Keep seeing people mix up spider mites and dust on their houseplants...

I noticed this in the Plant Swap group a few weeks ago... someone posted a photo of white speckles on their calathea and three people told them it was just dust from the window. It was mites for sure. I know because I made the same mistake last March and lost my entire triostar to them within 10 days. The giveaway is that dust wipes off with a dry cloth but mites leave tiny reddish stains if you press them on a paper towel. Also they move when you look close with a magnifying glass. Has anyone else had a plant die because they trusted the wrong advice in a hurry?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan51217d ago

...actually the reddish stain thing can be misleading depending on the mite species. Two spotted spider mites leave a dark liquid when crushed but some of the other types just look like moving dust specks and leave nothing behind. Your main point is solid though, once you see them crawling around with a cheap jewelers loupe from Amazon you never forget what you're actually looking at.

abby_chen16d ago

Morgan512, do you think a scope is the only way or can you spot the difference without one?