--- 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?language=es" 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" --- [Comunidad](https://getplanta.com/community.md?language=es) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md?language=es) # Help... what is this? My searches suggest maybe spider mite? It's… _Publicado por Channelle el 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. ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/pZEjtyzQhCXesG0II8skg-3pP4SovhRWKN1HyNVh2rE/6ksV1udNSGW92erorsxXZg.webp?size=large) ## 21 comentarios ### Keesh T comentó el 2025-04-28 Spider mites ### Dani comentó el 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 🤍 comentó el 2025-04-28 I would also quarantine your plant so others don’t get spider mites. They easily spread to others! ### Sunny comentó el 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 respondió el 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 respondió el 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. 😭 ![Adjunto 1 de 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/NXSAc0ssTtaq_UAI1_Wn6g.webp?size=large) ![Adjunto 2 de 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/dWgYyOFcR7qxMMwbRv_WXw.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface respondió el 2025-04-29 I think I'm going on 14 months trying to purge the mealy network in this one. ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/yyzotiG0SwaAExKyzywsoA.webp?size=large) ### Brown Bear comentó el 2025-04-28 Also don't forget about ladybugs they will eat them, apids too #### Dave\_opuntiaface respondió el 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 respondió el 2025-04-28 It is a coincidence that this photo popped up today on my "your photos from 2024" notification :) ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/7kMk45YaTbW-EBuaPYfZ0Q.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface respondió el 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 respondió el 2025-04-29 One ladybug cleaning up some orange aphids on my hoya! ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/CNHh8tT6Rz62gdfcp-11ww.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface respondió el 2025-04-30 I need to order my ladybugs, stat! ### Channelle comentó el 2025-04-28 Thank you for the advice. I will isolate and treat. ### monster\_maniac comentó el 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 comentó el 2025-04-28 Toss it to protect your other plants. It’s going to take a lot of diligence to eradicate that infestation. #### Channelle respondió el 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 respondió el 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 respondió el 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. ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/AeV0Rk5aRPquHqXQEmHOkQ.webp?size=large) #### Dave\_opuntiaface respondió el 2025-05-01 ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/EWPSDZOZSgqpoFgTJH-ROw.webp?size=large) ### Dave\_opuntiaface comentó el 2025-04-29 I think I'm going on 14 months trying to purge the mealy network in this one. ![Adjunto 1 de 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/5-EjivEzQ3-LtV0_6fSyFA.webp?size=large) --- _La comunidad de Planta (https://getplanta.com). La lectura está abierta a todo el mundo. Para publicar, comentar y dar 'me gusta', descarga la app de Planta: https://getplanta.com/download_