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indigo_skye

Help Me Get Rid of the Blasted Spiders!

Indigo_Skye
11 years ago

In general I do not mind spiders, or any bug for that matter. But I am having a serious issue, and have for many years now, with spiders and their webs all over everything! My porch and all the furniture and plants, plants and trees around my house and yard and ESPECIALLY my garage where they seem to have developed The Spider Hilton!. At the beginning of spring I took everything off of the porch and scrubbed it down from ceiling to flooring. Also scrubbed all of the furniture and accessories on it. Next I sprayed all around the perimeter of the house, especially the porch where I like to sit and around the plants and flower beds around the house. But dangit, they are coming back and I can't take it anymore. I hate seeing the webs covering my beautiful laceleaf weeping japanese maple. And I the fact that anytime I try to weed my flowerbeds the webs have taken over not only the plants but also the dang mulch! Can anyone give me a WORKING remedy as to how to get rid of these pests once and for all?

Comments (36)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    the link says: Pyrethrin is a highly effective insecticide used for centuries against all types of insect pests.

    and mentions spiders ...

    and now you will say.. that you forgot to mention.. no chems ... lol

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    no, actually growing up in Florida where bugs are EVERYWHERE I learned early on that you either killed them with any means necessary or you suffered the consequences! Funny, I think I remember Pyrethrin from Florida with all the mosquito spraying that was done there on a regular basis. Although I think it was DDT that the "Bug Man" trucks sprayed when they drove through the neighborhood.

    Since Pyrethrin comes from the pyrethrum daisy, I wonder if I planted those around my house if it would help to ward off the creepy crawly wee beasties?

  • hortster
    11 years ago

    The abundance of spiders indicates an abundance of food for them, namely many other insects. Unfortunately, without chemical means you can't control the food source, scrubbing or not. Sounds like you're stuck with nature's best insect control (the spiders) unless you chemically inundate your yard and your surrounding area! Even that might not work depending on your particular locale since eventually the food source will return unless you wish to live in a chemically induced environment for life.
    Personally, I welcome and appreciate spiders for the job they do. My own bane is the brown recluse, something to really worry about. I have (literally) 30 glue traps throughout the house in the darkest, most remote areas of my home that I have to change out about every five or six months. When I do, there are maybe 20-30 of them on each trap. Ain't been bitten yet...knock on wood.
    But, having said that, spiders are nature's bug control. Learn to live with it - honest, they are really doing you a favor...
    hortster

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    hortster, I really don't mind spiders and like I said I grew up in Florida so we welcomed the common wolf spiders in the home because you knew that you wouldn't have a roach or palmetto bug problem. But the issue I have with these is that they are infesting EVERYTHING in site. My plants suffer from all of the thick nest they are creating and I can't even enjoy sitting on the porch because they are all over that as well.

    We also have brown recluse and black widows in abundance here. I have found both of them in my garage and yard several times.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    11 years ago

    Indigo, planting pyrethrem daisies will not act as a repellent.

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    well darn. Nice thought though. May still plant some because they were quite pretty :)

  • Kimmsr
    11 years ago

    The presence of spiders can indicate there is plenty of prey for them. Keep in mind, however, that spiders are, for the most part, passive insect controllers, they weave a web in hopes of capturing some food. One major problem is that most of us were brought up believing the presence of spider webs indicate either someone that was not a good housekeeper or was a witch.
    Around here we sweep away the webs every week, or more often as necessary, and otherwise do not get overly anxious about them. Inside we are more diligent.
    Due to COPD, Asthma, Allergies, Emphysema, spraying any poison to try to control them is not an option. Spraying those poisons should not be considered by any one else either.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    ok .. listen to me.. i will yell ... FORGET ABOUT YOUR PLANTS ... its natures way .. see link ... but nothing is wrong

    you plant a garden to emulate nature.. and all of a sudden.. when nature takes hold of your garden.. you want to remove one layer of it.. the insects.. let them be ... out there ...

    as to your porch.. etc ... find the right product.. and spray everything down ... deck.. walls.. eaves.. chairs.. etc ... and enjoy your little corner.. while mother nature takes care of the rest ...

    and i do NOT know if the pyrethrum is safe to use that near to you.. i said.. the right product ... [and i am sure rhiz will object on some level.. due to her own situation]

    and jean also touches on something i forgot.. most infestations .. of shy creatures.. involves you ... going out there once a week or two .. of course they will be there..

    if you stake out your territory.. and go out there every day/night.. sooner or later.. being shy.. you will drive them from your territory ... just by being there.. some random sweeping.. repeated spraying with a hose in the morning.. etc ...

    stake your claim ... to your area .. and let them have the rest ...

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    11 years ago

    Ken, I have never objected to the use of any kind of chemical pesticide because of my own 'situation', but because I honestly believe that there better, more efficient, and longer lasting methods. I even believe that many pesticides can be used safely...it's just that they seem to fall into the wrong hands too often.

