Spider Mites
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When it strikes
About
Spider mites are tiny sap-sucking arachnids that explode in numbers during hot, dry, dusty weather, especially on beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and houseplants, and are favoured by drought stress.
Symptoms
Fine pale stippling or bronzing of leaves, delicate webbing on undersides and growing tips, and leaf drop in heavy infestations; tiny moving dots visible with a lens.
Organic Treatment
Raise humidity and hose down foliage, spray insecticidal soap, neem or horticultural oil, and release predatory mites. Keep plants well watered to reduce stress.
Chemical Treatment
Specific miticides (abamectin, bifenazate) rather than broad insecticides, which kill predators and worsen outbreaks.
Prevention
Avoid drought stress and dusty conditions, mist sensitive plants, encourage predatory mites, and isolate infested houseplants.