How to get rid of spider mites on plants

Spider mites are very smaller insects which are really difficult to see with the naked eyes. Sometimes spider mites are known as plant spiders. It can be a cause of widespread destruction for your plants just by your carelessness. In this article, we will explain in details that what is spider mite? How spider mite can be really destructive for your plant? Furthermore, we will cover different aspects of spider mites damage? You will also learn different symptoms of spider mites so that you can take appropriate action if you find any symptoms. You will learn different methods of how to get rid of spider mites on plants.

What is spider mite?

Spider mites on plants looks very small insects with eyes. There are several species of spider mates having a variety of colors. They are about 1/50 of an inch in size as the size of a period. They grow from eggs to adult in 30 days over the course of five stages. Most of the time, when plants stop thriving, it is not always the case that there is a deficiency of water or poor soil conditions. There are high chances of different notorious pests like weevils, aphids, and spider mites.

Spider Mite Damages

Spider mites are really harmful to the crop. Mostly, they exist under the leaves and form a web there. As spider mites are really small and invisible to the eyesight so your slight carelessness leads to the extensive damage of the crop. After the attack of spider mites, your crop stops thriving and turned into yellowish color. That’s the reason you should know how to get rid of spider mites on plants. In the upcoming sections, we have provided different symptoms to identify these spiders. So be careful and keep examining your crop carefully.

How to identify spider mite?

As we have already mentioned that spider mite is extremely small organisms. It is nearly impossible to see these spiders. However, there are several possible ways to check the existence of spider mites. You should keep examining your plants for spider mite.

Examine your plants for mites by using a magnifying glass

Though these are very small in size even less than 1mm. They are hard to see with naked eyes. Purchase a magnifying glass from any departmental store beside your residence. It will be really helpful by examining these spider on your crop. Carefully examine your plant’s leaves from the upper and lower sides as well for small specks. If you find these small specks on the leaves then there are high chances that you have spider mites. So a single magnifying glass can save you from severe damages.

Yellow or brown dots on the plant’s leaves

It is another important way to check the presence of spider mites. If your plants are not thriving well, then there are high chances of different pest attack. If you don’t find any pest by seeing with your necked eyes then most probably your crop is under attack by a spider mite. Check the leaves for small brown and yellow color dots. Furthermore, check the leaves drying up and falling off from the plant. You should try to control spider mites on initial stages otherwise it will extremely harm your plants.

Examine your plants for webbing

It is another important symptoms to look for webbing under the leaves. Spider mite on plants makes web under the leaves and stems on the plant. Carefully examine your plant daily or even once in a week for webbing. If you find any traces then you should take immediate action to remove spider mites.

Shake a plant over a white piece of paper

If you don’t have enough time to spend examining the yellow and brown spots then what should you do? Furthermore, if you don’t have any magnifying glass as well then what should you do? Well, if you don’t have enough time or magnifying glass then this white paper method is the best alternative. Take a white paper and hold it under the leaves of your plant. Shake the leaves. If you find brown, green and black specks moving on the surface of the paper, then you have spider mites on your plant. Carefully examine these specks, if they are green then they will be most probably plants feeder so crush them. If they are yellow or orange then they are most probably beneficial predators.

How to kill spider mites?

If you find spider mites on plants then there are different methods to get rid of spider mites. Here are few most popular methods that you should try.

Remove mites with water

You can kill the spider mites by using water. First, isolate the infected plant and then spray the leaves of the plant by using a garden hose with direct steam. It is enough to kill these insects. This process will reduce the number of spider mites. If you repeat this process 2 to 3 times then you can get rid of spider mites entirely.

Pull off the affected plant

If your plant is heavily affected by the attack of spider mite then cut the affected plant down. It will protect the rest of the crops. You should use this method if a few plants are completely damaged. Otherwise, you can use alternative methods to kill spider mites.

A mixture of soap and water

It is another method to remove spider mites. Make a mixture of soap and water. Take a glass of hot water and add 2 spoons of soap into it. Take a spray bottle and pour this solution into it. Apply the mixture gently because it will also kill beneficial insects as well. Try to use this mixture while required.

Use essential Horticultural oils

You can repeat the upper method just by replacing soap with the horticultural oil. Use traditional horticultural oil in the summer and dormant horticultural oil in the fall and spring. Although it is a bit expensive than the previous one, it is a much safer method to remove spider mites. We recommend you to utilize this instead of the previous one.

Commercial Insecticides to remove mites

First, you should check all upper methods to kill spider mites to protect your plants. If none of the upper method work, then come to this method. So this is the last method to remove the pests.