I recently noticed some unwelcome spider mite visitors on my Tineke Rubber Plant when I was making my watering rounds. I wish I would have noticed it sooner, but it’s a smaller plant among some larger plants in a bay window which makes it harder to take a close look. This time I did and noticed the tell-tale little webs. I’ll give you some tips on how to find spider mites on your Rubber Plant early, how to treat them, and how to prevent them.
How to Find Spider Mites on a Rubber Plant
Spider mites are very small and almost undetectable to the naked eye. They are a common pest to both indoor and outdoor plants. Spider mites are harmful to plants because they eat them. They can spread to other plants on pets, on you, and in the air. Yes, they travel one their webs in the air! Let that make your skin crawl.
Where to Look for Spider Mites on a Rubber Plant
Spider mites have some common hangouts. On my Rubber Plant, the spider mites were collected between the stem and the petiole, which is the stem part of the leaf. I saw spider mite webs in between the stem and petiole of every single leaf on my Rubber Plant! Luckily it’s a relatively small plant.
Some other places spider mites like to hang out are:
- Under the leaves. These can be harder to see because the webs maybe up against the leaf.
- Around the curved tip of the leaf. I have seen spider mite webs at the tips of leaves.
- Collected around new growth. Spider mites love new leaves. The mus be tasty or easier to eat, I don’t know but it’s one of the fisrt places I look when I suspect spider mites.
How to Look for Spider Mites on Rubber Plants
I already explained where to look, but I have some more tips that will tell you how to look. Finding them early is so important because they can spread to every plant in your house before you even knew you had spider mites. When you are watering your plants carry a spray bottle with water along with you. Spray every plant focusing on the areas I mentioned above. The water droplets will stick to the spider mite webs making them more visible.
To up the spray bottle game, you can also use a flashlight. The light just helps you see contrast better. It may help you spot water droplets on much smaller webs and catch a spider mite infestation in the beginning stage.
How to Treat Spider Mites on a Rubber Plant
Quarantine Your Rubber Plant with Spider Mites
The first order of business is to quarantine the Rubber Plant that has spider mites. It needs to be isolated from all other plants in your house. I can’t stress this enough. These things can travel! A good spot to quarantine is a garage, as long as it is not too hot or cold. Another good spot is a bathroom if it doesn’t have other plants. Spider mites don’t like humidity.
First quarantine the plant you identified as infested. Now, you need to go back and really look closely at every single plant that you have. Use the methods above to make sure that you have checked thoroughly.
How to Remove Spider Mites from Rubber Plants
Many people recommend spraying the spider mites and their webs off the Rubber Tree before you treat it. You can do this with a spray nozzle for a garden hose, or some people do so in the shower. I have done this before and it probably is somewhat effective. However, two things hold me back 1) fear that I’m just helping make the spider mites airborne so they can spread to other plants 2) caution of not waterlogging the soil. Every time I have done this the soil takes a long time to dry out and I don’t really like adding any extra stress to a plant that is quarantined and infested.
You can also wipe the plant down with a wet cloth to remove the spider mites first. Here I have the same concern that I might just be spreading them around and getting them on my clothes. I have done it before though and there’s no good way to confirm whether it helps or harms or is neutral.
How to Kill Spider Mites on Rubber Plants
My tried and true method for killing spider mites is neem oil. It can be purchased premixed in a spray bottle, or as a concentrate that you mix yourself. I like the concentrate. It’s nice and compact to keep around. I’ve had a bottle of concentrate that has lasted me several years and a handful of infestations.
If you’re a little lazy like me, you might skip removing the spider mites and go straight to spraying them. It’s okay, that still works. You want to spray your plant from EVERY angle, especially under the leaves. Make sure you spray 360 degrees and also the soil. Spider mites can be hard to get rid of. The eggs hatch within a few days so repeated applications of neem oil will be necessary.
After I have sprayed neem oil everywhere. I like to use a paper towel to wipe off the visible web areas. This makes sure that neem is spread very well and evenly in those areas and also serves as a form of removal of the neem treaded spider mites. It helps to remove the webs because you will use that as a sign of progress or no progress in the next few days to weeks. You will want to spray your rubber tree again in about five to seven days because of the spider mite lifecycle.
Keep spraying and checking your Rubber Plant on this schedule until you no longer see signs of spider mites. Be patient, it can take time. Some other things to note about neem oil are that it has a pretty strong smell and it does make your plants a bit sticky. The smell isn’t gross but also not exactly pleasant and I feel like I can still smell it after washing my hands. The stickiness can be mitigated with a wet washcloth or spray down with the hose.
Other treatment methods include insecticidal soap which you can get at most home improvement stores. Another interesting solution is predatory mites which are even more microscopic mites that feed on spider mites but do not harm plants. Seems a little weird to release more mites in your house but I have heard they work
How to Prevent Spider Mites on Rubber Plants
Spider mites like hot and dry environments. The best defense against them is to make the environment inhospitable. You can use a humidifier around your plants or use your water spray bottle on them frequently. Unless you’re someone that likes a really cold house, you probably can’t keep the temperature cold enough to make the spider mites unhappy.
You can prevent bad infestations by checking your plants regularly using the methods I discussed above. How have you treated spider mites on your Rubber Plants?
I'm a long time plant lover on the quest to happily coexist with as many plants as I can. Let's grow!