Stop Spider Mites From Invading Your Home By Sprinkling Your Plants With This

Nothing is worse than watering your houseplant one morning only to discover it's been infected by spider mites. These pests have a tendency to travel, so if one plant is sick, chances are your whole collection is about to get infested with a colony. And mites are stubborn. It usually takes several days, if not weeks, to eradicate them, depending on how big the infestation is. And if you're not careful, they can kill your plants. These troublesome pests feed on the contents of plant cells, and they are often too small to see with the human eye. But you'll know they're there if you see a silvery, web-like sheen on your leaves and perhaps brown stippling. If they feed on the plant too much, the leaves will also turn yellow and shrivel up. Luckily, one pantry staple can help you fight them off: cinnamon.

Most people have a jar of this cozy spice in their kitchen, making it an easy remedy to use to jump into immediate action. Rather than having to run to a nursery or order a specialty item from Amazon, you can just use something you already have on hand to stop these pests from ruining your lovely plant collection. Here's how.

Cinnamon is naturally antimicrobial, repelling spider mites and killing them upon contact. It also interrupts their breeding cycle, so it will help guarantee that a new round of pests won't take over your leaves in a week or two. To use it, simply dust the leaves and dirt with a light sprinkling of cinnamon. You don't want to use a heavy hand, as you don't want to block the leaves from absorbing sunlight or getting sufficient airflow. Spider mites also like to nest on the undersides of leaves, so dribble a mix of cinnamon oil diluted with olive oil onto a cotton ball or paper towel and use it to wipe down the leaves. Make sure you dilute it, or else it might burn your leaves.

It's also beneficial to spray down your plant in the shower or use the spray attachment in your kitchen sink since that blasts off a good portion of the mites. Once you do so, make sure to reapply the cinnamon. You also want to ensure you're using fresh cinnamon instead of an old jar from last year since it will be more potent and, thus, more efficient. However, keep in mind that this won't kill the eggs already in the soil. To destroy the mite eggs, apply neem oil regularly to the dirt.