Looking for the top techniques to remove spider eggs in plant soil? We got you covered! Read on and know about the proven approaches to limit spider infestation.
Growing healthy plants to get a completely safe and nutrient-rich harvest is quite a difficult task that requires both your energy and money. And the biggest danger which can harm your crop drastically is pest and insect infestation.
Many gardeners don’t know that the pests don’t only attack your plants to get food from them but also can lay their eggs inside your plants’ soil. These eggs keep on sucking up the nutrients and moisture of your beloved plants until it dies off completely.
Even if the crop survives this nutrient depletion, it won’t be able to survive the surplus amount of baby insects that would hatch out one day. And once the eggs start to hatch, the pest will attack your other crops and start crawling towards your house.
To prevent it from happening, the best thing you can do is to remove these eggs as soon as possible. However, before doing so, you need to identify the type of pest eggs that are laying in the soil. Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to stopping pest infestation. If you use any technique randomly without doing thorough research, odds are you surpass the pest infestation even further.
In this article, we are going to state some top techniques of removing spider eggs from your plant soil. However, before moving towards removal hacks, let’s discuss some essential points like identifying the spider eggs, their rate of laying eggs, their lifecycle, and the time you have to take action.
Table of Contents
Plants where spider mites lay eggs
The spider eggs are commonly found in almost all kinds of houseplants since there would be not any house where the spiders are not present. However, the most favourite plants of spider mites to lay eggs are rose plants, banana, strawberry, melon, watermelon, peas, mint, squash, and frangipane. Thus, if you are having one of these plants, you should keep searching for the spider infestation in their soil periodically.
Symptoms and rate of spider infestation
When the climate changes to hot and arid, these spiders start to find a moist, cold, and safe place to lay their eggs. According to an estimate, female spiders could lay 250-300 eggs in a week which would be enough to destroy every single plant in your garden.
Thus, If you are suspecting that this creepy creature has laid the eggs in the soil of your plants, it is better to search for the symptoms to confirm their infestation. Common symptoms include the formation of white spider webs around the plant. Also, the leaves begin yellowing and withering in the worst conditions.
If your plants are suffering from these conditions, you have to take immediate action since these eggs would hatch only in 1-2 weeks and the baby spiders won’t only kill your plants but also come out of the pot, someday, to hijack your house. To help our reader address this problem as soon as possible, we’ve penned down top sider eggs’ removal tips below.
Top Removal Tips
Non-chemical removal
If you are not willing to adopt any chemical remedy like using insecticides or pesticides, you can try one of the following techniques. Remember that most of these techniques work only if the infestation has just started.
Removing eggs by hydraulic pressureWater your plants using a jet nozzle. If you don’t have a garden hose or want to treat the indoor plants, you can also use the bathroom shower. Doing so will wash out the arachnids and eggs from the soil with high hydraulic pressure.
Replant your crop into a new pot and a new potting mix. However, before doing so, it is better to undergo proper hardening off technique. Also, if a part of your plant has started to dry or shows yellow blotches, cut that part off before replanting it.
If your plants are growing in garden beds and one or two of them start showing signs of infestation, brush out those plants to keep the other ones safe. After pruning the infected part of your plants, discard it properly, away from your crop to prevent contamination.
Removing eggs by inducing dehydrationIf your plants possess resilience against dehydration, then let your plants’ soil dry completely before watering it. The spider eggs, due to being sensitive, cannot sustain dehydration and discard out naturally. Remember that you cannot use this technique on water-sensitive plants.
This technique shows the results slowly and you have to repeat the process several times until all the eggs and mites get eliminated. Also, if you are using pure hydrogen peroxide, mix one-part with five parts of water and drench the potting soil completely.
Removing eggs by vacuumingWhen spider mites lay eggs in early spring or colder temperatures, they make an egg sac beneath the leaves or around the shoots. In such situations, you can remove the eggs by using a vacuum cleaner.
However, while killing the eggs, you also have to target the cobwebs along with the egg sac. After clearing all the sacs, freeze the contents of the bag to kill the inhabitants and then dispose of it in a properly sealed and secured trash can.
Chemical removal
Removing eggs by oil-based insecticidesIf the spider eggs are present within the potting soil of a non-edible plant, you can go with the option of using insecticides. However, even if you are not having any concerns regarding contaminating the edible produce, still it is recommended to use organic pesticides.
Some inorganic pesticides come with a huge toxicity level and can harm your plants extremely by burning their roots or deteriorating their chemical metabolism. In addition to the organic insecticides, also get the oil-based ones since the egg sacs of spiders are mostly water repellent and hardly get affected by the chemicals.
Before spraying the pesticides, wear all the protective gear and adopt all the safety measures to prevent any accidental damage. If eggs sacs are hanging around the shoot, target them directly with a generous amount of spraying agent. However, if the spider eggs belong to some venomous class of arachnids, get professional help.
Removing eggs by rubbing alcoholRubbing alcohol possesses strong killing properties and can kill a huge variety of pests, including spider mites, along with other houseplant pests. To use it, all you need to do is to apply some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel or cotton bud and wipe the plant leaves.
On the other hand, for removing eggs from the soil, you can also make a dilute solution of rubbing alcohol with water in a 1:3 ratio. Remember that the concentrated solution could burn your plant’s roots. So, you have to keep the concentration accurate – neither too light nor too strong.
Removing eggs by hydrogen peroxideHydrogen peroxide can change the acidity of soil which in turn kills the pests. Also, the hydrogen peroxide fizzes and causes the eggs and larvae to die. However, you cannot apply it directly and need to dilute it first by mixing it with water. To do so, mix four percent water with three percent hydrogen peroxide and feed this solution to your plants.
This technique shows the results slowly and you have to repeat the process several times until all the eggs and mites get eliminated. Also, if you are using pure hydrogen peroxide, mix one-part with five parts of water and drench the potting soil completely.
Removing eggs by home-made solutionsIf you can’t afford the high-end and safe pesticides, you better give a try to homemade solutions. For example, a water and Castile soap solution can act as an effective spider killer.
The soap contains fatty acids which act as a barrier and suffocate the mites. As a result of this suffocation, spiders get dehydrated and die off. To make it, all you have to do is mix one tablespoon of liquid soap with the lukewarm and spray it.
Besides using sprays, you can also apply the solution all across the plant body using a sponge. Try to immerse the plant heavily in this solution until all the spider mites and eggs die and your plants start showing healing signs.
The best part of using such water-soap solutions is that they are 100% safe for animals, kids, and pollinators. Also, the same solution can kill a wide range of pests like thrips, aphids, whitefly, and aphids.
Besides water-soap solutions, Neem oil is also a very popular and strong pesticide that is also safe for wildlife and humans. It kills the spider mites and damages its eggs by disturbing its hormonal system. In addition to eggs removal, you can also use the same solution to prevent pest infestation.
To make this solution, you need one teaspoon of liquid soap, two tablespoons of Neem oil, and mix them with Lukewarm water. After mixing thoroughly, spray the solution all across the plant, around stems, leaves, and anywhere you observe the egg sacs.
Using the same recipes and applying method, you can use rosemary oil and apple cider vinegar solution which is also a natural insecticide. Besides being safe, they also do not contaminate your edible produce. Thus, you can use these home remedies without fearing toxins or food contamination.