Here's a nasty relative of the tick that you don't want in your yard: the spider mite. It's hard to fight a battle against something you can barely see!
- If you spot tiny webs on your plants and your plant is starting to fail, there's a possibility that you have spider mites in your garden.
- Look closely! These little guys are tiny (well, they're mites, after all) and come in a variety of colors -- yellow, green, brown, red. Some are so small they resemble a speck of pepper.
- These bugs eat sap from plant leaves, draining it and leaving an unsightly plant behind.
- You can treat for spider mites in a couple of ways. First, try spraying them off with a powerful blast from your hose. Also, hose down around the plant to drive off the ones you sprayed off the plant.
- Patrick Murphy is a fan of using oil to combat this pest. Rosemary oil is his favorite for driving off spider mites. You can try Neem oil, too, but Murph warns that the scent might be too unpleasant to deal with.
- Keep spraying your plants with the oil until your garden is free of spider mites.
WGLT depends on financial support from users to bring you stories and interviews like this one. As someone who values experienced, knowledgeable, and award-winning journalists covering meaningful stories in central Illinois, please consider making a contribution.
