Mites?

[AppleDapples]

Hello all!

I've got a gardenia that I had brought inside my house back in the fall when the weather started to get colder. Initially, it did not do so well, and I had a few issues with yellowing leaves that I got some great advice on in the Indoor Plants section of this website.

Anyway, now that it's on track to being healthy again, I've noticed that most of the leaves seem to have these small white/yellow specs, mostly on the underside of the leaves. They don't appear to be moving, but I did notice that in the soil there are small white bugs crawling around. I don't know if they are separate events, or if the bugs in the soil are somehow related to the specs on the leaves. The bugs don't appear to hop, so I do not think they are aphids, and as far as I can tell they only seem interested in the soil. The leaves themselves are whole, with no chew holes or anything of the sort. There appears to be a very small amount of fuzz/webbing type material, but only on a few of the leaves, and only very very slightly. I googled pictures of spider mites, but the webbing in those photos are substantially more significant than the ones on my gardenia, if you can even call them webbing.

My questions are, are the two things related? Are either of them harmful? And if so, what is the best course of action to remove them without harming the plant? I've included a few pictures of the leaves, but unfortunately the bugs in the soil are very small and do not show up well on my camera against the soil. (they are smaller than a grain of rice)

I'm not even 100% sure the bugs/specs are negatively affecting the plant, but as I mentioned earlier, the plant is in a sensitive state to begin with and I'd like to eliminate any unknown variables on its path to a full recovery. Plus I could do without having bugs in my house, even if they only stick to the plant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Chuck]

I see no sign of either mites or other damaging insects, but, having said that it would not be inappropriate to do preventative measures to insure that nothing will happen as far as insects or fungus is concerned. I would recommend that you spray every 2 weeks with Neem Oil.

 

[Becky]

Agreed

I've had spider mites on indoor plants before and it was awful, they ended up killing the plants Prevention is always a better idea!

 

[IcyBC]

I can see a bit of white dots, and I would do what Chuck's said, lol..He knows what he is talking about. The thought of mites is terrifying, especially indoor for me, and I'd like to kill them all before it's infested..I am just a chicken when it comes to bugs!

 

[claudine]

I'd repot the plant and change as much soil as possible. Also, I think you could try to wash the leaves with water and dish soap. It will scare spider mites off

 

[arthnel]

Yea I also recommend getting the plants sprayed. Looking long term the plants may be affected if those are eggs. When they hatch out who knows what those little things won't eat from the plants. Get them spray and ask for something to spray the soil too. Some plants don't like to be uprooted and replanted and it can shock the roots and kill it. See if you can get a spray that will do the trick for the leaf invaders and the soil ones also.