Spider mites on houseplants: how to spot them and get rid of them

A PlantParlour plant problems guide

Spider mites are tiny sap-sucking mites, barely visible without a magnifier, that thrive in warm, dry indoor air. The first sign is usually fine pale speckling on the leaves, then a dull, dusty look, and at worst fine webbing between leaves and stems. Move the plant away from others, shower it hard on both sides of every leaf, and repeat a treatment every five to seven days for three to four weeks — a single treatment never reaches the eggs. Then raise the humidity, because dry air is what let them multiply.

Read the pattern first

Fine pale dots on the upper side of leaves
Early spider mite feeding. Look underneath, along the veins.
Leaves look dull, dusty or bronzed even after wiping
An established colony.
Fine, silky webbing in the leaf joints or between leaves
A heavy infestation. Act today, and check every plant nearby.
Specks that move when you tap a leaf over white paper
Mites. Dust stays still; mites walk.
Stippling with no mites, webbing or movement
Possibly thrips or old damage. A magnifier settles it.

Getting rid of them

Move the plant away from the others.
Shower it in the bath or sink, hard enough to knock the mites off, and wipe both sides of every leaf.
Treat it with a product labelled for spider mites on houseplants — an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil is the usual choice — following the label exactly.
Repeat every five to seven days for three to four weeks. Eggs hatch after the first treatment, and stopping early is why they "come back".
Check the plants that were nearby, and keep checking for a month.
Raise the humidity and move it away from radiators, or they will return.

If you have pets or children

Read the label of anything you spray for whether it is safe around animals and people, keep pets away from a treated plant until it is dry, and store the product out of reach. Some products sold as natural are still harmful to cats in particular. If you are unsure, a hard shower and wiping, repeated every few days, is slower but uses nothing at all.

Badly infested growth

Leaves that are yellow, bronzed and webbed won't recover. Cut them off, bag them, and put them straight in the bin rather than the compost heap.

Plant by plant

Where this is a known problem on 39 of the plants in the PlantParlour care library, with that plant's own cause and fix. Entries shared by a whole genus are listed once.

Fine webbing under the leaves
Spider mites, which love this family.

Fix: Shower the plant and treat weekly for a month; raise the humidity or they return.
Fine webbing, leaves going dull and stippled
Spider mites. This genus is their favourite.

Fix: Shower the plant, wipe both sides of every leaf, and treat weekly for a month. Raise the humidity or they come straight back.
Fine webbing between stems, leaves stippled pale
Spider mites, which arrive in dry warm air.

Fix: Shower the whole plant, then treat every five days for three weeks — one treatment never gets the eggs.
Spider mites
Dry warm air. Palms are a favourite.

Fix: Shower the fronds, both sides, and treat weekly for a month.
Red spider mite in a warm room
Dry heat.

Fix: Raise humidity and treat weekly.
- Pink jasmine
Spider mites
Dry air. Aralias attract them reliably.

Fix: Raise humidity and treat weekly for a month.
- Ming aralia
Spider mites
Dry air. Crotons attract them badly.

Fix: Raise the humidity, shower it, and treat weekly for a month.
- Croton
Spider mites
Dry indoor air.

Fix: Raise humidity and treat weekly.
- Bamboo
Spider mites in a warm room
Dry heat.

Fix: Shower the plant and treat weekly; a cooler spot is the real cure.
- Japanese aralia
Spider mites, repeatedly
Warm dry air. Indoor ivy is a magnet for them.

Fix: Move it somewhere cooler and more humid, shower it regularly, and treat weekly for a month when they appear.
- English ivy

Questions people ask

Where do spider mites come from?

Usually a new plant, occasionally an open window or cut flowers. They are always around in small numbers; warm, dry air in heated rooms is what lets them multiply fast enough to notice.

Are spider mites harmful to people or pets?

No — they feed on plants. What you treat them with may be, so read the label.

Can a plant recover from spider mites?

Yes, if it still has healthy growth. Damaged leaves stay marked, but a plant that is treated on schedule and moved into more humid air will put out clean new leaves.

Not sure which one it is?

PlantParlour's health check looks at up to three photos of your plant alongside the care you've logged for it — when you last watered, when it was repotted, problems it has had before — and tells you what it sees. Log the problem as an issue, take another photo in a few days, and the next check compares the two, so you can tell whether it is spreading or settling. It is an AI's considered guess, not a diagnosis, and it is free to start with no account.

Open PlantParlour

General guidance for houseplants, written to be careful rather than clever. It can't see your plant, so treat it as a starting point, not a diagnosis. See our terms.