They are less than a millimeter in length and hence are not easily visible.. In case the problem is so intense, you can take a cotton swab, dab it in rubbing alcohol and wipe off the leaves with it. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, Story Collider, TED-Ed and OnEarth. The alcohol will kill the spider mites on contact. Use a sponge soaked in the water to wipe down individual leaves of the plant, or place the water in a spray bottle and spritz the underside of the leaves. I was about to try the tea, but then saw the rubbing alcohol - hope it works! Rinse the Plant. Lets begin by taking a look at what makes spider mites such a problem in the first place. Use a different swab for each treated plant. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/85\/Get-Rid-of-Spider-Mites-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Get-Rid-of-Spider-Mites-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/85\/Get-Rid-of-Spider-Mites-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/aid2931157-v4-728px-Get-Rid-of-Spider-Mites-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"