--- title: "Help... what is this? My searches suggest maybe spider mite? It's…" description: "Help... what is this? My searches suggest maybe spider mite? It's only on 1 plant. Has never spread. Should have dealt with it prior but just got the app to…" url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/hM3ZoYvJY9UMLo5l7ZZ2Pv" community: "Pests, diseases and problems" author: "Channelle" published: "2025-04-28T15:56:44.168239Z" language: "en" image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/pZEjtyzQhCXesG0II8skg-3pP4SovhRWKN1HyNVh2rE/6ksV1udNSGW92erorsxXZg.webp?size=large" --- [Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md) # Help... what is this? My searches suggest maybe spider mite? It's… _Posted by Channelle on 2025-04-28_ Help... what is this? My searches suggest maybe spider mite? It's only on 1 plant. Has never spread. Should have dealt with it prior but just got the app to seek advice. ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/pZEjtyzQhCXesG0II8skg-3pP4SovhRWKN1HyNVh2rE/6ksV1udNSGW92erorsxXZg.webp?size=large) ## 21 comments ### Keesh T commented on 2025-04-28 Spider mites ### Dani commented on 2025-04-28 Def spider mites. I recommend insecticidal soap, or diluted neem oil. Spray that sucker down, wait an hour and rinse off with water. Treat every 4-5 days for 2-3 weeks. ### Carly 🤍 commented on 2025-04-28 I would also quarantine your plant so others don’t get spider mites. They easily spread to others! ### Sunny commented on 2025-04-28 Terrifying. Only fire can cleanse it! 😄 It’s small enough to dunk in insecticidal soap or Castile soap to kill off everything. They spread easily by hands and tools. Isolate the plant and retreat weekly until they are all gone. 🪴🍀 #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-28 I doubted people’s devotion when reading comments a few years back in the “I stopped keeping cactus because of bugs” attitude. “Fire” is not an exaggeration. The eggs are so small, and it’s hard to distinguish the slight difference in shade of healthy wool or “wool covered in eggs” with the main offenders. Leafy plants like this need a more gentle touch, but (this note is a directed to the larger conversation of this post) I early on consulted with a YT/IG account sucsforyou on the level of detail and intensity of “THOROUGHLY clean” involved. #### Sunny replied on 2025-04-28 I lost my beautiful alocasia zebrina to spider mites and my lovely Hoya Krimson Queen, my oldest and favorite hoya, to several onslaughts of mealybugs. They didn’t bother other plants. I tried everything but the lung cancer causing system granules. Then, just tossed both of them after 2 months of losing battles. 😭 ![Attachment 1 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/NXSAc0ssTtaq_UAI1_Wn6g.webp?size=large) ![Attachment 2 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/dWgYyOFcR7qxMMwbRv_WXw.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-29 I think I'm going on 14 months trying to purge the mealy network in this one. ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/yyzotiG0SwaAExKyzywsoA.webp?size=large) ### Brown Bear commented on 2025-04-28 Also don't forget about ladybugs they will eat them, apids too #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-28 Upvote lol. Ladybugs seems like a weird idea, and the scene when releasing 100-200 bugs in the corner of my kitchen was “What am I doing?” And then you’ll watch a ladybug eating a pile of bugs/eggs (mealy bugs in my scenario last year). But, apparently, they also perish when touching all the aforementioned cleaning mixtures. #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-28 It is a coincidence that this photo popped up today on my "your photos from 2024" notification :) ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/7kMk45YaTbW-EBuaPYfZ0Q.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-28 And I remember what happened the last time I posted this. To answer a big question: the plant naturally grows about 95% of anything white on the plant; it is not covered in bugs lol. I just want to show how flipping hard it was to spot the eggs and remains of pests. #### Sunny replied on 2025-04-29 One ladybug cleaning up some orange aphids on my hoya! ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/CNHh8tT6Rz62gdfcp-11ww.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-04-30 I need to order my ladybugs, stat! ### Channelle commented on 2025-04-28 Thank you for the advice. I will isolate and treat. ### monster\_maniac commented on 2025-04-28 SPIDER MITES I HATE RHOSE THINGS isolate PLEASE and even though it doesnt look like it spread u should def check ur other plants just in case ### Phil commented on 2025-04-28 Toss it to protect your other plants. It’s going to take a lot of diligence to eradicate that infestation. #### Channelle replied on 2025-04-28 This is what I was leaning to. It's a small plant. Seems like a reasonable sacrifice for the sake of my other plants. #### Phil replied on 2025-04-29 Yeah it’s bad and you’ll be lucky if other plants aren’t affected. Try using a systemic such as Bonide. It can help. #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-05-01 This is the only effective treatment, for reals. I didn’t understand the magnitude of mealies, and then started losing Lithops to them. This pot is the site of patients 0, 1, 2 - the rest were all finally isolated, but we’ll see in a few months if they survived reconstructive surgery. ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/AeV0Rk5aRPquHqXQEmHOkQ.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface replied on 2025-05-01 ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/EWPSDZOZSgqpoFgTJH-ROw.webp?size=large) ### Dave\_opuntiaface commented on 2025-04-29 I think I'm going on 14 months trying to purge the mealy network in this one. ![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/5-EjivEzQ3-LtV0_6fSyFA.webp?size=large) --- _Source: the Planta community (https://getplanta.com). Reading is open to everyone. To post, comment and like, get the Planta app: https://getplanta.com/download_