← Back to pest library
Sap-sucker

Spider Mites

Dusty webbing on undersides, stippled leaves losing color.

Severity

Identification

Look for fine, silk-like webbing strung between leaves and stems, especially near new growth. Individual mites are barely visible without a loupe, but their feeding leaves a stippled, bronzed texture across leaf surfaces — hold a sheet of white paper under a leaf and tap; moving specks are mites.

Life cycle & spread

Eggs hatch in as little as 3 days in warm, dry conditions, and a full generation can complete in under two weeks. Populations explode fastest below 40% humidity, which is why winter heating season is peak season.

Organic treatment

  • Shower foliage thoroughly to knock down active populations.
  • Spray neem oil or insecticidal soap weekly, coating leaf undersides.
  • Raise humidity with a pebble tray or humidifier to slow reproduction.

Chemical treatment

  • Rotate in a miticide labeled for spider mites if organic sprays stall after 2–3 weeks.
  • Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides — they kill predatory mites that would otherwise help.

Prevention

  • Keep humidity above 50% where possible; mites thrive in dry air.
  • Quarantine new plants for two weeks before shelving them with your collection.
  • Wipe down leaves monthly to disrupt colonies before they establish.

Commonly affects

Monstera — Swiss Cheese Plant →Monstera — Swiss Cheese Vine →Ficus — Fiddle-Leaf Fig →Ficus — Rubber Plant →Ficus — Variegated Triangle Fig →Echinopsis — San Pedro Cactus →Euphorbia — African Milk Tree →Senecio — String of Pearls →Euphorbia — Pencil Cactus →Dracaena — Snake Plant →Zamioculcas — ZZ Plant →Philodendron — Philodendron Brasil →Goeppertia — Calathea orbifolia →Solanum — Tomato →Fragaria — Garden Strawberry →Dypsis — Areca Palm →Citrus — Lemon Tree →Rosa — Rose →Syngonium — Arrowhead Plant →Syngonium — Syngonium Albo →Epipremnum — Golden Pothos →Epipremnum — Neon Pothos →Alocasia — Alocasia Amazonica →Maranta — Green Prayer Plant →Strelitzia — Bird of Paradise →Musa — Banana Plant →Heptapleurum — Australian Umbrella Tree →Heptapleurum — Dwarf Umbrella Tree →Phalaenopsis — Moth Orchid →Cattleya — Corsage Orchid →Vanda — Blue Vanda →Dianthus — Carnation →Hedera — English Ivy →Hibiscus — Tropical Hibiscus →Chlorophytum — Spider Plant →Rhaphidophora — Mini Monstera →Alocasia — Alocasia Black Velvet →Philodendron — Philodendron Micans →