossible if you're looking for it) white things moving on my plants and webs. Unless I have both baby spiders and spider mites.

    ken_adrian: it's an indoor plant. And it wasn't something that we bought, it was bought by my husband's company for a work event and he brought them home for me afterwards. I don't even know what nursery they got it from. It was a plant that would have been thrown in the trash otherwise. He didn't know what to look for as far as pests, and I only noticed them yesterday after having it for a week. So far, I've only seen the one spot of scale, but I'm keeping an eye out for more.

  • 8 years ago

    Spider mites are much smaller than the head of a pin, several of them could square dance on the head of a pin. Now, there are predatory mites that are a lot larger.

    You may very well have phytophagous mites plus something else. I'd take a cheap hand lens and inspect the underside of a few leaves. That's where the spider mites are likely to hang out.

  • 8 years ago

    Listen to rhizo - she knows what she is talking about :-) Spider mites really are impossible to see on the plant itself (although you can detect telltale signs of an established infestation like the fine webbing along the leaf petioles and stippling of the foliage). Really the only way you can see the actual insect with the naked eye is to knock them off onto a piece of white paper....they will look like microscopic brown specks. Barely the size of a grain of dust.

    If you suspect you do have spider mites put the tree into the shower or take outside and spray it down well with water. That should take care of the problem.

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