spider mites on Syngonium Podophyllum Albo
Quick answer
If your Syngonium Podophyllum Albo has spider mites, the most likely cause is: The Syngonium podophyllum (Arrowhead Vine; Nephthytis) encyclopedia entry in the cited reference explicitly lists spider mites as a documented pest, with the mites colonizing the undersides of leaves in hot, dry indoor air, spinning fine white webs in the leaf-stem junctions, and sucking leaf cells dry so the leaf surface - especially the chlorophyll-free white 'Albo' sectors - speckles, wrinkles, turns yellow, and drops.
Start here:
- 1. Shake the variegated foliage over a sheet of white paper and look for moving red or yellow, spiderlike specks to confirm an infestation, then spray repeatedly with water to rinse off the dustlike pests and their webs from the leaf-stem junctions where they concentrate.
- 2. Follow the rinse by spraying the entire plant - top and underside of every leaf, including the white sectors - with insecticidal soap, repeating on a weekly basis until no moving red or yellow specks shake loose onto the paper held beneath the foliage.
Why Syngonium Podophyllum Albo gets spider mites
syngonium podophyllum albo
The Syngonium podophyllum (Arrowhead Vine; Nephthytis) encyclopedia entry in the cited reference explicitly lists spider mites as a documented pest, with the mites colonizing the undersides of leaves in hot, dry indoor air, spinning fine white webs in the leaf-stem junctions, and sucking leaf cells dry so the leaf surface - especially the chlorophyll-free white 'Albo' sectors - speckles, wrinkles, turns yellow, and drops.
How to reverse spider mites on Syngonium Podophyllum Albo
- 1
Shake the variegated foliage over a sheet of white paper and look for moving red or yellow, spiderlike specks to confirm an infestation, then spray repeatedly with water to rinse off the dustlike pests and their webs from the leaf-stem junctions where they concentrate.
- 2
Follow the rinse by spraying the entire plant - top and underside of every leaf, including the white sectors - with insecticidal soap, repeating on a weekly basis until no moving red or yellow specks shake loose onto the paper held beneath the foliage.
Keep spider mites off this Syngonium Podophyllum Albo
Maintain humidity at 40-70% around Syngonium podophyllum 'Albo' because spider mites thrive in hot, dry conditions, deter them by misting the foliage frequently with a hand-spray and grouping the plant with humidity trays or a humidifier during winter when indoor air is driest, and inspect the underside of the variegated leaves on a routine basis for the first signs of stippling before the white tissue is permanently scarred.