Forum home› Problem solving

Spider mites :(

christinafaulknerchristinafaulkner Posts: 5
in Problem solving
hi, my partner and I moved out from our parents for the first time together in December. We bought a maisonette with a lovey sized garden which over the summer months has become overrun with what I believe are spider mites. They even got one of our house plants in the room that opens out onto the garden. They don’t seem to be making too much trouble for our garden plants but they’re just very unpleasant to be around and are everywhere inc. garden furniture, moss on patio and lots of cobwebs on fencing. We’ve had to stop hanging washing out as it gets covered. My mom suggested diluted washing up liquid. I’ve done some brushing off of spider webs and spraying clean after with the soap solution. But am feeling very frustrated after reading online how quickly the population can grow and also how they can survive for next year.

theyre all over moss that has fallen from the roof. Could this be the original source?

do we need to get in professionals? Or order some live bugs to try and get rid? 

Thank you

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,520
    Any chance of posting a photo of the webs?  It sounds too rampant to be spider mites.
    I have a lot of webs all over my garden plants and they are inhabited by spiders which hide in a silk tunnel.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Difficult to know if you have spider mites. Cobwebs in the garden and on some plants will happen. This is normal. Usually, they attack plants that are in dry conditions, but the mention of moss makes me think it may not be spider mites. Let's see what others think.
  • christinafaulknerchristinafaulkner Posts: 5
    Ceres said:
    Any chance of posting a photo of the webs?  It sounds too rampant to be spider mites.
    I have a lot of webs all over my garden plants and they are inhabited by spiders which hide in a silk tunnel.
    Thank you Ceres! Yeah I’m no expert they could be anything. I haven’t actually found any cobwebs on the plants themselves. It’s possible their presence in cobwebs throughout the garden might be them getting stuck in regular spiders webs. 
  • christinafaulknerchristinafaulkner Posts: 5
    Borderline said:
    Difficult to know if you have spider mites. Cobwebs in the garden and on some plants will happen. This is normal. Usually, they attack plants that are in dry conditions, but the mention of moss makes me think it may not be spider mites. Let's see what others think.
    Thank you for your reply. I’ve posted some pics on the thread now in response to another kind reply. I haven’t found any cobwebs on plants. Just on fence and furniture. It’s possible that they are some other type of critter just getting caught in regular spider webs 🤷🏻‍♀️. 
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    I can't see them well, but the photographs look like aphids at different stages of development. You can use a damp cotton pad to wipe them off the backs of your indoor plant leaves. It's a common problem with most plants. Outdoor plants, you can use a hose with a jet setting to knock them off the plants. I could not see the webs, so I don't think it is spider mite.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    They look to me like cast-off skins of aphids.  They shed their skins as they get bigger because the skins can't stretch.  Have you seen them moving under their own steam?
  • christinafaulknerchristinafaulkner Posts: 5
    josusa47 said:
    They look to me like cast-off skins of aphids.  They shed their skins as they get bigger because the skins can't stretch.  Have you seen them moving under their own steam?
    No, never seen them move but they just appear everywhere. Some are slightly bigger than others and you can see legs etc if you look close. Others just look like eggs.
  • christinafaulknerchristinafaulkner Posts: 5
    Looks a bit like this maybe? Google said cast off skin of spider mite?? No evidence of the adult mite though!
  • mrtjformanmrtjforman Posts: 331
    edited July 2019
    christian faulkner, your picture is great but you have to realize that it is highly magnified under a magnifying glass is a lab.

    You couldn't even take a picture of those skins on a normal camera in a garden so I can 100% confirm it is not spider mites!

    Spider mites are nasty buggers - so hard to get rid of but they hate rain, wind and generally the outdoors. Never have I seen spider mites overtake laundry before - they just would not be attracted to laundry at all.

    But be very glad because spider mites are the worst. It sounds like you have some sort of garden spider that spins a lot of webbing. They would hide out in leaf piles, branches, and stones. Moss won't help but plants usually is not what attracts spiders.
    I think those aphid skins in the picture are probably their feast.

    And yes aphids do fly on to laundry. Aphids come from any overrun garden in the neighbourhood. Especially brambles and nettles
Sign In or Register to comment.