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Have you tried a complete chop back to get rid of spider mites, and… | Pests, diseases and problems | Comunità di Planta

Mads

Have you tried a complete chop back to get rid of spider mites, and if so, was it successful? I’ve had this dieffenbachia cool beauty since December 2024… she always has spider mites. Almost every time I water her I see signs of them. I wipe her down with alcohol wipes every time. I’ve also introduced predatory mites. The first time I found them I treated & bagged her for days. Last summer I repotted her, & left her outside, but they reappeared after I brought her in. I’ve almost tossed this plant a few times. I hate to kill a plant, but I can’t abide chronic pests.

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5 Mi piace 8 commenti

8 commenti

  1. Christine Yi

    When my Calathea White Fusion got spider mites I cut it back completely. Separated the root ball’s into separate small plants in their own pots (so if one got them again I could toss it and still keep part of the plant… I was so over the pests and have like 40 plants so was worried about contamination) As long as the root systems are healthy they do grow back fully. And it was easier for me to keep an eye on the soil to see if they reappeared with no leaves. It was a harrowing experience but I didn’t have the mites come back. Have you tried neem oil or Damascus Soil?

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  2. AudPod

    My MIL had two crotons in the house that ALWAYS had spider mites no matter what I did. I did the chop back a couple times and it would be healthy for a spell but then they’d show up again. I gave up after 3 rounds because the only way to keep the things at bay was daily misting and I ain’t for time for that. She also had begonias that ALWAYS had white flies and aphids. Did all the things, chopped them down - no luck. They went in the trash after round 2 because the feeling of crawly aphids on my arms didn’t go away for a whole day and I’d had it. My rule is that it’s perfectly ok to pull the plug on a difficult plant that’s sapping my energy

    5 Mi piace
  3. Phil

    Just making sure, but what kind of treatment. Is it specific to mites because most are not. I’ve only had spider mites twice. The first time it was a calathea. It was in our master bath. I put it on the bench in our shower and gave it a spray every time I took a shower. Did that for several days. Took it out eventually and mites are gone. I did that because I read that they don’t like water. Then bought mite spray just in case. Found another plant with a few and used the spray a few times. That worked.

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  4. Buffy

    I didn’t know that there is a spider mite spray! I just cut back a gardenia because rinsing it off didn’t do the job! Thanks!

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  5. Rhus

    I cut back a colocasia that has spider mites and the mites came right back with the new leaves. I've been treating it with plain castile soap (after finding out it's the same thing as insecticidal soap) and it's helping but they're not gone quite yet. For the record, I think it is totally ok to toss a plant that's stressing you out. I happen to have the time and interest to keep treating my colocasia, but if I ever decide I'm over it, it is 100% getting composted.

    1 mi piace
    • AudPod

      100% agree, no shame in giving up on a plant sometimes.

      1 mi piace
  6. Kat

    the only thing that’s ever worked for me was mixing 70% isopropyl alcohol with water and a few drops of peppermint castille soap but you really gotta drench it head to toe 🥲 and sometimes go over each leaf with a makeup brush you won’t use again to dislodge them… very time consuming i have definitely gotten rid of plants that were resistant to recovering from mites out of fear they’d spread to healthy ones and from being exhausted by the constant upkeep

    1 mi piace
    • AudPod

      Yaaaasssss sometimes you gotta make a decision for the good of the group and exile those suckers

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