spider mites indoors

Regardless, they are a serious pest both indoors and out. Hot, dry w… They have 8 legs; insects have only 6.

Ensuring your plants are properly watered is important to keep them well hydrated. Instead, they are a type of arachnid thats closely related to spiders and ticks.

Nymphs have eight-legs and pass through two more molts before becoming mature adults.After mating, females continuously produce as many as 300 eggs over a couple of weeks.

Spider mites are very small, only about 1/50 of an inch long, and so are difficult to see. Most mite species overwinter as eggs on the leaves and bark of host plants. Remove dust from your houseplants once per week.

This will prevent spider mites from nesting and laying eggs on the dry, dusty leaves; in addition to providing an environment in which existing predator mites can feed on spider mites. Since spider mites thrive in dry conditions, keeping the air around your plants humid is one of the best spider mite pest prevention methods. Look at the surface of the leaves.

While mites usually attack the underside of leaves, they can sometimes get greedy and also eat the upper side of leaves and flowers. Depending on the indoor climate and environment in which your houseplants reside, you may need to remove dust as needed, which can be once every few days … In early spring, as temperatures warm, tiny six-legged larvae begin hatching and feed for a few days before seeking shelter where they molt into the first nymphal stage. Spider mites are spiders, not insects. Use neem oil for controlling spider mites indoors. They cause the underside of leaves to appear dusty, but if you look closely, youll see that the dust is actually moving. When light falls on the leaves, you may see a silvered look or even streaks of bronze or silver. If your plant is indeed infested with spider mites, the leaves may have yellow blotches on them. They have piercing-sucking mouth parts for feeding on plant sap. Keep Humidity Levels High. Spider mites are not an insect, as is commonly believed. Theyre extremely tiny youll need a magnifying glass to get a good look at them.