Pests on houseplants
Webbing, sticky residue, and tiny moving specks. Here are the pests each plant attracts and how to clear them.
23 plants in the care library show this
Fine webbing and stippled leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites — alocasias are a favorite target.
What to do
Rinse both sides of every leaf, raise humidity, and treat weekly until clear.
Fine webbing and stippled, dusty leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites. Alocasias are their favorite houseplant.
What to do
Rinse both sides of every leaf, raise humidity, and treat weekly until you see no new damage.
Sticky residue or fine webbing
Likely cause
Spider mites or scale, both common on indoor palms.
What to do
Wipe the fronds down, then treat with insecticidal soap every week until it is clear.
Fine webbing between the needles
Likely cause
Spider mites, which love its dense growth and dry air.
What to do
Shower it thoroughly, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem until clear.
Sticky leaves and white cottony spots
Likely cause
Scale, mealybugs, or spider mites — indoor citrus attracts all three.
What to do
Wipe the leaves, treat with horticultural oil, and repeat weekly until nothing new appears.
Fine webbing under the leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites, which move in fast when the air is dry.
What to do
Rinse the leaves, raise humidity, and treat with insecticidal soap or neem weekly until clear.
Fine webbing and dusty-looking fronds
Likely cause
Spider mites, which thrive in the dry air around most palms.
What to do
Shower the plant, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem until clear.
Fine webbing across the growth
Likely cause
Spider mites, drawn by dry air and dense foliage.
What to do
Rinse thoroughly, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem.
Fine webbing and stippled leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites, which love crotons in dry indoor air.
What to do
Rinse thoroughly, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem or insecticidal soap.
Fine webbing and speckled leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites. Ivy is one of the most mite-prone houseplants there is.
What to do
Rinse it hard in the shower, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem until clear.
Sticky residue or webbing
Likely cause
Scale or spider mites.
What to do
Wipe the fronds down and treat with horticultural oil or neem weekly until clear.
Sticky leaves and white cottony spots
Likely cause
Mealybugs or scale, both of which adore gardenias.
What to do
Dab the insects off with alcohol on a cotton bud, then treat with neem every week until clear.
Webbing and stippled leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites, the most common grape ivy problem indoors.
What to do
Shower it well, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem until clear.
Webbing between fronds
Likely cause
Spider mites.
What to do
Rinse thoroughly and treat weekly with neem until no new stippling appears.
Scale bumps along the stems
Likely cause
Scale insects, which settle on the woody canes.
What to do
Scrape them off and treat with horticultural oil, repeating every week or two.
Webbing and dusty-looking fronds
Likely cause
Spider mites, which thrive in the dry air indoors.
What to do
Shower the plant, raise humidity, and treat weekly with neem until clear.
Webbing between the fronds
Likely cause
Spider mites in dry air.
What to do
Rinse the plant, raise humidity, and treat with neem weekly until clear.
Webbing and speckling on the fronds
Likely cause
Spider mites.
What to do
Rinse the plant and treat weekly with neem until clear.
White crusty coating on the fronds
Likely cause
Cycad scale, which spreads fast and can kill a sago.
What to do
Isolate it immediately, wash the fronds, and treat with horticultural oil repeatedly until every trace is gone.
Webbing and speckled leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites, which find scheffleras readily.
What to do
Shower the plant and treat weekly with neem until clear.
White cottony spots in the leaf joints
Likely cause
Mealybugs.
What to do
Dab them off with alcohol on a cotton bud, then treat with neem weekly until clear.
Fine webbing under the leaves
Likely cause
Spider mites in dry air.
What to do
Rinse thoroughly, raise humidity, and treat weekly until clear.
Sticky leaves and floor
Likely cause
Scale insects, which weep honeydew onto everything below.
What to do
Wipe the stems, scrape off the scale, and treat with neem or horticultural oil.
Still stuck? These are the usual causes, not a diagnosis — plants sulk for local reasons too, like a cold draft or a pot that never drains. Tracking when you actually watered makes the pattern obvious, which is what DueDrop is for.