Ok today I was admiring my Yellow Serbian Fig tree and noticed these tiny little white thingies all over the place are these spider mites and how do I kill these little buggers. Noticed tiny little webs on the leaves

Spider mites are a real nuisance to figs in very DRY
conditions. A safe way to combat them is to spray with
soapy water. They can also be busted off by a jet of pure
water. If else fails, there are stronger "contact" miticides available.
For YOUNG figs; e.g., in a GH (yet not fruit producing);
consider the heavy artillery like some "Systemic" insect spray..

Always read and FOLLOW the (legal) instructions on the
label of all insecticides...

I've always known spider mites to be red??? Maybe they are white at an earlier stage of development????? 

Thanks Gorgi I will give that a try could this be the reason why I have tiny dry spots on my leaves tiny like the size of a grain of sand on most of my leaves. I have been misting it with just water since yesterday afternoon but I will give the soapy water a try and see if that works better.

Thanks again

Tim the ones on my plant are tiny and white and are making webs under the leaves and between the lobes of the leaves they are so small that you really have to focus on a spot and wait for them to walk by and then squish it lol.

Sure sound like those nasty little spider mites! Gorgi gave you good advice on what to do.

Nelson Neem oil is effective also and safe. I would start with soap first if that doesn't work like George said neem oil might be next step HD and lowes carries it. I have used both with good results. If not a grease cutting dish soap you can add a teaspoon of veggie oil to help it stick and last longer. You must repeat every 7 days till they are gone or under control. You can also purchase Insecticidal soap at HD or Lowes. Or google Insecticidal soap recipes
Sal  

Thanks Sal I will write these down just in case . How often should I be spraying it with the soapy water twice a day enough ?

Do as Gorgi and Sal said.  I also use Olive oil a little to water and spray all under my leaves, ect.  The oil kinda keeps a little moisture that spider mites hate!  Not too much oil or it will make black oil splotches on leaves. 

once every 5-7 days non grease cutting dish soap the really cheap stuff If it cuts grease it will make the veggie oil in effective.
 My recipe
1 qt water
1/2 to 1 teaspoon soap
1/2 to 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
hope this helps shake well b-4 each use
I had a problem with scale and this is what I used along with adding alcohol to break down their hard bodies Not necessary for spider mites

Scale Bugs

In the juvenile or crawler stage, scales are translucent and take on the color of the leaf or stem surface. As they mature, scales develop a hard, dark brown shell that is more visible (the shell protects the scale babies underneath). The Scale bug comes in different colors such as brown, white, and black. And like the mealy bug, the scale bug also secretes honeydew on the leaf which resembles the stickiness of soda pop. Death of infested plants is possible in severe cases, but usually scale insects just feed by sucking plant sap and causing poor, stunted growth. If you see the honeydew, look for the pest.

Nelson
I lost a prize plant of a flowering tree that I had rooted from cutting last December. I had waited for the cutting for a long time before getting it. It rooted and grew last spring and summer. In late summer I noticed these white mites on the back sides of the leaves. I thought I had read before to use soap water so I used drops of dish-washing soap in water in a spray bottle and took care of them. White mites were no more but then a few weeks later the leaves became yellow, started dropping and there was no return. I guess I might have used high concentration of soap. So be careful about concentration of the solution or the type of soap to use.
May be it was lesson for me to stay with figs. They may not be hardy for our January and February outside weather but they survive other handling better than most plants.

Thanks Maggie I hate these darn little critters need to kill them asap.

Sal I hate Scale I was fighting with scale on my Pineapple guava for months until I got sick of trying everything and just junked it. I tried soapy water first that didnt work then straight alcohol that didnt work then I bought what the nursery used to get rid of scale that didnt work then I tried straight windex nearly killed the plant scale still there. My next move was going to be gasoline and set it on fire but I just tossed it in the garbage and moved on to figs.

Good luck and keep us posted
Sal

Nelson you have gotten great advise.
Just stay on top of them because in long run they can kill a plant i know first hand, also they like to hide where its almost impossible to get them which is in a newer emerging bud even though the bud leaves are tightly wound they somehow get in them so more than one app is needed thats for sure just watch the strength what ever you use.
Main reason i dont root little guys at the wrong time and have to keep them indoors its to much hassle for me.
Outdoors mother natures creatures keep things in check .

Ok more bad news seems my black yugoslavian also has it, good thing I kept my Hardy chicago plant away from those too and seems that its not effected however the ones on the Black yugoslavian plant are redish WTF!!! where these things come from these have been indoors since I started them from cuttings this summer.

Follow directions on store bought products, better less than more I know it is frustrating but patience is a must. I hope it works out, I am one of those that say well if it says 1 than 2 is better, but that is not always the case as I have come to find out the hard way not only with Figs
Sal

Ok thanks Sal I will see if I can buy some this weekend. Will the cold kill them? The reason I ask is because I have put the plant between both doors in my office wich it will eventually go to -5 celcius in the winter.

Hi All,

I have been reading the thread and since it is more than two years old I am not sure if I should start a new thread but here I am. I am having a similar problem of spider mites as well as something eating my fig leaves. I read the suggestions of soapy water and neem oil. The insecticide for fruits and veggies I have been spraying doesn't seem like it is helping. Infact I think I sprayed heavier than necessary as I noticed some leaves have black dried spots on them. I want to know if I can dilute neem powder which I have with water and in what quantities to spray on the leaves? This is a newbie I recently planted and its growing fine but infestation is worrying me immensely. Thank you for your suggestions.

Sometimes, pyrethians help with them, end all for example is a product that is somewhat effective, if you spray about 5-7 days apart and 3 times.  It is important whatever you spray to go at the interval of the life cycle, cold times maybe be 10 days, hot hot summer will be 3 days etc so 5-7 days seems to be fairly good.  If you can afford it or know someone who grows flowers or vegetables in greenhouses, persimilis works wonders, it will eat them but they eat each other when they spiders are gone.  Californicus works well for small spots and they can live on the plant without damaging it waiting for more hosts. 

The easiest and cheapest is the hosing them off with water several time.

I use neem concentrate diluted with water and it kills spider mites great.

But spider mites aren't white and fluffy, that would be a mealybug.

Spider mites will leave little webs between nodes.  Never seen them eat leaves, although they will bite into them, leaving dark spots behind days later.

If the little #%@!#@s persist you can also cut the leaves off of the tree and then focus your treatment on the branches. I have had luck with this after other methods had failed. Also, a lack of ventilation will often lead to spider mite and scale infestations so the fact that they have been inside for a prolonged period likely added to the spider mite problem. You will want to quarantine the infested trees until they are taken care of.

I hope they leave you alone soon!
-James

Chivas: I will check out your suggestions of pyrethians and persimilas. Thank you

Satellitehead: I saw a spider on a leave and when I read this thread I figured that could be spidermite. So, they could be the one biting on the leaves leaving black spots but I don't think I saw any webs but I will check again and then a mealy bug is eating the leaves. I will try the neem concentration today and wait and see if it helps, then hit the greenhouse as Chivas suggested. Thank you

Afigfan: Ventilation is no problem as this one is in my yard. But I will have to try your option if nothing works. Thank you

Ok guys off I go with everyones suggestions and let's see what happens.

And oh I forgot to mention I am in zone 7A.

For years I have been spraying my fig trees with 1 cup of Canola oil to 1 gallon of water, this works in killing the mites and white flies, spray especially under the leaves. Works for me.