Is there anyway to save my plants?? I have soooo fucking many. I couldn't even tell they had spider mites until their health started to slowly decline. I thought it was a nutriemt deficiency or something. I check my plants every single day and never noticed them. There's not any crazy webbing or anything. They just kept doing worse and worse after thriving for years, and I noticed a select few were doing worse than the others. Thats when I found spider mites. They're mostly in the soil, but I noticed the smallest amount of webbing on a few leaves and thought I caught it early on. All the pics I see online have awful webbing, so I thought I'd just isolate those ones for a few days, spray them over with neem oil, and call it good. Then I sprayed the rest of my plants with neem oil just in case. This is my first time dealing with this, so I only doused them once, and thought everything would be fine. Come to find out on closer inspection today, I couldn't find a plant that didnt have them. I'm freaking out, I feel so hopeless. I put all my money, time, love, and more into these babies, and I had to chop my giant sweet heart plant that was beginning to grow on my walls. It sucks cuz I always wanted to get a viney plant long enough to grow on my walls one day, and I finally did it a few weeks ago and she was growing rapidly and so happy :((( And it extra extra sucks cuz I just gave my friends hella cuttings and now I gotta go to them and warn them to save all their plants. Fuck fuck fuckkkk. What the fuck do I even do.
by LoudKnowledge2702
46 Comments
AAAAHH!!!
My heart goes out!
I have lost a few plants to spider mites! Immediately, you can spray them with 70% alcohol. It will literally melt them and just use a paper towel to wipe off the remains. So long as the leaves are not paper thin, they should not be affected by the alcohol. It usually evaporates in a few seconds.
My country still allows guns, so they definitely allow systemic. I sprinkle that on every plant that comes into my house.
I have learned that spider mites do not like moisture so if you have the ability to keep the humidity above 40% and keep your plants not bone dry, that is also a good preventative. The most recent Alocasia sarian I lost was because I let the plant go 100% dry. ☹️
Best of luck!
Edit: Neem oil was the 20-year ago solution. It is no longer a logical approach to most houseplant situations. Plus, it smells.
Get predatory mites. It doesn’t take long to kill the spider mites and so much easier than spraying each plant. I did it for my cabinets after trying to treat each individual plant. It’s really worth it!!
When I first got into plants I lost a good chunk of my collection to spider mites. I knew nothing about pests or how to treat them.
The spray mixture I use has kept them at bay for years and also works on mealybugs too. I now just use it as preventative maintenance every month or so.
It’s a mixture of dish soap, 70% isopropyl alcohol, and water in a spray bottle. I do 2 drops of dish soap and a 1:3 ratio of alcohol and water. Shake it up and thoroughly spray the front and back of leaves, stems, soil, anywhere where they might hide. Spray them so much they are dripping. I don’t wipe it off, the alcohol evaporates quickly. I use this mix on all my plants and none have had any ill effects from it. It will also take a couple treatments over a couple days to get rid of them completely.
Good luck!
Honestly it isn’t going to be easy. Some things to think about-
How much time and space do you have for these plants and how much did they cost. I’m personally at the point if the plant is like $20 on a bad day to replace or something from Lowe’s/home depot I will put minimal effort into cleaning them. If they are harder to find or expensive to replace then I will try like hell to clear them.
If you can part with a few less expensive ones that will help in the long run. Or take propagations that are easy to clean from the less expensive plants.
My advice on clearing them-
Sort them by size of plant and how badly infested. The small and less infested ones are far easier to clear. Keep those in one spot and the larger infested ones in another.
With the larger ones- every day check and clear what you can. Spray if you can with bug spray. Get a propagation of the plants that you can and make sure those are cleaned.
Meanwhile with the smaller ones I’d hand clean top and bottom of every leaf. Spider mites live on the plant and don’t have a life cycle in the soil. Once they are clean for 30 days then you can put them in a clean corner.
Med plants and or med infestation. Clear by hand as much as you can and Shower off daily. Be careful not to saturate the soil in case of root rot. Once you have done that for a while and your small plants are clear then monitor for 30 days and clear as needed.
