Lawn and Landscape Blog

Identifying Spider Mites on Houseplants and Outdoor Plants

As a leader in local landscape and lawn care, part of our yard pest control task involves removing spider mites from plants. Initially, spider mite damage will appear as small yellow or brown spots on the leaves of the plant. If the plant is badly infested, the plant’s health will suffer and it may develop completely yellow leaves and may stop growing.

Spider mite damage may also include a telltale spider web type webbing on the plant. Spider mites are arachnids and are related to spiders. They produce webs in order to protect themselves and their eggs. It is very difficult to see spider mites on houseplants and outdoor plants with the naked eye because they are so small, but if you suspect that your plant has spider mites, you can hold a piece of paper under the leaves of the plant and shake them gently. If it is spider mites, specks will fall on the paper that looks similar to pepper.

Effective Yard Pest Control to Kill Spider Mites

One natural spider mite remedy is to simply spray down the plant with a nozzled hose. The force of the stream of water is enough to knock most of the spider mites off of the plant.

Another natural spider mite remedy is to release natural predators of spider mites around the plants. These can include Ladybugs, Lacewing, Minute pirate bugs, and Predatory mites. If the infestation is too extensive or you do not have the time or products to treat your yard pest control, call us right away.

Also, an effective spider mite treatment that we provide is to use an insecticidal oil, like neem oil, a horticultural oil or a dormant oil. You can also try using a miticide, a substance made specifically to kill mites. Yard pest control can be a tedious task, but it is important that the proper precautions are being made. You should not try to use a normal pesticide for spider mite treatment as they are resistant to pesticides. Using a pesticide will only kill off the beneficial bugs that eat spider mites, which will only make the spider mite infestation worse. Spider mites on houseplants and garden plants is annoying and unsightly, but you do not have to let spider mite damage kill your plants. Knowing what spider mite treatment works means that you can kill spider mites quickly and easily.