Okay, so I was out checking my tomato plants the other day, here in Nebraska. Weather’s been weird, hot then cool, you know how it is. Noticed these tiny, tiny red specks on the underside of the leaves. At first, I figured it was just dust or maybe some weird soil splashback from watering.
But then I looked closer. Like, really squinted. And damn, they were moving. Little red spiders, basically. What folks call spider mites, I guess. Loads of ’em starting to build up those little webs they do. Pests, plain and simple.
Dealing with Tiny Annoyances
Seeing those little red things really took me back, funny enough. Not to another time I had spider mites, but way back when I first moved into my place here. Had this one faucet in the bathroom. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drove me absolutely nuts. Just a tiny little drip, right? Seemed simple.
I tried everything I could think of, everything folks online suggested. Changed the washer, tightened this, replaced that. Spent a whole weekend on it. Felt like I took that thing apart and put it back together a dozen times. Still dripped. It wasn’t a big flood, just this persistent, annoying little problem that wouldn’t quit. Felt like wrestling smoke sometimes. Just couldn’t get a grip on the real issue.
Back to the Bugs
Anyway, the spiders. Realized ignoring them wasn’t an option, just like that drip. They’d just take over. So, first thing I did was try blasting them off with the hose. Gave the leaves a good hard spray, top and bottom. Seemed to help for maybe a day?
- Got the hose out.
- Sprayed the heck out of the leaves, especially underneath.
- Checked the next day. Still saw some.
Right, that wasn’t quite enough. Remembered reading somewhere about soapy water. Simple stuff. Grabbed some dish soap, nothing fancy, just the regular kind. Mixed a little bit in a spray bottle with water. Not too much, didn’t want to hurt the plants.
Went back out and sprayed everything down again, really making sure to coat the undersides of those leaves where they hang out. Had to do this a few days in a row, actually. Persistence, like with that stupid faucet (which I eventually fixed by replacing the whole darn fixture, by the way).
Keeping Watch
Seems like the soap spray did the trick, mostly. Numbers are way down. But you gotta keep checking, especially when it gets hot and dry like it does here. They’ll come back if you let your guard down. It’s just one of those things you deal with gardening here. Constant vigilance, you know? Just like keeping an eye out for drips, I guess. Little problems need attention before they become big ones.
