Spider mites look like tiny white spiders that create webs on houseplants, and they are extremely destructive pests. It can be difficult, but don’t worry, you can get rid of spider mites on indoor plants, and eliminate them FOR GOOD!
There’s nothing more frustrating than finding a spider mite infestation on one of your beloved indoor plants.
They are one of the most destructive plant pests there is, so it’s super important to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
But the good news is that, when it comes to getting rid of bugs on houseplants, these guys are pretty easy to control.
Simply follow the natural spider mite treatment methods below, and you’ll be able to eradicate this annoying pest, for good!
In this detailed guide, I’ll show you all you need to know about getting rid of spider mites on houseplants, and keep them from ever coming back.
What Are Spider Mites?
Spider mites are tiny bugs that can attack many different types of plants, and can be a major problem on indoor plants. Often times they look like tiny white spiders on plants, but can also appear to be tan, red or black.
They create telltale spider webs on houseplants, which they use for protection and to crawl around on. Since they are so small, spider mites aren’t noticeable until their population explodes.
You’ll likely notice the webbing on plants first, and then see the mites when you take a closer look. It will look like there are tiny spiders crawling all over your plant.
Spider mites thrive in warm, dry conditions and can become a major problem during the winter, when your dry house becomes the perfect breeding ground for them.
If you see small bugs crawling around in your houseplant soil rather than on the leaves, then you might have fungus gnats instead of spider mites. Here’s how to get rid of fungus gnats in houseplants soil.
Otherwise, if the bugs are crawling around on the plant leaves, and you see spider webs on houseplants, then keep reading…
Indoor Plant Mites Identification
Spider mites are easy to identify, and finding spider webs on plants is a dead giveaway.
They tend to start their webs on the underside of leaves and at the leaf joints, so that’s why they usually go unnoticed for so long.
They are sneaky little suckers. Like I mentioned above, they are difficult to see, and usually by the time you discover them on a houseplant, it’s already been heavily damaged.
You might notice the whites spider web on plants first, or the plant leaves may just look dusty. From a distance, the houseplant might look like it isn’t getting enough water and the leaves are drying out.
If you notice any of these, take a closer look. Hold the plant up to the light and look under the leaves. It may take a minute, but you should be able to see the tiny mites moving around on the fine webbing.
Yuck!
Spider Mite Life Cycle
Spider mites multiply very quickly and, in the right conditions, can double their population every couple of weeks.
Spider mites become fully grown about a week after they hatch. It only takes a few weeks for an adult female to lay hundreds of eggs, and for those eggs to start to hatch.
The end result is in an exponential growth in their population over a very short amount of time.
Eek!
Since the eggs are invisible to the naked eye, and the adults are minuscule, most people don’t discover spider mites on their houseplants until after the population has exploded.
Where Do Spider Mites Come From?
The tricky part about mites is that they can come from anywhere, and you’ll probably never know where they came from in the first place.
But, here are several common places where spider mites can come from…
- Buying a new plant that has mites
- Repotting plants with unsterile potting soil
- Moving your plants outside for the summer
- Flowers and vegetables brought in from your yard and garden
- Since they’re so small, they could easily come in through the screens of open doors and windows
Spider Mite Damage On Houseplants
Spider mites are one of the most destructive houseplant pests. They can heavily damage or even kill a houseplant in a very short period of time.
They suck the sap out of the leaves making them look discolored, speckled, curled under, dried or shriveled up.
The infested leaves will shrivel up and die, and usually fall from the plant, which will ultimately kill the houseplant.
Spider mites can kill indoor plants pretty quickly, so it’s important to take fast action to get rid of them as fast as possible.
How To Get Rid Of Spider Mites On Houseplants
Once you discover the infestation, it’s super important to begin spider mite treatment immediately, before they spread to the rest of your collection.
The first thing you should do is to quarantine the infested plant and inspect all surrounding houseplants for mites. You want to contain the problem immediately.
There are chemical pesticides that are specifically designed for mites. But spider mites may develop resistance to them in a short time.
So, I don’t recommend them (plus these types of chemicals are toxic to humans and pets, so I wouldn’t recommend using them anyway).
It’s best to use safer pest control methods and products to get rid of mites on houseplants. You can learn more about natural pest control for your houseplants here.
Below you’ll find the best methods that will work for treating a spider mite infestation on your houseplants…
Spider Mite Treatment For Indoor Plants
The best way to avoid heavy spider mite damage to your houseplants is to start treating the plant as soon as you discover the pests.
As soon as I notice the spider webs on any of my plants, I bring the plant to the sink or bathtub.
