Spider mites
Fine webbing in the leaf joints plus pale stippling is spider mites — and Stromanthe is one of their favorite targets.
Diagnosis
Spider mites
What's happening
Spider mites thrive in the warm, dry air that Stromanthe hates, and this plant is notoriously prone to them. The tiny pests cluster on the leaf undersides and pierce the cells to feed, leaving faint pale speckles and stippling on top and fine, dusty webbing strung between stems and leaves. Left alone they multiply fast and the foliage fades and dries.
How to fix it
Isolate the plant so the mites don't spread. Rinse the foliage thoroughly in the shower, paying special attention to the leaf undersides, then treat every surface with neem oil, repeating every 5–7 days for three weeks to catch newly hatched mites. Raising humidity makes the environment far less hospitable to them, so a humidifier nearby is good long-term insurance against a repeat.
What fixes it
- Neem oil for pests — Neem oil smothers mites and their eggs — coat the leaf undersides thoroughly and repeat weekly until they're gone.
If that doesn't fix it
This is general guidance based on common symptoms; individual plants vary.
Read the full Stromanthe Triostar care guide →
Reviewed June 2026 · how we check this