Monday, September 12, 2022

Prayer Plants and Spider Mites

I have a terrarium set up that is full of some of my favorite plants sitting in pots above a layer of rocks and water.  Most of the plants are prayer plants, but I also have a nerve plant and a black velvet alocasia in there.  I noticed that my newest plant, which was a White Star Calathea that I bought on my birthday, was not looking too good.  I saw bugs on it, but I told myself they were probably just harmless springtails because I really didn't want pests.  Well, upon closer inspection, I saw webbing and knew I was dealing with spider mites.  😰  

I removed each plant to carefully inspect them.  As far as I could tell, the White Star had the most pests and damage.  I saw some mites on my Vittata, but thankfully the other plants seemed okay despite how close together they are when in the terrarium.  I sprayed down each plant to remove as many of the mites as possible.  I then sprayed each leaf with Neem oil.  I returned the plants to the terrarium and am hoping for the best.  I thought about separating the two I definitely saw mites on, but I don't have a good spot to isolate them, I don't want to risk the mites spreading to my other plants, and it's likely the mites were already spreading to the other plants in the terrarium so I am trying to contain the mites to just those plants in the terrarium.  

I realize that I may not have the time or tools necessary to eliminate these pests, so in case I lose all the plants in the terrarium, I decided to take pictures of them to remember how beautiful they are.  I adore the beautiful patterns, variations, and colors of these plants.  I guess at this point my plan is to pull the plants out each week and spray them down with Neem oil.  Hopefully that is enough!  I especially don't want to lose my White Fusion.




















This Manjula Pothos is not in the terrarium, but since I had my camera out and was already taking pictures of some of my favorite plants, I decided to get some pictures of the newest, gorgeous leaves on my manjula.  



 

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