At first, traces of spider mites can be found on the inside of the leaves; as the colony develops, dots appear over the entire surface of the plant.
Medicines for spider mites
Synthetic remedies for spider mites on indoor plants are varied. It is difficult to choose the best remedy because ticks quickly get used to this type of preparation. To increase efficiency, when mites reappear, the chemical is changed.
Some synthetic drugs:
- Neoron - the drug contains bromopropylate, which has a neurotoxic effect. Effective only in direct contact with arachnids.
- Nissoran - the active ingredient of the drug is the homon-like substance hexythiazox. The product destroys tick larvae, their eggs and young individuals. The drug does not kill adult ticks, but sterilizes them
- Omite is a powerful drug that contains propargite. It has a wide spectrum of action, destroying ticks and other pests.
To effectively get rid of spider mites using chemicals, you need to follow a few simple rules:
- Before processing, the flower is washed with soap and watered well.
- The plant is treated completely, regardless of the location of the mite spots.
- You can use the same product no more than 3 times in a row. Then the drug is changed to a drug with a different mechanism of action. For example, Akarin on Nissoran.
- To completely destroy pests, treatment is carried out 3 times with an interval of 7 days.
- Biological agents with neurotoxic effects are used in a non-residential, well-ventilated area. During processing, use gloves and a face bandage.
Many lovers of indoor plants often complain about a certain cobweb that entwines the leaves, their legs and stems with varying degrees of density. Few people know where this strange web comes from; for some reason it is believed that these are invisible spiders that fell in love with the plant and decided to settle in it. At night they weave webs, and during the day they sleep, buried in the soil.
A person begins to move the pots from place to place, carefully removing the annoying cobwebs, washing the leaves with water, loosening the soil, adding sand and insecticides, but, as a rule, this does not lead to any, even minor, effect. The web appears again, and later the leaves begin to weaken and wither. The most moisture-loving broad-leaved varieties, like in the fall, arrange real leaf fall.
What is this very web, where does it come from and how can it harm an adult strong plant, we will consider in our article. In searching for the culprit of all the troubles, we will also try to determine the methods of struggle. Let's take into account both simple and chemical methods of protection against ticks, for example, products such as actara.
What kind of terrible beast lives in flower pots
And the culprit for all these troubles is a very small living creature with a body length of up to 1 mm, the so-called spider mite, which in fact is not an insect at all, but a member of the diverse family of arachnids - Acari. The main characteristic that distinguishes arachnids from insects is the number of legs. Of course, for an experienced entomologist there are a lot of other signs by which he will always distinguish a spider from an insect, but for the average person, counting the number of pairs of limbs is the easiest way. All insects have three pairs of legs, and arachnids, which include all types of mites, including spider mites, move on four pairs.
If we dig a little deeper into arachnology, the science that studies all arachnids, we learn that mites, and not spiders, are common pests of indoor plants around the world. There are perhaps hundreds of species of ticks, 1270 to be precise, belonging to several families or genera, feeding only on plant foods and weaving a kind of web.
Basic biology of spider mites
Spider mites are very hardy creatures, despite their small size. Depending on the species, they do their best to survive in both hot and dry conditions and very humid conditions that are unfavorable to many plant pests. And if such a mite gets into the pot of a houseplant, then you won’t find a better home for it. In the temperate zone of Russia, number one among all pests of this species is the representative better known as the common spider mite - Tetranychus urticae. These pests are also known as red mites due to their winter coloration, which they change from September to March.
In addition, there are a number of other types of spider mites that can also cause damage to houseplants when infested:
- carmine,
- European,
- southern,
- citrus red,
- bulb mite,
- false tick
But still, the most common is the ubiquitous common spider mite, which more often than not has to be dealt with at home.
Features of the life activity of spider mites
Problems with spider mites can occur at any time, but especially often they begin in the winter, when the level of air humidity decreases and the temperature rises, and also in the summer, when the air temperature in the room remains at a constant level. In addition, in winter the plants themselves are more vulnerable due to low sunlight and a slowdown in their internal metabolism.
It is for these reasons that spider mites are activated most often in winter and a little less often in summer. During the transitional off-season - spring and autumn, its vital processes slow down significantly, as a result, abundant weaving of the plant with cobwebs at this time can be found much less frequently.
Where do spider mites come from?