    Indigo, my garage and my storage shed are havens for spiders, too....especially black widows. I've discovered that occasional dustings with boric acid (you can find it sold as Roach Pruf) AND horticultural grade diatomaceous earth has helped keep them to a tolerable (?) population. Look for both of those products in almost any garden outlet. Don't use the pool filter diotomaceous earch.

    I now store my empty plant containers and stacks of plastic flats and cell packs in sturdy plastic bags after discovering one year that widows had taken up residence between each and every pot and flat. I had the willies all summer long after that.

    We also inspect and sweep the outside of the house and under the outdoor furniture frequently. I don't mind any of the other spiders at all....just the black widows.

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well I don't think these spiders like the light all that much. Seriously. I'm in the middle of cleaning out my garage right now, which is used primarily for storage and lawn and garden stuff. the door isn't kept open, except just enough for the cats to crawl under to get to their food and water. And both the garage and porch lights are rarely on. The porch lights are on a sensor only when I'm off and don't expect to get back before dark. But when I say the spider webs are an issue I mean like as in a horror house at halloween! We have issues with brown recluse and black widows here, even saw one on the garage wall last night. But I can't sweep the entire garage and ALL of the contents every week. There is just too much stuff in here to do that not to mention it takes an entire day to empty and clean the garage.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    but because I honestly believe that there better, more efficient, and longer lasting methods. I even believe that many pesticides can be used safely...it's just that they seem to fall into the wrong hands too often.

    ==>>> thats what i meant ... not simply the physical situation .. but the metaphysical situation also .... i would go nuclear.. you would have other options ... neither better than the other ...

    there are a multitude of options to get on top of this..

    but making excuses.. and just complaining.. isnt going to get you very far ... you either want to do something.. or you dont ...

    the gauntlet need be thrown down ...

    ken

  • ronalawn82
    11 years ago

    Indigo_Skye, I feel confident that you have done all the right things to get rid of spiders - which are not insects.
    Spider mites make webs.
    Psocids (that last image?) also make a 'web'.
    I'd look into the problem a bit more closely.

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Spider mites perhaps, and whatever else you said. But they were in the company of DOZENS of these beasts! This one and several more were about the size of a quarter.

  • Indigo_Skye
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Then there was this rather interesting one, bigger than a nickle but not quite as big as the others. Must say that I've never seen one with colors and markings like this one

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    11 years ago

    Have you looked up Brown Widow spiders? Some experts say that they are more common than Black Widows, in the Southeast.

  • smitties
    11 years ago

    I had trouble with garden spiders in the past. I am not a spider lover so when I found the big ones, my hubby would carry them across the street in a jar and put them in the corn field. I don't like using any kind of killer even if they say it is "safe" for fear it would hurt the bees. I ended up with praying mantises about three years ago and my spider issues was gone. I know these guys also eat butterflies and have been known to even grab a hummer but it is nature doing its thing. I had tons of butterflies last year so there must be plenty of things for the mantis. I keep the population down by carrying them to the neighbors wild flower field as well. I do enjoy the praying mantis so keep as many as I can around.

    I am not sure where you can get them but I believe it is possible to order them on line.

    Good luck because my alternative at your place would be to stay out of my yard. LOL

    Margo

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    11 years ago

    Ha! I carry praying mantids away whenever I find them in my yard, lol. My husband had been known to take them to work with him where they have a few hundred acres to roam around on. They are not welcome in my yard.

  • zalexander1
    10 years ago

    i know this sounds crazy but it you put walnuts around the perimeter of your deck or wherever you do not want bugs for some crazy reason(walnuts contain chemical toxic to spiders, so theyâÂÂll steer clear of them) it works you may have the odd spider but the majority of the insects will flee im not sure why but ive been doing this for years with my deck and it works, you can also put them on windowsills and goodbye household insects :D hope this helps! it sure did for me

  • calliope
    10 years ago

    We don't have the issue so much with poisonous spiders here, but I used to live in the South, and can understand the issues with brown recluse and black widows. I was bitten years ago by a brown recluse and it made a believer out of me. I still have the crater on my butt where I sat on a blanket it was concealed in on a swimming outing. It had been stored in the trunk of a car in a garage on the farm. I also rented a house once and it was just infested with them. The landlord had a bunch of their furniture and belongings stored in an unused room in that house and they were evidently breeding there and crawling out every night to hunt. yuck. If you have exterior lighting you keep on every night, you may be encouraging a lot of insect around your porch that the spiders find suitable for their diet. That could help with the porch issue if you do not keep decorative or yard lights on unless you really need to use them. As for the garage or other storage areas..........well............do not keep a pile of 'stuff' stored there. What you do keep, keep in large plastic bins, sealed tight or like Rhizo does in sealed plastic bags and use caution accessing them.

