Question
my hibiscus appears to be dying. I noticed little spiders on the underside of leaf, leaves are yellowing,falling off and no shine
on leaves. The flower branches are limp. Can you help me? What is happening, are there multiple problems going on?

















I am trying to grow a hibiscus in a large flower pot. I have notices the leaves are yellowing and falling off. Some leaves have holes I notices little spiders on the underside of the flower. The shine on leaves has faded and branches appear limp. Can you help me? Your advice will be appreciated.


               Thank you








             Thank you

Answer
Gwendolyn,

I agree it sounds like spider mites are feeding on your plant. These tiny mites can severely impact a wide variety of plants and in fact almost all plants have their own spider mite pests. For houseplants and landscape plants the best control for spider mites is insecticidal soap. Be use to use genuine insecticidal soap not liquid household soap because the ordinary soap can damage your plants even further.

Here's an article about spider mites http://www.livingwithbugs.com/spider_mites.html that might be useful and an article about using insecticidal soap http://www.livingwithbugs.com/insecticidal_soap.html to control spider mites and other soft-bodied pests.

Post a follow up if you have questions after looking over this material.

Jack DeAngelis, PhD
Extension Entomologist (ret.)
My website about home and garden pests: http://www.livingwithbugs.com