Spider mites are brought into a home flower pot from the street; they are hitchhikers. This especially often happens when the soil for the pot is taken directly from the garden or lawn. The second option is for the pest to get directly onto the leaves of the plant when it is taken out into the fresh air in the summer. The tick does not have its own aircraft; it does not fly or jump, but is only capable of moving very slowly over extremely short distances. But thanks to a light gust of wind and its very web, the pest can quite successfully cover many kilometers of distance. The moment it lands on any plant, the mite hides under the back of the leaves or in the upper layers of the soil and begins to actively produce its own kind. There are also known cases of ticks “arriving” on human clothing or pet fur.
The common spider mite is one that goes through a red coloring phase in the winter and is able to survive for some time without a plant. For this purpose, dark, preferably damp places, where there is no access to sunlight, are very suitable for it. These could be deposits of indoor dust, where there is a lot of it in hard-to-reach places, cracks between floorboards, under linoleum, behind baseboards, and so on. In a word, the pest will be happy with any place where it will not be disturbed.
For this reason, one of the methods of combating spider mites is extremely thorough cleaning of the room, not only the rooms with flower pots, but the entire apartment. This method is especially relevant before planting new plants. If this is not done, then the mites will again and again infect other pots and no control methods, even the most modern means, such as the insecticide aktar, beloved by many, will not bring the desired effect.
Spider mites are a serious pest
Most genera of spider mites can reproduce at an alarming rate. Fortunately, most of them, including the common species, are clearly visible at the moment of greatest activity. That is, at the time when they begin to weave their web. However, some mites, as small as those of the Tarosonemid family, can develop unhindered and cause harm for a significant period of time before their presence is noticed, because not everyone knows. By the time their activity is discovered and the plant owner decides on control measures, the infestation can reach very serious proportions.
Manipulations with each pot should be carried out in a separate room; the bathroom is better suited for these purposes. Let's consider the algorithm of actions that need to be implemented for each plant:
- Clean up all dry, damaged leaves. If there are too many of them, you can remove all the old ones, leaving only the youngest ones that are blooming. This will only make the plant better - less energy will be spent on already useless leaves.
- Bathe the plant in warm water. The temperature depends on the type of flower, but in general it is the same for everyone - about 20 degrees Celsius. It is worth emphasizing that bathing should be carried out only in running water - the mites will be washed off, otherwise the already removed pests will again appear on the leaves.
- Spray the plant with a mild soap solution. A more useful and effective remedy would be regular laundry soap. Expensive aromatic soaps can not only harm the plant chemically, but also have no effect. To spray, you must first apply a soapy, slightly transparent warm solution in a separate container and use a household sprayer. Pay special attention to the back of the leaves and stems. After half an hour, the entire solution should be washed off under running water. To be sure how the soap solution will affect the plant itself, you can first spray a couple of leaves and wait 30-40 minutes, and then rinse it off and wait a few hours, preferably a day. If no changes are noted on the leaves, you can continue processing.
- Wash all accessible surfaces of the flower pot, including the tray, with plenty of soap.
- Some experts recommend depriving ticks of oxygen by tightly wrapping the plant pot in a plastic bag. Honestly, this method is ineffective, so it’s better not to use it.
Female ticks lay a large number of eggs each. The shell of the egg is so dense that it allows you to protect its contents even from the most toxic toxins and temperature changes. It is also not possible to wash off the microscopic eggs, tightly glued to the folds in the leaves and stems.
For these reasons, all the above treatment must be repeated in a cycle of 3-4 times, every 5-6 days. And of course, thorough preventive measures for general cleaning of the entire apartment.
In addition to such simple home methods, there are also more radical ones, for example, aktar, which they try to resort to first of all, hoping for a stunning effect. However, it is still impossible to achieve an excellent result of the fight using any modern chemical means unless the entire range of measures is carried out, including general cleaning of the apartment.
What is an actara?
As the most impactful method, in the opinion of many, it is worth mentioning such a chemical means of controlling plant pests as actara. It may be necessary to disappoint the supporters of this drug, who use it in the fight against spider mites; it has a very weak effect against them. And not because actara is a low-quality product, but because it is used against insects, and not against ticks.
Aktara has quite good reviews among lovers of home vegetation; they say that if you water the ground with it, the spider mite disappears over time. To be honest, it’s hard to believe, but it might be worth a try.