Then I wash the leaves with my homemade insecticide soap, and rinse the leaves well to wash away as many of the dead mites as I can.
After cleaning the leaves, I use a variety of home remedies for spider mites, and all of them are very effective for controlling plant mites indoors.
Keep in mind that pesticide sprays, even organic ones, can damage sensitive plants, so it’s best to test it on a few leaves before spraying the entire plant.
Also, be sure to focus your sprays on the undersides of the leaves, this is where spider mites lay their eggs.
Spider Mite Insecticide Soap
To kill mites on plants, use an organic insecticidal soap, or mix a solution of my homemade spider mite insecticide soap (recipe below).
My homemade spider mite insecticide soap recipe:
- 1 tsp of mild liquid soap
- 1 liter tepid water
Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle and then spray directly the leaves of your houseplant. This homemade spider mite killer is great for getting rid of the bugs right away.
Use Neem Oil For Spider Mites
Neem oil is very effective to control spider mite infestations long term, and also works for pest prevention as well.
I like to buy neem oil concentrate, and make my own spray for mites on plants using the recipe below.
While neem oil does kill bugs, it can take some time to get rid of spider mites, so I use it after washing the leaves and spraying the plant with insecticidal soap first.
A pre-mixed horticultural oil or hot pepper wax spray also work very well for controlling spider mites on houseplants by repelling them.
My homemade neem oil spider mites spray recipe:
- 1 1/2 tsp of pure neem oil concentrate
- 1 tsp of mild liquid soap
- 1 liter of tepid water
Keep Humidity Levels High
Since spider mites thrive in dry conditions, keeping the air around your plants humid is one of the best spider mite pest prevention methods. Ensuring your plants are properly watered is important to keep them well hydrated.
Misting houseplants regularly helps to prevent spider mites. You could also try leaving a container of water near the plant, or use a humidifier to help keep the humidity up around your plants.
If it’s really dry in your house, then I recommend getting an inexpensive indoor humidity monitor so you can be sure the air around your houseplants isn’t too dry.
In addition to washing and spraying the plant, you can trim off heavily infested leaves and throw them into the garbage to get rid of even more of the spider mites and eggs.
Be sure to throw the infested leaves into the garbage outside of your house! Don’t prune all of the leaves from your plant though.
How To Prevent Spider Mites From Ever Coming Back
Keeping your plants healthy, and maintaining adequate soil moisture are two of the best ways to prevent spider mites on indoor plants.
A soil moisture gauge is a great tool to use to figure out how moist the soil is, and ensure you’re watering your plants properly.
Here are a few other tips for getting rid of spider mites for good…
- Mist sensitive houseplants regularly, and keep the humidity level high around the plant
- Use neem oil as a preventative spray or as a leaf polish to keep your plants leaves clean
- If you move your plants outdoors for the summer, be sure to debug all of your houseplants before bringing them back indoors
They key to getting rid of spider mites for good is good houseplant care habits, and keeping your houseplants healthy. Healthy houseplants are the best way to prevent recurring problems with spider mites and other houseplant pests. Also make sure you check your houseplants on a regular basis for any signs of problems.
If you’re sick of battling bugs on houseplants, then my Houseplant Pest Control eBook is for you! This eBook is jam-packed with information about how to get rid of bugs on indoor plants, using organic pest control methods. It shows you how to identify common pests, and how to prevent recurring infestations so you can debug your houseplants for good. Download your copy today!
More About Houseplant Pest Control
- How To Use Neem Oil Insecticide On Plants
- Where Do Houseplant Pests Come From?
- How To Get Rid Of Whiteflies On Indoor Plants, For Good!
Share your tips for how to get rid of spider mites indoors in the comments below.
Payal says
Hi Amy
I have two succulent plants- a tangled heart and a rapsalis. Both I think have a spider mite infestation. I can see webbing on the new shoots of the rapsalis and the spikes are shriveling and drying up… the tangled heart does not seem to have any webbing but it was sitting right next to the rapsalis and several leaves have shriveled for no reason so it made me think it’s the evil spider mites… I’ve isolated the plants, sprayed them a few times but the rapsalis leaves are so fine I’m afraid I’ll never get them out totally. I’m even considering throwing out the tangled heart….
What do you suggest ?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Oh no, sorry to hear your plants have spider mites! So frustrating. You can’t get rid of them with only a few treatments, you have to be persistent and keep treating them until all signs of the mites are gone. I’m not sure what you’re using as a spray, but I would definitely make sure it has the mild soap mixed with water, is an organic insecticidal soap, or the neem oil as I recommend in the article. Good luck!
