The difference in spider mites and tiny spiders?

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dividedsky Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) Jun 23, 2009

My basket of nasturtiums and a marigold is looking a little weary, couple leaves are dying. I thought it was just because they were getting beat up by the storms. But on closer inspection, I'm finding a lot of fine webbing and a tiny spider or two. How can I tell if it's just a baby or tiny spider or if the plants have spider mites?

This was the best picture I could get. I'm usually good at macros, but this thing is incredibly tiny and moves very fast. It looks like a spider to me, but I can't tell . . . .

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dividedsky Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) Jun 23, 2009

Here's something that might be a cause for concern: This leaf was folded in half, and when I opened it I found this webbing. That's not good, is it? I found another one on the back side of a leaf, but the leaf wasn't folded like that.

Any advice?

This message was edited Jun 23, 2009 12:17 PM

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 23, 2009

The spider in your first picture is way too big to be a spider mite. And in the second picture, that probably isn't spider mites either since they live on the undersides of the leaves. The way I usually spot them is I'll notice a stippled pattern on the plants' leaves (which I don't see on yours), then when you look VERY closely at the underside of the stippled leaves you'll see some really, really tiny reddish brown dots. Sometimes you'll see webbing if the infestation is bad enough, but sometimes you won't.

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dividedsky Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) Jun 23, 2009

Thanks for the information. I'll let it do its thing, then, and not worry about.

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