How to Get Rid of Spider Mites With Rubbing Alcohol
Spider mites are tiny brown or yellow pests that live on plants and spend most of their time feeding off the bottom parts of leaves. You can tell you have spider mites when you see silky webs on the leaves and/or stems of the plant. They cause discoloration of the leaves and eventually kill the plant. There are several methods that can be used to kill spider mites, one of which is rubbing alcohol. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Analyze plants for spider mites. Separate plants with spider mites away from plants without them immediately. This will help prevent the spider mites from spreading to other plants.
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Make a mixture of rubbing alcohol, water, vegetable oil and dish soap. Fill up a one-gallon jug with water adding a tablespoon each of vegetable oil and dish soap. Add one-fourth cup of rubbing alcohol. Place the lid on the jug and shake up the mixture. The oil is good for the plant and the soap will help clean the leaves, making them appear shiny. The rubbing alcohol will simply kill the spider mites. You can also fill up the jug halfway with water and the remaining half with rubbing alcohol. This is best if you have a large infestation of spider mites on several plants.
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Spray the rubbing alcohol mixture onto the plants with spider mites. Focus mainly on the bottom of the leaves of the plants where the spider mites can be found. Make sure to spray on top of the leaves and the stems of the plant as well.
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Repeat spraying the plant every three days. The spider mites should be completely gone after two weeks of using rubbing alcohol. If you still have spider mites on your plants then you may have to turn to a pesticide that will definitely kill the spider mites but can be harmful to not only the plant but children and pets that are around.
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Tips & Warnings
It is best to use all of the rubbing alcohol mixture since the alcohol dissolves. This will avoid wasting the rubbing alcohol.
References
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