What to do if a spider web appears on plants?

What does each grower expect from their indoor “pets”? Surely, abundant flowering, shiny foliage and a healthy appearance in general. But when a web is found on plants, all hopes for their normal development fade away in an instant. What is the cause of this ailment and how can it be eliminated?

Where does the web come from?

A tiny creature weaves a spider web on indoor flowers - spider mite. Its dimensions are very small - only 0.5-1 mm. Depending on the species, its covers can be painted in red, brown, green, gray or brown.

The presence of a spider mite on plants in most cases gives out exclusively the presence of cobwebs, because of its small size, it itself remains unnoticed for a long time. But at the same time, the harm from it is very great - both adults and larvae feed exclusively on juices, which they suck from leaves and stems, piercing them with their powerful jaws.
And since the amount of web visible to our eye does not appear immediately, the parasite manages to weaken the attacked flower and infect neighboring ones.

Causes of infection

Where does the spider mite come from? Ways of infection can be very different.

1. Those who constantly replenish the home collection of plants could bring a malicious tick directly from the flower shop on an infected specimen. The same situation can happen when the exchange of colors took place, for example, between neighbors.
   

   Advice! To prevent the parasite from spreading to clean pots, the new “resident” must first be quarantined for about 1-2 weeks. And if after this time nothing suspicious has been noticed on it, then it may well take its place among other plants.

2. If you live on one of the lower floors of the house, then the tick could bring into your house a gust of wind or he himself could go down his web to one of your flowers from the nearest tree. This happens especially often when plants are on an unglazed balcony.
3. Sometimes it happens that the web on indoor plants appears in the winter season, when all windows, including balcony, have long been closed, and new flowers in the house did not appear. This situation can be explained as follows: the female tick was in a pea just before the onset of cold weather and fell into diapause - this happens under adverse conditions. And as soon as the external conditions changed for the better (it became warm and dry thanks to the heating system), she immediately woke up. The same applies to eggs that are able to remain in this state for up to 5 years.

Consequences of the defeat

The white web on indoor plants does not bode well, since as a result of parasitization of the tick, the flower will not only weaken very much, but also become vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections.Plus, such instances become sources of infection, and if you do not identify the problem in time, then the disease will soon spread to other pots, which can lead to the death of the entire collection.

The danger of the spider mite is also that it is unpretentious in the choice of food and is able to hit absolutely any indoor flowers. In addition, at the initial stage, it is visually invisible, but multiplies very quickly and in a short time a large colony of parasites can form on one plant.
In order to prevent this scenario, indoor flowers should be regularly inspected. The presence of a spider mite, even before the formation of the web itself, you can tell the following signs:

• the plant acquires a somewhat unhealthy appearance, the leaves drop, the stem loses its elasticity and may slightly wilt;
• if you look at the back of the leaf plates, then you can find on them small swarming parasites that have strayed into groups;
• as they spread to the leaves, whitish patches will form, at first they may be punctate, but they will necessarily increase in size over time;
• after some time, the leaves will begin to turn yellow, dry, curl and fall off;
• gradually the flower will be covered with a white web.

As a result, photosynthesis is significantly impaired, the plant loses the ability to grow and develop normally, and in the worst case, you may well lose this instance.

On a note! It should be remembered that the spider mite will not always entangle the flower with its web. Representatives of some species emit very little secret, which after turns into very thin threads, invisible to the eye! But at the same time, when overpopulated, pests are able to wrap a flower in their networks almost completely!

The fight against the parasite. Procedure

In crop production, both chemical preparations and simple folk remedies are very actively used to destroy the spider mite. But before starting the treatment itself, some preparatory measures should be carried out.

• First you need to remove all the yellowed leaves and throw them away. This should be done because, firstly, they can no longer be restored, and, secondly, a rather large group of parasites will be concentrated on them.
• Now we take the plant to the bathroom and arrange water procedures for it - thoroughly rinse all the leaves under the stream of water and clean the stem. Leave the flower for a while so that it dries.
• We proceed to the processing itself. We use the selected preparation according to the instructions, and we process not only the plant itself, but also the soil and the pot.
• As for the pallets, it is better to boil them for several minutes, and if the ticks were there, then after a similar procedure they will surely die.
• After the manipulations, a large plastic bag should be put on the flower along with the pot and tied in such a way as to make a miniature greenhouse. Under such conditions, the effect of the drug will increase, and pests will be guaranteed to be destroyed. It will take about 1-3 hours for modern chemicals. If you use folk remedies or a longer exposure is recommended in the instructions, then you need to keep the plant in the bag longer - sometimes for 2 days.

