Oh Boy.. You finally got MITES????! Congrats...lol Seriously. There was sone good suggestions here.. Thsi is what I do and I have yet to have a spider mite issue in my greenhouse, although that is not to say I don't have at least one mite in there.. In fact, when containing any kind of plant in any confined area, that is the chance we take and in fact quite common. Personally I thing every one of us folks that grows indoors has at least one pest or two. The key is to accept it, not to panic, never be disappointed if you think you rid them all and see on again, keep on top of them, never letting them take control, and prevention. I always keep a fan circulating the air in mine. I use a spray bottle, you know, the kind you spray pesticde out of, the big pump ones and spray my plants early in the a.m as frequent as possible. It keeps the air humid in there all day, keep the plants clean and discourages any pests.. The fan prevent disease problems and allows me to use water this way. I would not use all that Neem..It will eventually suffocate your plants if you use too much too often, including buds and new growth. I would use a good horticultural oil in a spray end bottle or one that attaches to a hose. Why don't you drain your hose so it won't freeze up or keep it stored inside until you use it again? That is what I do. I always have access to a hose even when it's below 0 Too, keep the area clean of debris and dead leaves, especially on the floor and on the shelves..I would also spay your pots and all surrounding area.. You should be able to fight this with ease//to be honest, i would rather have mite than scale or mealy.. Hopefully you have gained some good ideas from us here... P.s..Find a way to consistently spray down your leaves with water and keep a fan going..This alone will help prevent many issues! Mike

Lots of spiders have willy-nilly webs with little or no obvious (to human) symmetry. When I take the dog out for his morning run early in the morning before the dew is burnt off, they magically appear in the evergreen boughs and all over my veggie garden in the indentations in the soil. I'm talking hundreds of them before the walk is over if I'd care to count. When the dew is gone, they are inconspicuous. I give thanks for all those wonderful predators out there waiting for bug meals. Webs floating in the air is just exactly what Rhizo said they were spiderlings ballooning out from their nests to new territory. Natural event. You'll see the stipling before you notice any webs from spider mite populatons. If you suspect spider mite infestation and it's heavy enough to cause webbing. Knock the branches off over a piece of white paper or your hand, and look for almost microscopic dots moving around. Those are spider mites. Identify your pest before you spray anything but water.

Thanks for the input. I thought about this situation and I've got a new theory. Hear me out... I think the spider population has been growing over the last couple years as a result of the scale problem. First, the river rock mulch has stressed the Holly shrubs, which has made them more vulnerable to scale. The scale produces honeydew. This, in turn, attracts ants to "farm" the honeydew. The spider population has been increasing to feed on the ants. Its kind of like a nasty little eco-system, so to speak. And the timeline is about right since I didn't attack the problem once I originally noticed it two years ago. Plus, I see ants traveling all over the shrubs. So anyway, as an update... I've sprayed high-powered water under most of the holly leaves to dislodge the scale. But I'm hesitant on using horticulture oils now given the sun and heat at this time of year. I'm thinking of just spraying it with the horticulture oil in the late winter/ early spring, when scale is more susceptable. Any thoughts on this? (I'll leave the spiders alone, but not their webs. Our shrubs resemble those of "The Adams Family.")

First, spider mites are much rarer on outdoor plants than many folks suspect. They dislike cold and high humidity and will seldom be present in winter or early spring - they prefer the heat and dryness of summer....or indoor conditions :-) And they are relatively easy to control on outdoor plants by simply hosing down the plant frequently with water. The webs are from regular garden spiders = harmless and beneficial. Second, Japanese maples are rather prone to damage and dieback from late spring freezes. But they are very recoverable as well. Generally, it is best to just leave them until later in the season after they have releafed and you can see what portions may actually be dead and then remove as needed. They are much tougher trees than most imagine. Thirdly, the insect on the spruce looks like an aphid or adelgid (aphid relative). These too are also relatively easy to control, starting with just blasting them off the tree with a strong stream of water. Or you can resort to more serious chemical measures if necessary.