Amy Fix says
Hi Amy,
I have 6 elephant ear plants in myt garden. Three are in the ground under a sail shade (nbeighbors just cut doiwn the shade tree) and I have 3 elephant ears in pots outside. I was gone for 2 weeks and there was a draught. My husband said he watered all pf the plants, probably once, possibly without quite enough water.
Now that I am home, the 3 in pots and the largest one in garden all have white powder along veins in the centers of the leaves and some leaves have already dried up, curled, and turned yellow or brown and drooped. I checked up close and some leaves have a few tiny white-ish bugs crawling around and there is white spider webbing under the base of some leaves, and one large leaf has a web on the top tip.
Seems like a simple case of spider mites BUT there are ALSO very small rounded black bugs crawling on some of the dying and the more healthy leaves of the largest plant, and they appear the same shape as a Volkswagon Bug, so not thrips. AND there are some tiny pointy brown bugs crawling near the central vein of a leaf, AND there are white spots and brown spots, and one brown-edged hole near the stem. AND there are some areas of one leaf on one of the potted plants that has little grainy brown sand-like deposits on the edges of the leaf near the tip.
HELP! How can there be so many problems with my beloved elephant ears after just 2 weeks away?!? I think the hot dry conditions probably helped the various pests thrive, but I have never seen so much going on in my garden before. My few houseplants are all healthy, and I will stay vigilant but I am taking two more trips this summer for one week each. Do I need a plantsitter to tend to my leaves when I am gone? Or can I do a treatment before then that will save my plant-babies?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, sorry to hear your plants have so many bugs on them. They could be aphids, flea beetles, mealybugs, or scale, here’s a post on how to identify the most common houseplant pests. But, depending on where you live, it could be something else, there are a lot more outdoor bugs than indoor ones. The spots on the leaves make me think that either they are starting to go dormant, or they have been overwatered. So I would check the soil to see how dry or wet it is. But, regardless of the types of bugs they are, here are some general tips for how to get rid of them. Good luck!
Henrietta says
Hi! My herbs are outside but I just saw a white spider that was about the size of a lentil (nothing else I know for comparison to 😉 )
It had a web built over my sweet basil. All summer I’ve had critters eating my herbs and have been doing the soap to no avail. Help!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Spider mites are teeny tiny, like a spec of dust. You have to look very close to see them moving around on the webbing, and there would be several, not just one. So it sounds to me like the spider on your plant is a different type, and not one that eats plants. The first thing you should do is try to find what’s eating your plants. If you can’t see any bugs easily, then it’s probably something like slugs or some other bug that is good at hiding. Check under the leaves for caterpillars or other smaller bugs like aphids. Otherwise, slugs and snails come out at night, so check after dark to see if you can spot them. Soapy water only works to kill bugs on contact, it doesn’t have a residual effect. So unless you’re able to spray it right on the insect, then it won’t have any affect on them. Here’s another article that might help… How To Control Garden Pests Naturally. Good luck.
Casey says
My huge alocasia definitely has spider mites. I’ve been spraying it and using a humidifier, and will be getting some insecticidal soap soon. When you say separate the plant from others, do you just mean not touching? This plant has been about 5 feet away from my others since I got it, and I’m just wondering how often spider mites will migrate, and how far? It was touching my tv stand which has other plants on the other side of the tv..
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, definitely not touching. Five feet should be a good distance, but I would still keep a close eye on the other plants that are in the room to make sure the spider mites don’t find their way onto them too.
Sam says
Hello,
I have a cat palm that I bought around a month or so ago and it has been having continuous spider mite problems, I didn’t know what they were at first but when I discovered them I sprayed soapy water on the leaves a few times but they keep coming back. A bunch of the leaves are going brown and I suspect it’s from the mites sucking the sap out of them, I’m worried the whole plant is going to die if I don’t do something about it. Is misting it good, or is a wet pebble tray better? Or both? Also, if I’m spraying the leaves down with stuff to try and get rid of the mites, is it fine that a lot of water goes down and saturates the soil in the process? I don’t want to accidentally overwater it at the same time as having mite problems. Any other tips for how to deal with this would be very helpful, thanks in advance.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Oh no, sorry to hear your plant is infested with spider mites! Misting is definitely one way to control them, since they like the air dry. But consistent use of insecticidal soap is better, since it will kill the mites and eggs too. I also recommend neem oil for stubborn or recurring problems. And yes, when you wash the leaves, do take care not to overwater in the process. This won’t be a concern for simple misting, but can be a problem if you hose them off outside or in the shower.