Then keep moving up to the bigger plants and clearing them.
This is one method for a large amount of plants. Others might have other good ideas too.
Personally I’d put them in giant plastic bags while I treat. I got them from Amazon. Let me see if I can find the link. You can tie the ends with a twist tie or just use the bag itself (I just tie the bag).
Make sure to keep an eye on your plants while they’re in the bag for multiple reasons.
[Plasic Baggies](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYFCH46H?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)
rubbing alcohol solution spray every leaf surface 2x a week for 3/4 weeks.
I spray let sit a few minutes and then rinse.
i’ve had a decent amount of plants that got spider mites and i’m currently still fighting them but i threw out the ones i just didn’t have effort to save. and i kept the ones i absolutely can’t lose. if it gets too overwhelming you can always toss a few 🥲 but i agree with the predator bugs they really do work.
I’m so sad for you 😭
So I put mine into plastic bins and taped the open sides together and filled it with ladybugs. Waited a few days and they were all taken care of. Did a quick neem oil spray on each of them and thankfully they’re all healthy. Will be utilizing the ladybug sarcophagus method should they return.
I sprayed mine off with the hose then filled a spray bottle up with water, alcohol and a little bit of dawn dish soap and sprayed the whole plant and soil and they have not been back, good luck!
This is what you need: https://www.organicbti.com/product-page/forbid-avid-and-floramite-spider-mite-treatment-program-inc-top-3-miticides
Three miticides, each with its own mode of action (MoA), use them in sequence, follow the instructions. The 1oz of each is $75, and that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it makes gallons. I treated my whole collection (over 300 plants) with about 2 mixed gallons of each, still have basically the entire bottle left
Ugh that is no fun. I recently had a large issue too. I rinsed all my plants in the shower then washed each leaf with sexy plant juice (2 cups water, 2 tbsp of both Castile soap and neem oil, plus a heavy squirt of 70% isopropyl alcohol – shake well). I wiped each leaf down.
Make sure you clean the walls and all the space around where the plants were. I use a diluted alcohol spray, to clean.
Repeat spray and wipe down every week of plants, and be on the lookout for more webs. It’s more mitigation of spider mites than ever truly getting rid of them.
Unless you get the beneficial insects.
Thank you for calling this meeting to order. Im Mr Monstera. Mr Snake plant, I believe you had something to start us off with. Go ahead. You have the floor.
Bio Advanced 3-in-1
I had this issue two years ago. I got raid home and garden and sprayed the plants. I’d let it sit for a day then wash the leaves with water and wipe them off. After two applications two weeks apart the mites were gone. One more application the week after for good measure and they haven’t come back since.
I give every plant a shower when it needs watered and let them dry out in-between. Thats been keeping the spider mites and thrips at bay. I can almost say they’re gone but I won’t get ahead of myself lol
Controversial tip, spray them with rubbing alcohol. Saved many a plant for me.
Im in the same situation. I tried every spray, finally rinsed all that off and released phytoseiulus persimilis. Didn’t realize it has to be humid for them to really work and I live in a very dry place so I just wasted my money because thats not working 😭
Garden Safe Brand Fungicide 3 (in one) works for me for everything, sometimes i spray, sometimes i pour it on depending how bad or if its a new plant from a big box store and i want everything gone… this is my “go to”… i use it when needed and ever end of season when i bring plants back indoors. It will need a few treatments (2-4), it works… just make sure you don’t also over water your plants doing this… spray it thoroughly a few times and let it sit, but don’t water it and end up with a bunch of root rot. This works.
I managed to save a cactus with a bad infestation. I sprayed her with vinegar and rubbed all the mites off. Was not enough, took her out of the pot, got her roots exposed, separated the branches to better my odds. Sprayed them down heavy, rinsed them with the shower. Let them dry out and replanted. It’s been 2 months and so far so good.
Take them all outside for a day and hose them completely down, repot if necessary. A lot of work but it will save some.
