A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 what is this pest?

Hello all!! My sweet potato plant has an uninvited guest of some sort - it appears to be some tiny species of insects that's building webs? I don't have a digital camera to take a picture...The leaves have a sticky substance right where the leaf stems meet the leaves themselves, and the leaves are covered with tiny webs that look like cobwebs and are full of little white specks. The leaves themselves aren't spotted, they're just turning yellow. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Thank you!!!!
Noelle from Philadelphia

Sounds like spidermites. When I had an indoor ivy (a spidermite magnet) I used a mixture of a little mild dish soap and water in a spray bottle, sprayed every inch of the plant every week for about three weeks (covered soil with plastic bags) until they were gone. I think I also rinsed the leaves afterwords.

A little rubbing alcohol and water can also help, just make sure plant is not in any sun until it's dry, or the leaves can turn white!

Yes, after I posted I saw the info about spider mites in the "houseplant pests" section. Thanks so much for the suggestions, I'll try them out.