Yamile Rose says
My plant is almost 4 feet tall and in a very wide pot/ very heavy, so I can’t rinse it in the sink or tub but I removed multiple fuzzy web looking things today. A lot of the leaves are drooping and the healthy ones don’t look as shiny as they used to although I’m watering it plenty. I sprayed it with the mixture of water and soap but dont really have a way of rinsing off all the leaves, any suggestions? Should I just wait a few days and see how they respond? I also just learned today that I should be misting this plant, should I start that tomorrow and hope that somewhat rinses off the homemade insecticide soap? (sorry for rambling I’m very new at taking care of plants and very worried that I’ve let mites take this one over!)
Amy Andrychowicz says
With spider mites, persistence is the key. You have to keep treating them, they won’t go away after just one or two times. Misting the plant will help, as the mites thrive in dry air. I also like to use a damp cloth to wash/wipe the leaves on my plants, and that helps to get rid of them faster too. You could also try neem oil if you haven’t tried that yet, it works great.
Mel says
Hey! whats your take on rubbing alcohol for spot treatment on a few leaves? or is it best to rinse the whole plant regardless? found a small web without any white specs on my fishbone cactus, then noticed my cat palm had webs and white spots everywhere, ive seen white dots and a small teeny web on a few other plants but its so hard to tell if its dust or dander or dog fur! I did the soap and water mixture and bathed my big tropical plants, I hope I caught it in time! How long until should I soak the plants a second time or howlong until I know if I caught them?
Amy Andrychowicz says
For spider mites, it’s best to wash all of the leaves rather than try to spot treat them. They’re so teeny tiny there’s no way you’ll be able to see them all. After washing them, check the plants daily for any signs of mites or new webbing. If you don’t see anything show up after a month, then you either just had a regular spider web, or you got them all. 🙂
Korina Trout says
Hey, I just found spider mites on my mint plant. I couldn’t see them on any of my other houseplants in the vicinity. Do I need to treat the room? Is Neem seed oil something I could diffuse maybe??? I also have birds so I want to get rid of these bugs before they become a huge issue, as they can be dangerous to my feathered babies. I have already removed them from the room. Would you suggest any further action on top of the treatments advised?
Amy Andrychowicz says
No, you don’t need to treat the room for spider mites. Just isolate the infested plant and keep a close eye on the others to make sure the mites didn’t migrate. I have never heard of diffusing neem oil, but I don’t think that would do anything to get rid of them anyway. The bugs have to eat the neem oil in order for it to kill them, so it’s best to spray it directly on the leaves. Sounds like you’re doing the right things. Just keep treating the plant until there are no more signs of the mites. They won’t go away on the first try or two, you have to be diligent. 🙂
Nikita jayakar says
Hi Amy, I’m not sure if these bugs in my herb pot are spider mites or something else. I see webs and also the bugs are tiny white or brownish ones.. ive tried cinnamon powder, neem+ detergent + water solution. It doesn’t seem to work, they don’t die, keep crawling away. I’m not sure what to use next. Please help.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Spider mites are minute, and barely visible to the naked eye. If the bugs on your herbs are crawling off the plant, then they are likely just regular spiders. Spider mites travel on the webbing, and you likely will never see them leave the plant. Also, keep in mind that you have to be persistent with any treatment method you use. You can’t get rid of spider mites with only one or two treatments. It will likely take several to get rid of them completely.
Suzanne Orfield says
Hi Amy, my plants are Wandering jews. Something is eating holes in the leaves and I have webs. We live in Iowa so they have been in about a month from my back porch. I actually don’t think they are mites. I am thinking small spiders. And I can’t spot them, because my plants are very large and beautiful. I want to give some away, and I don’t want them to have peasts. What do you think?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, spider mites do not eat holes in the leaves, and if you look closely, you can see them moving around on the webbing. So, if you just see spider webs but no mites, then it’s probably just a regular spider living in there. As for the holes, it’s hard to say for sure, but that could be a slug/snail or some kind of caterpillar. Inspect the undersides of the leaves around the holes to see if you can find any tiny worms or other bug. Otherwise, snails/slugs come out to feed at night, so you could inspect them after dark or early in the morning with a flashlight to see if you can find them. Good luck!
Angel says
Will the mixture hurt my plants if it turns out to not be spider mites?? I have baby sunflowers sprouting and I can’t tell if it’s root hairs or webs!
Amy Andrychowicz says
If you’re unsure whether it’s spider mites or not, then I would just try wiping them off with a damp cloth first. Otherwise, definitely test any type of spray before treating the whole plant, because some are more sensitive than others. To test it, just spray the mixture on a leaf, and wait a few days to make sure there’s no damage.