Shoutout to the spider mites that took out my basil in 4 days before I caught on

Simon Hunt · 2026-10-18T09:10:03.351272+00:00

So I'm on the third floor in Oakland and my window box of basil had been killing it since March, making pesto every other week. Last Tuesday I went out to grab some leaves and there was this fine webbing on the underside and the leaves looked dusty, like someone had sprinkled powder on them. I figured it was pollen from the parking lot, wiped it off, went to work. Four days later the whole box was dead, leaves curling and beige. I yanked everything, bagged it, and sprayed the box down with water and a bit of dish soap, then waited a week before putting new starts in. Now I check the undersides every Sunday with a flashlight. What do you all do to catch these early, do you check daily or is there a trick I'm missing?

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Shoutout to the spider mites that took out my basil in 4 days before I caught on | Balcony Veggie Gardens - Hub Chatter