Help - spider mites?

It looks as if the "honeymoon phase" of my greenhouse is finished. This morning I was looking closely at each plant (something I am negectful of doing due to the press of work) and found my gardenia wreathed in fine webs with little crawlies busy going along the strands. I gasped and quickly carried the pot outside. I can't see any signs of them on any other plants, but will be watching closely. I don't know exactly what to do now - I hosed the plant down and will do so again later - it's in the sun now. I can leave it outside for the next few nights - but more cold weather is on the way and I'll have to put it back in the GH or bring it into my house soon. I don't have many plants in the house, so that may be the best idea. Does anyone have any ideas of the best way to treat this problem? I assume these are spider mites. Suggestions?

I tried to search to see if this has been discussed before, but the search engine appears to be down for now. Help!

I had some problems with spider mites this summer--they love heat and dryness, so I would make sure to mist your plants regularly or in some way increase the humidity in the greenhouse (although I would have thought NC was humid enough that you shouldn't have problems!). I would also check the plants that were near the one that had the mites...they had managed to spread to about 10 of my plants before I finally caught the problem so just as a precaution I would would hose off any of the plants that were near the infected one. I handled my problem by regularly giving the plants a hard spray with the hose, making sure to hit the underside of the leaves because that's where the mites live, and then by misting the plants twice a day during hot weather. I never tried it, but there are some insecticidal soaps that mention spider mites on their labels so you could try that as well.

Can you post a pic though just in case it's not spider mites? I've never noticed anything that looked like your description of the webs...how I usually spot them is the leaves on the plants start to look sort of mottled and yellowish, and if the infestation is bad (and your eyes are good!), if you look at the underside of the leaves you can see little teensy reddish brown spots, and sometimes you can see a little bit of webby stuff but I've never noticed it except on the underside of the leaves, and I definitely noticed the leaf discoloration before I saw the mites or the webbing. To be able to see the amt of webbing that I think you're seeing, you would have to have a really bad infestation so your leaves should be looking sickly too. Have you noticed any discoloration on them or are they still nice and green?

They are still green and the plant looks healthy. I could see many web lines running from branch to branch and see tiny creatures crawing up and down. On the leaves themselves, there are white dots (that under a magnifying glass appear to have legs, but do not move when prodded and when mashed, smear to nothing). I have hosed the plant down several times today and have examined all close neighbors carefully. I'll be watching. If not spider mites, what could they be? If the webs come back overnight, I'll take a picture and post it. I doubt if the hosing I've done is enough to have solved the problem. I definitely could see the critters crawling up and down the strands. I have seen mealy bugs before and these white dots don't look that that (not big enough).

My first guess would have been mealy bugs, but if you say these aren't then I have no idea what they are. Maybe white flies? I don't know what they look like, and I don't think they would make webs of any sort, but I guess it's possible that the webs are just from a garden spider or two that took up residence in the greenhouse and aren't related to the white things on your plant. After your further desription, I'm very sure they're not spider mites though, I think your leaves would be showing symptoms (spider mites are usually hard to notice until the leaves start showing the symptoms), and the mites are reddish colored not white.

Maybe you are right and I have both - just some baby spiders that hatched and actual mealy bugs. The white spots under a magnifying glass appear to have legs, but do not move. They are not bunched up, but spaced along the leaf ribs on many leaves and are on top. They are white ovals with what appear to be legs on the sides, but no crawling. I just went out and looked again and the crawling critters are not to be seen now. Just the white ovals. Maybe if the crawlies were baby spiders (very, very tiny ones - but visible to the naked eye), the hose may have washed them off (or down into the pot!). Do you think I should leave the pot out of the greenhouse for a night or two (it's cool, but not freezing here)? I could bring it into my house, but not too thrilled to do so. Do mealy bugs bunch up, are they spaced out along ribs, and do they move?