Get insecticide soap and fill your tub and soak them ASAP. Dunk them for 30 mins to an hour each. Spray them off with a shower head so there’s no soap residue left. It is literally the only thing that has actually helped get rid of spider mites for me. Spraying and wiping was never enough. I’m sorry though I hope you can save them.
Your Philodendron Pink Princess is gorgeous
Use Safer Brand Insect Killing soap if you’re in the USA
When i cant handle them i go at them with diluted alcohol spray. Its budget friendly. Just gotta be careful with your delicate plants. Spray them on both sides of the leaves till they’re dripping.
https://youtu.be/PJDLK7Tc8q0?si=7jpnfPXXhgEE5Yxn
Do what this lady does. I got spider mites and I haven’t had them since after following her instructions. It will take awhile but it’s worth it.
You can get rid of spider mites by simply washing your plants with just dish soap and water with a makeup brush or wet paper towel. You don’t even need to use alcohol, predatory mites, or pesticides. I was able to wipe out a pretty bad spider mite infestation after only two washes (I missed a spot on the first wash).
I don’t have any advice but the way you arranged all of your plants like they’re leading a charge out the window is so funny to me
I’m hella lazy, so this is what I do:
1) Put them in the shower and with spray nozzle, and give them all a good spray down aiming for the bugs, of course. Don’t forget the outside pot area and bottoms.Then,
2) Spray something on it! – either a neem oil mixture or alcohol/H2O mix or other insecticide on the leaves, top of soil, around and bottom of pot including cache pot… everywhere-and let sit for about 45 mins.
3) Inspect – if you see no more, Yay! If not, repeat step 2.
4) Let me be clear. I use a systemic insecticide just for the suckle little shits…add to soil according to directions and water. The systemic works for spider mites, mealy bugs, and scale. Not sorry either! Treated plants have never had another problem!
I also try to periodically shower all my plants down just because it’s really dusty in here, and it gives me time for a thorough inspection..and because somewhere in their cells I think they just might remember “rain.” Which is why I have no problem watering them at night.. but that’s another thought for another time!
Diatomaceous earth all of them, safe for plants and they cannot survive or eat. Rinse off during watering schedule, then reapply until no more webs
I spray mine off with a hose or the kitchen sink with the power water setting, then I wipe uff the leaves, then I spray with neem oil or a houseplant spray that works against spider mites. Seemed to work for my plants. After two outbreaks however, I now quarantine each new plant I get. I spray it off and spray with neem oil. That has been working for me. I would suggest that after you take care of this infestation (might take a bit, that’s a lot of plants), quarantine each new plant you get and spray that bad boi down.
Does fumigation work for a situation like this?
What are predatory mites?
The trick to getting rid of mites is to treat 100% of each plant. They are not hard to kill but they are easy to miss.
The good news is, most of your plants are relatively small. My suggestion would be give everything a nice healthy prune to the smallest size you will tolerate (be mindful to contain the scraps)
For all the “handheld” sized plants, the fastest and most effective (organic) method is to dunk/submerge the canopy in a “Contact” pesticide. I like to cut a few squares of cardboard to a size to fully cover the diameter of pots. (Might make sense to have multiple sizes) poke a hole in the center of the square. Next, from the center hold cut a line straight out to any of the sides. This “slot” will serve to hold the stem of each plant while the cardboard covers the soil, preventing the soil from falling into your solution while inverted to dunk canopy. (I can further clarify if I didn’t explain well)
Next you are ready to dunk. I suggest doing outside or in bathtub. If you don’t have a preferred product I’d be happy to make suggestions.
Keep in mind the size of the bucket to hold to solution compared to the size of the canopy. The bigger the bucket, the more expensive it is to fill it with solution. You will need to submerge all leaves, stems and the stock all the way down to the soil (without saturating the soil, be mindful of the dripping when placed back upright)
So to review,
-Prune to size.
-Slip cardboard square between canopy and soil, guiding stock into slot, covering the soil.
