Remove webs with Q-Tip

Old perfume bottle with water and alcohol mixture

Spray plant with the mixture





















Do you have a spider mite problem? If yes, don't panic, there are plenty of things you can do to save your plants! Spider mites on succulents and cactus need to be dealt with differently than regular plants. Information on spider mites on regular plants can be found here Spider mites can be identified by their tiny webs. Spider mites themselves are so hard to see, you often do not notice them on your plants until after they start doing some serious damage.Cactus and succulents need a different treatment because they do not like to have water on them. For a regular plant, you would spray them off with water to remove spider mites. If you did this to a succulent or cactus, it might cause your plant to rot. To treat cactus and succulents for spider mites, follow these steps.1. Take a Q-Tip or pick of some kind and remove the webs by hand.2. Spray the plant with a mixture of half water and half rubbing alcohol 70%.3. Apply neem oil to your cactus or succulent. I do a mixture of 2 teaspoons of neem oil to 1 gallon of warm water. Adding a bit of soap will help mix the neem oil and the water. Use a pure cold-pressed neem oil. DO NOT use a concentrate or extract because they are not as effective. I order my neem oil from Amazon. Neem oil has a strong smell to it, but do not wash it off. The neem oil will not kill the spider mites on contact, but rather when they eat the plant that has neem oil on it. Once the spider mites eat the neem oil, it will stop their life cycle.4. Repeat these steps once a week until the spider mites are gone.Spider mites are less common on succulents and cactus than your regular type plants. If you do not see webs on your cactus and succulents, you probably have a different pest problem.A common pest culprit on cactus and succulents is mealybugs. Mealybugs look like tiny, white, furry slugs on your plant. The damage they do to your plant could often be mistaken for spider mites. However, you can deal with mealybugs in a similar way to spider mites. Instead of removing the webs, you would remove the mealybugs. After that, follow through with steps 2-4.If you are not a fan of neem oil, you can use a commercial horticultural spray. Just make sure to always read the label carefully to make sure it is safe to have in your home. Often these products look safe to use on the front, but when you look at the label more carefully on the back, it is filled with warnings.If the neem oil smell bothers you, spray your plants outside or in your garage, and then let them dry before bringing them back in. Once the neem oil dries, the smell goes down considerably.Good Luck!Lily's Indoor Jungle