Plants are susceptible to attack by various pests, which can not only worsen their condition, but also completely destroy them. It is important to know how to get rid of spider mites as they are dangerous and can cause serious harm. There are several effective methods to combat it.
What does a spider mite look like?
A polyphagous pest that can settle on a large number of crops is a description of the spider mite. The main characteristics include the following information:
Why do spider mites appear?
There are several reasons that can trigger the appearance of a pest:
For decades, various traditional methods have been used to get rid of various pests, which in most cases are absolutely safe for humans. Let's look at several ways to easily get rid of spider mites:
When figuring out how to get rid of spider mites, it is worth noting that you need to take 200 g of soap per 10 liters of water. Up to three sprayings are carried out, a week should pass between them. In case of severe lesions, spraying can consolidate the effect of previously applied insecticides. can be used both to get rid of the problem and as a preventive measure.
Onion infusion for spider mites
In folk methods for getting rid of pests, onion peels are often used, which contain useful vitamins and macroelements, and also contain a substance that effectively copes with pathogenic microbes, both on the plant and in the soil. Onion peels for spider mites are used in a tincture, for the preparation of which you need to pour 100 g of peels into 5 liters of water. The duration of infusion is five days, and then it is filtered and used for spraying.
Alcohol for spider mites
Among folk remedies, alcohol treatment is popular. To get rid of arthropods, they take undiluted medical alcohol, which is harmful to pests, but it has no effect on eggs, so this method must be combined with other options. To remove spider mites, a control measure using alcohol involves wiping the leaves with a moistened cotton swab. Since alcohol evaporates quickly, it does not have time to harm the plant, but it is not recommended to use this method on thin leaves.
"Dichlorvos" for spider mites
The most common product in the 90s, but because of the unpleasant smell, many people refuse to use it. To get rid of the problem, Dichlorvos can be sprayed if the ovary is just beginning to form. First, you need to put a garbage bag on each bush, and then spray spider mite repellent inside. Be sure to tie the ends to prevent Dichlorvos from escaping. Leave everything for three hours, and after that it is recommended to rinse off the residue with plain water.
Anti-spider mite medications
"Karbofos" for spider mites
This product belongs to organophosphorus compounds, which easily dissolve in water, forming a stable emulsion. When figuring out how to remove spider mites using Karbofos, it is worth indicating the following important information:
This is a very popular product characterized by the following properties:
- Has a high rate of distribution of the drug. During the first hour after application, it already penetrates into tissue by 16%.
- from spider mites can be introduced into the soil and onto the plant. Duration of action – up to 28 days. Note resistance to heat and drought.
- The product is highly soluble in water, but at the same time has a high level of resistance to rinsing.
- If you are interested in how to get rid of spider mites, it is important to know that for spraying you need to take warm water, given that 5 liters should contain 4 g. You can only use a freshly prepared solution. To apply Aktara to the soil, you need to use 1 g of the drug per 10 liters of water. In case of severe infection, both treatment options are combined.
“Spark” from spider mites
The presented drug helps get rid of more than 60 types of pests. “Iskra Double Effect” can be used for processing flower, berry, vegetable and fruit crops. Note that not all anti-spider mite remedies include a special potassium supplement, which helps the plant quickly restore damaged parts, but this drug does have it. To prepare the solution, you need to dissolve 1 tablet in 10 liters of water.
Anti-mite for spider mites
This drug can be used both in open ground and in greenhouse conditions, but it is not suitable for home use. The duration of the protective effect is 15 days. If spider mites are present, the plant can be treated with Anti-Mite, which acts quickly and can be used in hot weather. To understand how to quickly get rid of spider mites, it is important to consider the rules:
- To dilute the product, take 10 ml per 10 liters of water. Be sure to mix everything thoroughly.
- Spraying should only be done with freshly prepared solution early in the morning or in the evening, when there is no strong wind.
Prevention of spider mites
- The purchased plant should not be immediately placed next to others and must be quarantined. It should last 3-4 weeks. To be more sure, it will be useful to treat the leaves and stem with acaricide several times during quarantine.
- Purchased or home-made soil mixtures must be treated. For example, you can bake them in the oven, pour boiling water over them, or steam them in a water bath. It all depends on the selected soil.
- It is necessary to ventilate the room as often as possible, and during hot weather, carry out frequent watering and spraying.
- To prevent spider mites from appearing in the garden, it is recommended to regularly remove weeds, which are an excellent breeding ground for pests. It is also important to remove plant debris, for example, old dried bushes.
