It is hot and dry in Atlanta. We still are in a drought.

Gardeners everywhere, what do you use to fight and defeat spiders and their mites?

Spiders don't eat plants - they eat mosquitoes and other bugs that could harm the plants, so we leave 'em alone. They are very abundant towards the fall, and then disappear when the temperature drops. The spiders with the fat abdomens are garden spiders and should be relatively harmless. I'm not sure what you mean by mites, though. You can try spraying your garden with vinegar or citronella oil.

Ditto Demetrue. Spiders are mostly harmless. Having lots of them is probably a good sign that the garden's healthy and in balance. Now, if you're talking about spidermites brought on by lots of warm, dry weather (I've only heard of them being a problem for indoor plants) then lots of blasts of water from the garden hose will help. The water knocks them off the plants and changes their environment to one they don't take to.

I relocate spiders to the back of my yard using a broom. I just hate walking into their webs and just want them away from me.

I live there too. Some people don't understand how huge our spiders get!

The best way to deal with spiders in the house is to hire a pest control service. They come once a year, usually in autumn, and spray the places where the spiders nest. A good one will take switchplates off the walls and spray inside them, too. Other than stepping on them, this is the only way I know of to control the "indoor spider." My pest control guy told us that spiders will usually not be inside unless there is something for them to prey on -- other insects (silverfish, etc.)

The outdoor ones are good for your garden, and an essential part of the ecosystem. But they do get huge, especially the orb-weavers (the black and gold striped ones) and the wolf spiders. It's easy to move the orb-weavers with a broom, since they relocate readily -- they spin a new web every day. The wolf spiders are the ones that look a little like tarantulas. They are fabulous predators, and I guess the best way to deal with them outside is to get used to them. But any wolf spider that manages to get inside my house is a dead wolf spider.

We have a pond, so get the occasional black widow outside. I've had the pest guy spray the yard when that has happened. Black widows love dampness and especially damp rocky environments; often, they will set up shop inside the air conditioner condenser unit outside. Most of the HVAC guys are used to them. That's why they tend to wear gloves in summer.

Spider mites are completely different; I think they prey on aphids maybe. A water spray will often take care of them. If not, you can spray the plant with any of the insecticidal "soaps" and that should do it. They will kill plants by sucking the moisture out of them, so they need to be controlled.

Generally in Atlanta if you don't have a pest control service you just need to get used to spiders!

I would agree with the response(s) that spiders are a good sign in the garden. Leave them alone. Mort, why do you want to get rid of them?

Spider mites are not baby spiders. Similar but different, like dogs and cats, they both have 4 legs and fur but are different creatures.

Spider mites can be a problem on plants. If so, leave the spiders and lady bugs alone and they will help control them. If they are out of hand and doing damage, go to a garden center for advice.

Spider mites spin sticky webs like spiders but are not spiders. As said, leave the spiders in a garden alone. They kill pests that eat your plants.

There are many types of spider mites, but if you are noticing your plants are in distress and find their webbing and little black or red spots on the underside of leaves, then those are signs of spider mite infestations. And in dry hot conditions two types of spider mites can cause huge damage - Two-spotted sider mites and red mites. If you want a natural way of getting rid of them, and depending on how large the infestation is, blasting the underside of the leaves of plants, trees, shrubs and flowering plants, with a water hose does work. The water gets them off the leaves where they hide in several different stages of their development (eggs, larva, nymph and 8 legged adults) but also the water creates a less appealing environment for their feeding. You can also use horticultural oil and soap to 'wash' the plants. Or rely on natural predators that you can introduce into the garden but that is more of a long term solution. Extreme measures require special insecticides called 'mitricide' but such insecticides are not to be used lightly.

Spider mites winter over so you may be faced with the same problem again if you don't try to get rid of them this year. But wet cool weather keeps them under control (although some kinds of mites like cool wet weather too)


I have had a problem with red mites in my crabapple trees for several years. Some years, the leaves are practically destroyed by August but the trees don't die so they exist in some sort of balance. This year the mite problem is less severe - probably because we have a wet summer here.

Would introducing lizards help?

Thanks for the good information. ~smile~

I had sort of forgotten spider mites are different than spiders. It's the spider mites who suck the life out of various types of plants. I did some cleaning up yesterday, using the soap and water treatment.

Some spiders can be dangerous and the bites are painful and can make one sick, such as that from the brown recluse spider. I got bitten by a small brown recluse earlier in the spring and had a fever for a couple of days. The swelling made it apparent the bite was from a brown recluse. One reason we have so many spiders is my neighbour (as well as several neighbours in the complex) grow a lot of English Ivy. Spiders love that plant.

Brown recluse is a whole 'nother story. You can develop necrosis and lose a limb from a brown recluse bite. Don't hesitate to go to Urgent Care to get treatment if you see a spider bite swell and turn purple.

OMG you got bitten by a brown recluse? That's the one I'm afraid of. Black widows you can see. Brown recluses are tiny. You were lucky; I've heard much worse stories about brown recluse bites.