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How do you get spider's to leave your plants alone

sam.nkssam.nks Posts: 6
in Fruit & veg
It's the second year  I am having battles against spiders. Most my plant in containers, the spiders web between the pots, on top of the leaves, lay eggs under the leaves (mostly on the bottom/under the Loquat leaves) I am trying not to use chemicals, but Neem oil doesn't work. and suggestions?
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Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Are they harming your plants? I would have thought they would be a good guard against aphids, caterpillars,  and the like.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Me too.  Spiders are great.   What harm are they doing?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • sam.nkssam.nks Posts: 6
    I have nothing against them, but they pull the edges of the leaves when they web and all the leaves are rolling down under... deformed
    and last year I had spider mites on my tomato plants and they all died
    it's not one here one there, I feel like I'm under spider attack
  • sam.nkssam.nks Posts: 6
    Maybe i'm wrong, maybe it's not the spider that rolling the loquat leaves, I'll get a photo
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Red spider mites are a different problem altogether and usually present when conditions are too dry.   They make a fine webbing which may look like spider webs.

    Have a look a this article by the RHS - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=190

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • sam.nkssam.nks Posts: 6
    Yes!! that's exactly it !!
  • sam.nkssam.nks Posts: 6
    Anyone has experience with Red spider mites?
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    If your plants are indoors or in the greenhouse, you can buy a predatory mite which will eat the red spider mites.  They are quite expensive but very effective.  You can also increase the humidity around the plants, which discourages the spider mites.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    I have had them in the past.. spraying under the leaves daily for a week and increasing humidity helps.  If it's indoor plants, take them into the bathroom and give them a shower, lifting up the leaves to get under.  If it's outside, get a hose nozzle that has a shower setting and give them a daily rinse.  If it's a plant that doesn't like much water, just cover the top of the pot with some plastic to keep much from running down on the soil.  That seemed to do the trick for me.  
    Utah, USA.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited May 2018
    Good advice from Blue Onion but, when watering the plants, I would also steep the pots in a bucket of water until no further air bubbles appear and then let them drain completely.  The plants won't drown or rot but it should help make things too humid for red spider mite.   If they're in a greenhouse, douse its base with water every day to maintain humidity.  If they're in teh house, stand trays of pebbles next to or under your pots and keep these wet so they can give off humidity without affecting plant roots.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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