Gah! Spider mites!

El 8/9/2010, 12:04 pm

I found spider mite webbing on my huge and lovely potted thyme plant this morning. I am so pissed off about this.

I immediately gave the plant a shower - just put it in the tub and sprayed it off - and after it dried somewhat I dosed it with a good spraying of Neem oil/soap solution. Any other indoor-friendly tips? I really don't want to lose my plant to these little bastards.

Happily, the thyme at least already lives at some distance from the other plants, but I sprayed everything else with Neem just to be safe.

Megan 8/9/2010, 6:57 pm

Ewww! I hope that works out for you!

You know, you might want to think about a preventative quarantine system for plants that you buy. I have local friends here who have had problems specific to big-box plants as opposed to what they start from seed. You never know what is going to "come along for the ride" in a big-box container.

El 8/9/2010, 7:10 pm

Yeah, I'm pretty careful about quarantining. All my plants (the ones that weren't started from seed) have come from the farmer's market, and get quarantined for two weeks before they join the rest of the family - since the market is outside, you never know who's hitching a ride. I avoid big box stores for plants; I'd rather give my money to the local farmers Gah! Spider mites! Herz

But I've had the thyme for about 5 weeks, and this was the first sign of any kind of infestation. Spider mites are probably teeny enough to fit through our window screens, or maybe they even came in on our clothes.

Megan 8/9/2010, 7:13 pm

Should've guessed, I know how thorough you are! Smile

Maybe you should branch out into venus fly traps?

BetsyC 5/8/2012, 7:29 pm

Does anyone have a great method for getting rid of red spider mites? They are already attacking my tomato and (especially) pepper transplants. I believe they're red mites- they are tiny, and midget sized webs are on the plants. The underside of the pepper leaves are bronzing and I have small holes in the leaves. I try to water them away and twice a day I go out and knock the little buggers off but I need a real solution! Thank you.

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