I think mealy bugs can move, but I think they tend to cluster up for the most part and make that stuff that looks sort of like cotton but I'm sure you'll find a some scattered on other parts of the plant. If you do a google search for pics of them or check in Bug Files, you should be able to find a pic of what they look like. The white cottony stuff is pretty distinctive, if you've had mealies before and knew what they were you would definitely recognize if it was them or not. Or if you can take a pic of them and post it here, I'm sure someone would recognize what you have (or if not here, maybe try the Garden Foes forum too)

If you can keep the plant away from your other plants that's probably the best idea until you figure out what the problem is, but if gets cold and you're afraid you're going to lose it, you could put it back in the greenhouse but keep it as far from the other plants as you can, or maybe put some plastic around it overnight so that nothing can crawl off onto your other plants.

Mealybugs move, but almost so slowly that it is hard to notice. They are quite fond of gardenias, in my experience.

I agree that it doesn't sound like spider mites. Even under magnification, spider mite legs would be very hard to see.

Stressbaby - there are apparently 2 things going on here. The "spiders" were definitely crawling on the web lines from branch to branch - tiny little things, moving fast. After hosing they appear to be gone. But the white things - not moving - are spaced on top of leaves - like this- . . . . . . When you mash them, it's like dust - not like mashed bodies. I would think they are mineral residue except for the spacing and the fact that under a magnifying glass, they are white ovals with what looks like side legs. But no movement at all. Mystery, huh. My husband left for the coast this afternoon (fishing trip) and took our digital camera. When he returns later this week, I'll try to take pictures if all this stuff is not gone by then.

Thanks to all for your input.

Do a google search for scale and see if this is what you have.

If you have spider mites on one plant, do not put it back in the greenhouse. If you see you have them on other plants that were near it I would take them out also. Once you get those things going it is so hard to stop. And you should not take it into your house unless it is the only one and you are going to treat it. Your house will be too dry and maybe too warm. That is what they like. They thrive in that environment.

You can treat it with Bayer 2 in 1 systemic. But, I would treat everything in your greenhouse. This is such a shame to get those things started so early going into winter. You will be fighting them all winter. I would think it would be worth it to get rid of the plant if it is the only one that has them. Also, when you spray them with the hose be sure you do the top of the soil where they would lay eggs. It would not hurt to water a good dose of hydrogen peroxide. That might help to stop them in the soil.

If you treat everything in the greenhouse and you think you took care of the problem, do NOT let up. Follow the directions and treat them within the stated time frame. They are tricky devils.

Good luck.

Okay, it seems I have been on totally the wrong track - shows my ignorance. A powerful magnifying glass and searches on Google seem to indicate that this is not a spider mite problem at all. The little critters are identical to Florida wax scale which must have been present on the gardenia when I bought it a couple of months ago at Lowe's. I suppose they hatched and are now sitting on the leaves. No other plants seem to have any. They are little white ovals with side projections and do not move at all. They space out along the top leaf ribs - just like the descriptions. I jumped too quickly to say spider mites because it seems coincidentally a crop of baby spiders hatched out and were crawling around. Their movements were what attracted my attention - so the scale could have been there several days already before I noticed. Hosing the plant down got rid of the tiny spiders and left only the scale. I guess this is good news as they apparently don't spread so readily as spider mites or mealy bugs. Tonight I started wiping each leaf to remove them - this will take a while - hope it is worth the effort. This has really been a learning experience! I hope this is the final diagnosis - I feel silly jumping from one bug to the next, but I am learning.

Still, that is how you learn. We've all been there. Jeanette

A q-tip dipped in alcohol is the weapon of choice against scale. This method will have to be repeated every 7-10 days as the new ones hatch out. Try digging slightly through the top layer of potting medium because you might find scale on the top of the roots. Watch other plants that were in the vicinity in case you had a couple of wandering scale.

If you end up with a major infestation, you might need a systemic insecticide if you need to call in the big guns. Check labels to see if they are appropriate for your plant and if not listed on the label, call the 800 # and inquire.

Neem Oil works very well on mealy bugs, scale and spider mites. It is environmentally friendly and as a bonus it will make the leaves shine.