What it looks like
Tiny pale dots on the leaves, as if pricked with a needle. Fine webbing on the leaf undersides and in the joints. Leaves gradually go grey and dry out. The mites are nearly invisible — use a magnifier or zoom in on a photo.
Why it happened
Dry warm air, typically above a radiator in winter. Mites multiply extremely fast in those conditions.
What to do
1. Isolate the plant immediately — mites spread. 2. Shower the whole plant with lukewarm water, especially the leaf undersides. 3. Spray with water plus a few drops of dish soap, or neem oil, every 3 days for at least 3 weeks. 4. Raise humidity — a tray of water and pebbles beside the plant. 5. Finish the full cycle. One treatment is never enough; the eggs survive.
How to prevent it
Wipe the leaves with a damp cloth weekly in winter. Do not place plants directly above a radiator. Keep new plants separate for the first two weeks.
Most common on these species
- Calathea
- English ivy
- Parlour palm
- Weeping fig
- Elephant ear
- Areca palm
- Croton
- Japanese aralia
- Pygmy date palm
- Banana plant
- Passion flower
- Ming aralia
- Chilli pepper
- Swiss cheese plant
- Dumb cane
- Swiss cheese vine
- Prayer plant
- Stromanthe
- Pink jasmine
- Kentia palm
- African hemp
- Oleander
- Chinese hibiscus
- Jerusalem cherry
- Creeping fig
- Dwarf fan palm
- Ti plant
- China doll
- Never never plant
- Ornamental pepper
- Fuchsia
- Lemon verbena
- Rose
- English ivy (outdoor)
- Norway spruce