Spider Mite Infestation on my Crispy Wave plant!!!!!

If you have been following my blog you’ll know that I recently re-potted my crispy wave plants. Well one of them has gotten a spider mite infestation!!! Noooo.

In the past I have used diatomaceous earth (DE) to deal with these pesky little buggers. It works really well to eradicate them; however, the problem with diatomaceous earth (DE) is its effects on humans. DE is ground up fossilized shells, it’s so hard and sharp that the powder actually tears the exoskeleton of insects, causing them to dry out and die. Simply enough, and it is very effective. In humans it can cause lung problems if inhaled and it can also hurt your eyes if you get it in them. The problem comes when you have to go back to the plant for any reason like when I re-potted the Christmas Cactus. The powder is still there and can still cause problems if you inhale it or get it into your eyes. I got a bit of powder in my eyes when I re-potted the Christmas Cactus, it was very uncomfortable and the effects lasted for a while even though I thoroughly rinsed my eyes. It is because of this that I have decided to seek out a different product for inside the house. Just for clarification I still swear by DE and I am still using it outside the house. It is a great way to keep your gardens pest free all year round just reapply it when it rains. Make sure if you chose to use DE that you follow all the safety precautions and always have a spray bottle around to wet any dust that may kick up while using this product (the dust is the most dangerous part).

Back to my Crispy Wave this little guy looks pitiful. You can see in the first picture that the other one is doing okay and starting to rebound. This guy on the other hand is not! All of his leaves are basically lying down and the plants itself is limp and weak. I am quite worried about this plant. Spider mites are quite small therefore it is difficult to spot them before they become a big problem.

Here you can see some of the webbing that is characteristic of Spider mites. I always thought that spider mites were mites, but they are actually Arachnids (a form of spider)!!! I find this to be extra creepy because I hate spiders!!!! I got some insecticidal soap and I am hoping that this will fix the problem! I will let you know if it does the trick or not. Boy do I ever hope so!!

The insecticidal soap, according to the directions, is really easy to use. You have to make sure to get the whole plant and on both sides of leaves so to do that I lifted all the leaves especially the very bottom ones and sprayed the underside. After I sprayed the bottom of the leaves I put down the bottom leaves but continued to hold the rest of the leaves up so that when I sprayed the top of the very bottom leaves the spray would get the underside of the next leaf and so on until I reached the very top. Now I just have to let it dry and wait! I really hope this works as well as the DE!

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