Thank you! How do I get rid of the spider mites?

You can mist thoroughly (that means lifting the vines to spray undersides of leaves & vines, too) with a mix of 1 part 70% rubbing alcohol to 1-3 parts of water at 4 day intervals. If you like, you can mix a little insecticidal soap into the solution too, but if you use insecticidal soap, add a tsp of white vinegar to a quart of the solution and use distilled water. Soaps precipitate from hard water which significantly affects their effectiveness.

Al

Thanks Al. Would you advise similarly for this plant (kept in-doors, just moved him outside for the photo). Looks like he has spidermites too

I'm guessing you have more than spider mites affecting your plants' vitality. There is a triangle formed by soil choice, watering habits, and nutritional supplementation that's pretty easy to get right, but tends to be rather limiting if you don't. The picture immediately above isn't saying 'mites'. It's saying over-watering and/or a high level of dissolved solids (mineral salts) in the soil solution. Both of these issues can be corrected, and your job made much easier, by using a soil you can water to beyond saturation each time you water (so you're regularly flushing any accumulating salts from the soil), this, without having to worry your soil will remain soggy so long it affects root health and root function.

Water and nutrient uptake is an energy driven process. The plant must 'burn' the food it makes in the presence of oxygen to produce the energy roots need to function normally. Roots trying to function in a half-soggy medium would be something like us trying to run a marathon while breathing through a drinking straw. You can imagine how performance would be limited.

If you're interested in more information about the basics of growing well in pots, Try Reading This. If you want to start a back & forth about how to put together a soil that will really help transfer control of your plants' vitality from your soil to you, let me know and I'll help with that.

Al

Amanda, can you show us closer pictures of the second plant? It looks like an Aucuba, in which case it is a hardy outdoor shrub in a lot of regions. We don't know where you are located but it is possible your plant would be happier in the ground outside. It's a pretty care free outdoor shrub.

"How do I get rid of the spider mites?"

I want you to do exactly what tapla said but remember to come back here and tell everyone how well that worked for you.

It's a proven, effective way to treat mites, but doesn't promise miracles. The plant is likely about to leave this world, but earlier intervention might have been very helpful. Hedera is simply not all that easy for the average grower to keep happy indoors.

Al

Hi, Amanda. If this is any consolation, I have had an English ivy for sometime (almost 2 years) indoors. I naively followed the advice of some "low maintenance houseplant list" that mentioned English ivy as being easy. Well, it is lovely, but as it turns out, it can be very, very temperamental indoors. While my other indoor plants like Chinese evergreens, peace lilies, dracaenas, and others have thrived indoors, this one just puts on a few tiny leaves every now and then. Beautiful plant, but not for the faint of heart, or impatient types, if you attempt indoors.