Symptoms of Spider Mites
- A healthy garden is free of spider mites.tulip flower blossoming in kiev botanic garden image by Oleg Mitiukhin from Fotolia.com
According to Colorado State University, spider mites are pests that live in plants causing distressing symptoms such as discoloration and injury to leafs. Controlling spider mite infestations helps maintain the health and structural integrity of your plant and garden flowers. Spider mite activity increases during the warmer months slows down during the winter because the bitter cold kills mites. - Spider mites destroy plants and crops by chewing on the leaves with their needle-like teeth. They suck the fluids from the leaves as well as bite around the leaves creating jagged edges. This damage results in leaves dropping from plants prematurely. According to the Northern Territory Government of Australia, spider mites prefer young leaves, but old leaves are still affected in heavy infestations.
Spider mites also work quickly so it's vital to use pest control products as soon as possible. Natural predators such as lady bugs kill spider mites and preserve plants without the use of chemicals. - If spider mites get their hooks into a plant, they leave behind white webbing. The amount of webbing seen depends on the severity of the infestation. You might notice webbing, but not mites. The mites typically come back for more until there is nothing left of the plant.
- Another symptom of spider mites is leaf discoloration. The mites cause leaves to lose nutrients and die. This results in yellow or bronze spots on the leaves. If the mites are killed quickly, there is still little hope for the affected leaves. But if the main structure of the plant is intact, the plant will recover in time. Leaving a plant to the mercy of spider mites, however, will eventually result in death so killing the mites is essential to ensure the long-term survival of the plant.
