By Amor Chamness Cook
DEAR AMOR: I had an influx of spider mites in my sunroom last summer. How can I prevent that from happening again this year? Marsha
DEAR MARSHA: Spider mites are plant suckers. They are found mostly on the underside of plant leaves, feeding themselves on its milky sap by piercing the leaf tissue. They can infest our prized plants indoors as well as trees, shrubberies and vegetables in our home gardens outdoors. Indoor plants are most susceptible to this infestation.
A recommended way to determine if it was a spider mite that discolored and scorched our plants is to use white paper. Tap the leaf or branch of the infected plant with the white paper underneath it. If there are tiny eight-legged bugs crawling on the paper, then we have identified the pest that may have attacked ornamentals and vegetable plants.