Important! Such a “greenhouse” cannot be left in the sun, as your flower risks boiling!

Since only adult individuals and larvae will be destroyed during the treatment, it should be repeated one or two more times with a weekly interval to get rid of the young hatched from eggs. In addition, remember that ticks can infect neighboring plants quite quickly, and even if white cobwebs are not yet visible on other flowers, they probably already have a parasite.For this reason, absolutely all specimens that stood next to the infected plant should be processed.

Plus, while the drug does its work in the greenhouse you have equipped, you should thoroughly wash the windowsill itself, window frames and glass. To do this, usually use a solution of laundry soap, after which they wipe all surfaces with alcohol. And do not forget to wash the tulle and curtains.

Chemicals Overview and Usage Features

Cobwebs on domestic plants are very well managed by modern acaricides. There are two groups of funds from this class.

• Specific acaricides, the action of which is directed exclusively against the spider mite. Such drugs are characterized by a contact form of activity and vary in degree of effectiveness relative to different phases of the development of parasites.
• Insectoacaricides work to destroy not only the spider mite, but also against other pests of indoor plants.

Consider the representatives of each of the groups.

Specific acaricides

Such drugs include the following: Borneo, Envidor, Apollo, Omite, Sunmayt, Flumayt. In addition to them, there are two more such tools, with which we will familiarize ourselves in more detail.

• Floromite. Its active substance is biphenazate. This drug is active against all mobile stages of spider mite development, and 3 hours after the start of treatment, the parasite weakens and does not harm the plant. Maximum efficiency is manifested during the first 4 days from the time of use, the effect lasts about 2-3 weeks.
• Nissoran. This is a hormonal drug of intestinal contact, based on hexithiazox. Its acaricidal properties extend to the destruction of ticks belonging to various species, and is detrimental to larvae, nymphs and eggs. In the process, the active substances inhibit the basic processes on which the normal development of the parasite depends: molting, chitinous cover formation, pupation and fledging.

Insect acaricides

The following drugs belong to insectoacaricides: Actellik, Fitoverm, Actofit, Oberon, Dursban, Kleschevit. In addition to them, two more agents are known.

• "Vertimek." A broad-spectrum insecticide that successfully protects indoor flowers from parasites. The basis of this drug is abamectin. During processing, the active substance penetrates the plant body and spreads very quickly through it. Pests that get drunk with poisoned juice lose their ability to eat and soon die.
• “Akarin” (“Agravertin”). It is highly effective against all types of herbivorous ticks and other parasites. It is based on a whole complex of natural highly specific neurotoxins, which, getting into the body of a pest, provoke the development of irreversible processes in its nervous system.

Whatever drug you use, remember that the treatment must be carried out carefully and make sure that the working solution covers the entire body of the plant.

Important! The use of the same drug is not always recommended, as parasites can develop resistance. From time to time, chemicals must be changed, but it is important to ensure that the active substance in the next chemical is different!

Folk remedies for spider mites

Sometimes, before starting acaricidal treatment, many plant growers prefer to use folk remedies. And it may well happen that after them the chemicals are no longer needed. The active substances in such formulations are usually natural components, in particular alkaloids or essential oils. Processing with these agents is mandatory to be repeated 2-3 times with an interval of a week.

So, if you found a web on the leaves of indoor plants, then the following remedies can help.

• Garlic infusion.For its preparation, it is necessary to grind garlic, about 400-500 g, and pour it with three liters of water. We leave everything for 5 days in a warm place, after which we must filter it. The result is a concentrate, which must be diluted with water before use - 60 ml of infusion and approximately 50 g of laundry soap are added to a bucket of water. Mix everything and use to spray infected plants.
• Infusion of black bleached. A kilogram of dried raw materials must be filled with 10 liters of water and left for 12 hours. After this time, we filter the product and dilute 40-50 g of laundry soap in it. Pour the finished product into the spray gun and process all the indoor flowers on which the white web was found.

Prevention

In order to prevent the appearance of the web on domestic plants, it is enough to follow the simplest rules:

• all new exhibits of the collection must be quarantined for several days;
• the leaves of the plant, especially their back side, must be inspected regularly;
• not to allow conditions that are comfortable for the spider mite to be created at the location of indoor flowers - low humidity and dryness;
• fallen leaves must be removed on time;
• it is advisable to regularly wipe the pots, pallets and windowsill with a solution of laundry soap.

These simple measures will prevent infection with a spider mite, and you can enjoy the healthy appearance of your “wards” and their active growth every day.