Home Invasion

For the second time in a couple of years, our sheffelera plant (the tall tree like thing behind our loveseat, for those of you familiar with my home) has been invaded by tiny bugs. I can't remember what kind of bugs it was last time, but this time it is horrible, tiny spider mites. Last time the leaves became sticky- that was our clue. This time several leaves began to turn brown and shriveled from the tip on in. It didn't take long searching on google to find the culprit. Isn't the internet amazing? I learned that the test for spider mites is to shake a leaf while holding white paper beneath it. Sure enough, I could just make out a few tiny reddish colored bugs scurrying around on the paper. They are smaller than a poppy seed. So, we had to drag the huge tree outside and hose it down. It will have to be treated with some insecticide. It is such a pain. I considered tossing the entire plant out. But I couldn't. I'll bring it back to health as long as that is an option. It has a place in my heart. That tree was sitting in the middle of the living room in our otherwise completely empty house when we purchased it 4 1/2 years ago. It was something the previous owners had not wanted to bother with transporting. And, considering they had moved about 4 months earlier, the tree was looking very sad. But, we moved it into the window and watered it and it perked right up. It's been a part of our living room ever since.