Having multiple issues here… My alocasia has spider mites, but I only see it in the soil. The leaves look good still. Should I repot it? My ficus elastica has a black spot on only the one bottom leaf; what could this be? It is next to a humidifier and other plants. My silver nerve has constant mold growing on top. I keep scraping it off, but it seems to grow back faster. Should I also repot this?
For the spider mites I recommend using an insecticide spray all over the plant. They are generally invisible until there’s enough of them and they start making webs, so there is a good chance they are on the leaves, even if you can’t see them. I make my own insecticide using Castile soap, warm water, and optionally a little bit of vegetable oil. Make sure you get Castile soap and not dish soap. I spray it all over every inch of the plant, underside of the leaves especially and then I rinse the whole thing off in the shower, trying not to completely drench the soil if I can avoid it. After it’s had a good rinse, I give it another light spray with the insecticide to stay on. This has worked for me with one application every time I’ve had to use it.
2 likes For a 1 L mixture, I use 1 L of warm water, 2 teaspoons of soap, and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.
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This may be a stupid question…. Is it okay my Castile soap is lavender?
0 likes I’m not sure to be honest! I would definitely do a test spot on the plant before spraying all over.
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Are you sure they are spider mites? Are they webbing? If not they could be predatory mites which eat other mites
0 likes I appreciate the response!
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What size pot is your nerve plant in? They tend to have pretty shallow root systems so if the pot is too big or two deep it could prevent it from drying. You can use a 3:1 water to hydrogen peroxide mix and mist the top of the soil to kill the mold. However, if you don’t deal with the cause of the moist soil, the mold will continue to colonize the soil.
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