Probably spider mites. Have you actually looked and seen them crawling around?

Segrgate from any other plants. Make a mixture of 50% water and 50% isopropyl alcohol (the 70% version).

Spraying it down in the shower will also help rid most of them. The alcohol will kill them on contact. You'll probably need to do a few sprays about every 4 days.

Thoroughly soak the plant with each spray. Make sure you get the top and bottom of each leaf and the stems too.

the soil looks like it's also very wet.

Hi, I didn't exactly see anything crawling but my eyesight is pretty poor so that doesn't really mean anything. I did see webs though. There were tiny little black specks on the undersides of the leaves but I couldn't tell if they were bugs or just tiny soil particles. I put the plant in another room but it used to be very close to another plant, touching it even. Should I worry about the other plant as well? Could they have transferred? Until I can go out and get the alcohol, I gave both plants a regular shower. I also read that I could use dish soap or hand soap with water?
Thanks for the advice

(btw the soil isn't wet, it's just dark)

You do not want to use dish soap or any hand soap. It'll break down the protective coating on the leaves.

The only kind of soap that would be ok would be pure castile peppermint soap. But you'd want to mix that with neem oil. That soap just helps suspend the neem oil in the water so you're able to spray it.

I'd thoroughly check the other plant it was touching and also treat it with the alcohol / water spray. Spider mites can easily transfer, even if the plants aren't touching.

The little black specks are likely the spider mites.

Your cheapest and easiest treatment would be the water / alcohol spray. A few thorough sprayings of that a few days apart should kill all the mites. You need to do a few applications because eggs will eventually hatch that haven't been killed. Pay close attention making sure you spray the underside of the leaves and the stems too. They like to hide there.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

You could treat the other plant as well if you suspect it may have them too. I would.

I've always been told not too use dish soap. I say just shower til you can pick up alcohol. I spray my plants with alcohol every watering just to ensure pest stay away.

I have sprayed straight rubbing alcohol on a palm of that type weekly for many weeks. It is still alive but never completely free of spider mites. You need something that will kill the eggs in the soil too. Spider mites really like those type of palms for some reason.

Damn. Wouldn't changing the soil help with that?

Yes, provided you get rid of and rinse off all old soil and if new soil doesn't have any eggs.

If you spray your plant, make sure all your other plants are far away. If they are spider mites, you'll be blasting mites and eggs all over the place in the shower.

I agree with the comments about dish soap. You should try to use one with a non-ionic long chain surfactant if you want to minimize damage (like insecticidal soap).

I was thinking I could maybe just take the whole plant out, wash it thoroughly in the sink, throw away the soil, wash the pot and get fresh soil? Would that solve the problem completely? Or would that be too stressful for the plant? (especially since I already did this in mid April, and the mites appeared after that)

If you dont damage any roots, I'm sure it would be ok. However, that doesn't mean the mites won't return, unfortunately. Even if one or two hang on, there will be another outbreak.

You could sterilize your new soil in the oven, though that would be a bit of a pain given the amount of soil you'd need. But you can google to see how, if you want to try.

If you're looking for only one treatment eradication, the only ones that can do so are probably Avid/Floramite/Forbid/other such systemic or translaminar pesticides.

One thorough washing may work, but I wouldn't count on it though.

"spider mites? Help!"

That question has been asked thousands of times before with the same good and bad answers. These days, the internet makes every problem an open book test. You should develop your skills at passing open book tests because I guarantee that you will face much worse problems in life.

Incidentally, ewwmayo is right.