Unfortunately, they have not yet come up with a method by which you can “with one shot” destroy all the plants that have settled on indoor plants. As a rule, more than one treatment, or even two, is needed before the last mite is defeated. And in this fight, the choice of remedy for spider mites will play an important role.
Calm and only calm! If the number of arachnid monsters on your plant is small, then it is quite possible to get by with folk means of destruction.
1. Rubbing alcohol
A fairly effective remedy for spider mites is medical alcohol (96%). Moisten a cotton wool with it and wipe the leaves of the plant - the tick will be destroyed (remember that you cannot take eggs this way!). Alcohol has the ability to evaporate quickly, so the leaves of the plant should theoretically not be damaged. However, it is still better not to experiment in this way with thin leaves of fuchsia or petunia. But ficus, hibiscus, date palm, dieffenbachia and other “thick-skinned plants” will not even feel the touch of alcohol.
2. Soap (laundry soap is better, but any other will do)
If you have spider mites, the plant can be treated with regular soap. To do this, we take our plant into the bathroom and wipe all the leaves and branches with a soapy sponge. The more foam, the better. We also soap the pot and tray well. We also spray the soil with soapy water, but just a little bit, so as not to get on the roots and damage the plant. Unfortunately, some gardeners act radically and spill the entire earthen lump, and then are surprised that the plant dries out after a week. Don’t repeat the mistakes of others, there should be moderation in everything!
So, after you soap the plant, do not rush to wash off the foam. Wait 3-4 hours - that will be enough. Soap forms a film on the leaves through which gas exchange does not occur, that is, the plant “does not breathe.” Therefore, leaving it in such soapy conditions overnight is risky. After the soap is washed off, cover the plant with a bag for a day, without waiting for the water drops to dry. This will be a “double blow” for those ticks that remained alive after the soap. The increased humidity under the bag will become unbearable for them and they will die.
Soap is an effective remedy for spider mites You can often find a recommendation to spray plants with soapy water instead of wiping with a sponge. In some cases, this is the only correct solution, for example, when many plants with small leaves are infected. Wiping each leaf is a pain in the ass, but you can spray it in a matter of minutes.
By the way, as an alternative to soap, you can use any dishwashing detergent, for example, the same “Fairy”.
3. Garlic infusion
Take two heads of garlic and chop them finely. We put the resulting raw materials in a jar and fill it with 1 liter of water, close the lid. Place the jar in a dark cabinet and let it sit for 5 days. After this period, spray the plant with the resulting infusion, diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio.
The tick drinks the “blood” of plants and therefore, like any vampire, is very afraid of garlic 4. Onion peel infusion
Pour 100 g of onion peel into 5 liters of water and leave for 4-5 days. Afterwards, filter the infusion and spray the affected plants.
Chemical control of spider mites - drugs of mass destruction
The Putin mite is an arachnid “animal”, so it makes no sense to use insecticides (remedies against insect pests) to destroy it. Other drugs that are effective against ticks are acaricides and insectoacaricides.
1. Actellik – a toxic agent with “armor-piercing” action
This remedy for spider mites belongs to a series of insectoacaricides, that is, it destroys both arachnids and insects. It kills ticks outright, so it is most often recommended for massive damage to plants, when other drugs may not be as effective.
When spraying plants with Actellik, you should remember that this product is very toxic. Carry out treatments either outdoors or with good ventilation.
Actellik is a hazard class 2 spider mite remedy, therefore toxic to humans and pets 2. Fitoverm – biological insectoacaricide
Another insectoacaricide that works great against mites and unwanted insects on your plants. Its advantage is that it is much less toxic, so spraying can be done in enclosed spaces, for example, in a bathroom. Naturally, you shouldn’t let your guard down - carry out the treatment at an accelerated pace, and when finished, wash your face, hands, rinse your mouth, and wash your clothes. In general, follow all safety requirements that must be observed when working with hazardous substances.
To completely destroy mites, plants must be sprayed with phytoverm 3-4 times with an interval of 7-10 days. 3. Neoron – acaricide with ovicidal effect
Rare drugs against spider mites damage not only adults, but also their eggs. One such universal remedy is Neoron. It cannot be said that the eggs are completely destroyed and one can get by with just one pickling procedure, but it is a fact that a significant part of them are damaged. As a rule, 2 treatments with Neoron are enough to destroy the entire mite population.