-Mix solution , add to a bucket
-While firmly holding cardboard against the pot, invert plant and dunk canopy into solution – it’s important for hydrophilic plants to be dunked and swirled rather aggressively
-remove from solution and shake off excess solution, and place upright
-place all treated plants in a cool, dark area for at least 24 hours to slow dry. The longer the solution stays liquid (doesn’t evaporate) the longer it has to send the mites and eggs back to hell, where they came from. A dry solution has very little effect.
Please feel free to ask questions if you have any. This can work 100% as I’ve done it to thousands of plants.
Good luck! 🍀
Insecticidal soap. Soak them every other day for two weeks.
For some reason I always get down voted for this: use a bug bomb. You’ve got all the plants there in a room, set off a bug bomb in there and then go away for a couple hours before ventilating the place. Every single mite will be dead.
I know its not a good solution for a plant or two, but when your entire collection is full of spider mites don’t muck about trying to treat leaf by leaf.
https://overgrow.com/t/mites-thrips-aphids-one-n-done-with-pics/101595
Use this, thank me later. A bit of setup, but food grade and really works. Buy a fogger or sprayer
Do you have small children or pets who may nibble your plants? If not, you could consider systemic pesticide.
I had a major spidermite outbreak on many different plants and I was too disabled to keep up with the upkeep of trying to fight it so I got bioadvanced 3-in-1, and it easily defeated the issue.
it’s just a nasty pesticide. so use with caution. but it also eliminated my fungus gnat issue as well.
you spray the plant with it (top and bottom of leaves) AND spray the soil with it, then add a little bit of water so it goes into the soil. The plant will suck it up and become poisonous to pests. But again, also poisonous to anything else that would nibble it. It can also stress out some plants, but they usually bounce back especially since the pests are gone.
I keep having this issue and I gave up and bought Kontos, don’t really know if it works well so I don’t know if I can recommend it. It worked the first time on my plants but the mites came back so I’m treating them again. We will see.
Everyone says beneficial mites but they never worked for me and ended up being $$$ because the websites only let you do overnight shipping. Half the time they were dead on arrival too. Wasted several hundred dollars on them 😭
omg this is heartbreaking
Diamectous earth – rips those spiders to shreds but be careful while applying
Spray them with 70% alcohol. Dead on contact
Ugh….I have had plants for decades and never had issues with pests. Got gnats in March and still catching a few. Friday I was closing the curtains by my plants and found a spider mite on the curtain. Spent all day Sat and Sun cleaning plants. I only found web/eggs on one leaf of one plant. I bought a hand sprayer and saw a formula for peppermint Castile soap, tea tree Castile soap, rubbing alcohol and peroxide with water. The hand sprayer worked great for getting under leaves etc. Now the one plant that had webbing is quarantined, I washed my curtains and cleaned the area. I pray it’s enough to keep an outbreak from happening. I’m sure it came in on plants I brought in from outside. Ugh…I hope I caught it in time.
I take my indoor plants outside in the summer. To debug them before I bring them in again,I have a very large tub that I think I bought at a farm and fleet type store. I fill it up with water and dish soap, outside of course. Then I drop the whole plant in, pot and all, covering the whole plant. Let sit in tub for 15 minutes. Take out of the tub, rinse off with hose. I calls this triage phase. Then I put each plant into a clear plastic garbage bag, and tie it shut. I leave it outside in the bag for a few days, I call this quarantine phase. Then I bring them inside, which I call the rehab/discharge phase. This dropping whole pot, plant and all in tub is something I read about years ago. Very little soil is lost, and I don’t get bugs.
Spray each plant liberally with 70% alcohol. Do not dilute! No more spider mites.
Okay, first, wipe down as much of the leaves as possible. Tedious but yes clear away as much of them as possible.
Then get yourself either Neem Oil (natural pesticide) or if you want some Rose Care (Hardcore pesticide, not good for fruit or edible so be wary if pets)
Then using a spray bottle and some light dilution sprits the plants. Be careful though some plants are REALLY sensitive to pesticides (they burn them) so dilute according to plants and not always according to instructions on pesticide bottle.
Then just keep an eye on the plants and treat accordingly. There may be some casualties, but it will be needed to stop a infestation.