A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Nasty little bugs on my croton

Hi all,

I have a croton that shed most of its bright red and green leaves a few months back. I moved it to a location where it could get bright light and used a houseplant feed to give it a nourishing boast. It seemed to take it well and lot of new leaves sprouted. The problem now is that on one of the two stems that it had, the new leaves that were doing pretty good, started to look limp and diseased. The leaves on the other stem that came out at the same time are radiant and healthy. I took a closer look with a magnifying glass and the leaves have some sort of web-like fibre running all around it, with small insects (almost invisible to naked eye) running around. I cleaned the leaves thoroughly with a wet tissue. But they have reappeared.
Is there anything I can use for this?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Nittrox, sounds to me like it's spider mites...

Here's a link to check out--it's the second paragraph down that's in bold writing!!!

spidermites

laura

O yes! The description of the mites and the plant condition fits exactly to what I observe.

And it says its difficult to get it under control

Hmmm...I ll try to get hold of a spray for mites...

Thanks loz!

Not a problem Nittrox....

Sorry you have spidermites, one of my plants had them once and I couldn't get rid of them...I ended up having to get rid of it. I was too worried about them getting on my other plants....

Hope you can get rid of yours, let me know how it goes okay.

laura

AMAZING! A few leaves on my English Ivy turned brown last week, the coming into work this morning it had a 'web' of sorts...and I didn't even have to post a new topic and the answer was here for me! My question is.... I had 3 plants in the same window (side by side) the other two seem fine. How come only one of the plants would get the mite and not the other two?? And where do the mite come from...would it have to be off another plant? Must have been the new catus I set beside them??
My poor Ivy's going to have to get a bath or two...I think I've caught it in time though... assuming I can get rid of these little buggers!

Oh thats a question I wanna ask too...Of the 2 stems in the pot, its only one that got infested.

And I didn't even get a new plant lately...

I hope Malathion helps...m goin to try that tomw.

Gluck with your plant Amber and thanks Laura. I am little depressed with the thought that I might have to get rid of my plant too.

Spidermites are difficult to get rid of but worth trying before you give up on the plant. Try thoroughly spraying with an isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)/water solution at a ration of about 1:8 with a squirt of dish soap added. Be very thorough, especially on the undersides of leaves and don't forget all the little crevices where the critters are hiding. Repeat the application in a few days to ensure you got them all, then as needed. Remember, complete coverage is the key to eradication!

Cricket

Applied rubbing alcohol all over...lets see if it works...

Thanks for the tip, Cricket...look fwd to updating this post with some good news, if I get lucky with the spidermites!

BTW, ur name Cricket reminds me of this English game (like our baseball) that I lOve watching... I have to love all ur posts now :-D