4. Other drugs – let’s try to embrace the immensity
In addition to the above-mentioned drugs, you can use: Sunmite (just like Neoron destroys tick eggs), Actofit, Akarin, Apollo, Vermitek, Fufanon (an analogue of karbofos), etc.
In many sources there is an opinion that the traditional insecticide Aktaru can be used as an acaricidal agent. So does Aktara work against spider mites? In fact, many experienced gardeners note the destruction of the mite precisely after Aktara spilled soil in a pot of plants. So, even if this phenomenon is not supported by a statement on the label, this does not mean that it does not exist. Try it!
Biological measures against spider mites
There is another way to get rid of spider mites. The method is quite specific, but completely harmless to humans and pets. In addition, it does not involve any labor-intensive spraying, keeping plants under a bag and other physical movements.
The essence of biological control against spider mites is to use their natural enemies - phytoseiulus and amblyseius. These are also ticks, but only predatory ones. You can purchase them at garden centers, flower shops or on the Internet.
Amblyseius and phytoseius are sold in paper sachets. An open package is hung on the affected plant, predatory mites crawl free and eat the pests As soon as you release phytoseiulus or amblyseius into a pot with a plant, they will immediately begin to look for food. In one day, 1 predator eats 5 spider mites or 10 eggs – not bad! Thus, the more predators you acquire, the faster you will be able to destroy malicious pests. The only thing is that as soon as the predators are left without food, they will die, so storing them until the next spider mite invasion will not work.
Fighting spider mites on indoor plants is not a pleasant task. To destroy spiders, you can use chemical or folk remedies. Of course, if you treat plants against mites with chemicals, you will get rid of the problem much faster.
However, if you get rid of the spider using folk remedies, minimal damage will be caused to your flowers. Although traditional methods of control sometimes turn out to be ineffective, and it is necessary to use one or another chemical remedy for spider mites.
Chemicals
To remove the pest, there are a number of special preparations for spider mites - acaricides. They are designed specifically to combat such insects that encroach on indoor flowers.
- "Aktellik". Used against spiders by direct contact with them. Makes the process of eating impossible. It needs to be sprayed once every two weeks, and you need to take care of a protective suit, and the flower itself is not treated at home, but on the street or in a non-residential premises, since the product itself is quite poisonous.
- . A biological agent that is much less harmful than its predecessor. It contains aversectins - these are the substances that have a neurotoxic effect that is detrimental to the insect. Despite the fact that Fitoverm is not so toxic, you should not forget about protective equipment.
What to do and how to get rid of spider mites on indoor plants if you don’t want to deal with chemicals that are hazardous to your health? There are simple methods available to everyone, because the insect is afraid of means that can easily be found in any apartment.
However, before starting treatment, the flower must be thoroughly cleaned. To do this, wash it with ordinary clean water without adding cleaning agents (after all, soap clogs the pores on the leaves of the flower). The window sill and the pot itself are also well washed to remove any spiders that might be hiding there. After this, you can begin more serious actions.
- Garlic infusion. Two finely chopped heads of garlic are poured with a liter of boiled water. The infusion is screwed on with a lid and left for five days (the jar is placed in a dark, cool room). After this, the resulting mixture is diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio and the flower is treated.
- Onion infusion. 100 g of onion peels are poured with five liters of water and left for five days. After this, the infusion is filtered and used to treat plants.
- Alcohol. It is good to remove pests using alcohol, but the method is only suitable for plants with dense leaves. A cotton swab is moistened with ammonia and the leaves are wiped. The method may be less effective due to the insects sitting in areas that are difficult to reach.
- Soap solution. Use any soap: green, laundry or even tar. It is important to treat not only the exhausted plant, but also the pot in which it grows. The foam is left on the plant for a short time (2-4 hours), and after washing it off, the flower is covered with a plastic bag for a day, maintaining an increased level of humidity.
Prevention of infection
- Regular inspection of your flower garden.
- Maintaining optimal air humidity (ticks love dry climates).
- Regularly spray the leaves with a spray bottle.
- Washing the plant every month under a warm shower.
- Quarantine newly acquired copies.
- Steaming the soil to destroy individuals hibernating in the soil.
Video “Getting rid of spider mites”
From this video you will learn how to quickly and effectively get rid of spider mites.