  • espritbonne
    9 years ago

    Indigo, even though the geometrical shapes on your spider are different from those on this spider in my photo, (brown widows have a wide array of shapes on their backs) I'm pretty sure the spider you couldn't identify is a Brown Widow. We have tons of them all over our backyard here in Burbank, CA. Southern California has been inundated with them over the past decade, I've read. They all have an orange or yellow hourglass on the belly side of their abdomen. I moved this one in my photo to an empty field near our house a while ago, before I realized there are tons of others in our yard, sitting in webs they've built in the leaves of our orange tree, fig tree, and lemon tree. This one's web was in a leaf of our lime tree which is young and has less leaves, so it was easier to spot the spider. Today, there are 3 more brown widows in that lime tree. And literally countless numbers of them in the older citrus trees. I can definitely identify with your frustration. :-( Haven't spotted any in the house or garage yet. I guess since the pickins are so good in the yard. Fingers crossed they'll stay in the trees. They definitely make picking the fruit from the trees an exciting challenge. But they seem very shy and although their venom is reportedly more potent than a black widow's, I've read that it doesn't seem to spread throughout much of a victim's body as a black widow's venom does. (We're taking solace in stuff like that, since we know they're here to stay) Sigh.

  • oldgardenguy_zone6
    9 years ago

    If your finding the brown recluse the best way is to buy some of the cheap sticky traps you can a 4pack at walmart for a couple bucks( there labeled for mice and are black rectangular ) and put them were you can't see them exp. under dressers under the bed in a closest you will be surprised > I remodeled our 100 yr. old home and kept finding them when done I put out the traps ( which an Orkin employee told me about) I rarely see any now that was 7 yrs. ago but at first the traps were loaded 12 traps some had 10-15 on them after being set for 6 months

  • aurorawa
    9 years ago

    Indigo_Skye, those last spiders are not black widows or brown widows. They belong to the genus 'Steatoda' - ('Steatoda grossa' to be exact)- false black widows. Black and brown widows belong to the genus 'Latrodectus'. False brown widows have greatly displaced our native black widows.

    Their bites are medically significant, but minor, without any long-lasting effects. Definitely not as dangerous as a black or brown widow.

    You could try trapping, but it is time-consuming. Food grade diatomaceous earth will work, and you can make a perimeter around your house with it. But you run the risk of also killing off other beneficial insects and it doesn't solve the issues of webs high and low (which a broom will take care of). Pyrethrins will also work, but I am wary of them, for the same reasons as you. Maybe a combo of diatomaceous earth, traps, and sweeping?

    Here is a link that might be useful: False Black/Brown Widow

  • d.dee
    9 years ago

    marigolds are supposed to repel bugs.

    i battle spiders..the past few years i have been vacuuming them up a lot in the spring , lots of house work!
    and when i see eggs, screens, outside window sills back of the house type of thing.....try to get them before the eggs hatch .i made a dent on the population and we have less this year.

  • Veronica_Daw
    9 years ago

    I too have spiderwebs covering almost everything outside my home in my yard and garden. I know that spiders are good but there should be a balance. There are so many that my blueberry, raspberry, tomato, and other plants suffer from the spiders covering the leaves and making a home by curling the edges of the leaves to live inside. The spiders that cover my Japanese maples and weeping cherry trees are different. They take an entire branch and cover all the leaves on the branch. I take a Webster to my whole yard at least once a week but that's not enough since they are back over night. For my green house, I take the Webster with me every time I go inside which is multiple times a day. Toxic chemicals are of course not an answer since I still need to live here and maybe someday, eat the feeds my plants are trying to produce. The most interesting post so far, i thought, was the one about walnuts. I will try this but I hope that more people will continue to give suggestions.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    Using walnuts, chestnuts, Osage orange fruit (monkey balls, hedge apples), etc. to repel spiders are old wive's tales or garden myths. There is no scuientific evidence to support them. In fact, sprinkling walnuts around your deck or house is more likely to attract squirrels or other vermin than it is to repel any spiders.

    Spiders are one of the most beneficial of our garden companions, as they are huge consumers of various insect pests. They do NOT harm plants. Using any sort of chemical to control them outdoors is just opening up the potential for more problematic and troubling insect worries down the road.

    Just let them be. If you must, search out egg nests and destroy. That will reduce populations in later seasons. But you are never going to be rid of spiders nor do you want to be. And you can always take a stick or broom to the webs if they are in your way, but the fall presence of spiders is a very temporary and seasonal issue. They will have pretty much disappeared after the first frost.

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    9 years ago

    In a repot, I will flip the plant upside down, bareroot and wash off everything. No less than 2 days later, there's a web. Or today, I put my tray of seeds outside....a cookie tray. Bringing them in, I found 8 web strings...no spider.

    I can appreciate balance....and I'm not against spiders taking up this or that corner. I leave them alone. I have one, aptly named Charlotte (3 pts for originality, I know) that resides at the top corner of my storage cabinet out there, I'm fine with that....but these spiders shooting webs from ceiling to plant, roof to roof, pot to pot, beam to beam....wow. I bought a bbq lighter just to burn off the webs. A quick run over with the lighter doesn't do anything to the plants and eradicates the web in a millisecond.

    I do look ridiculous doing this 5-6x a day but hell if I care. I primarily have white spiders, brown garden spider looking things, and some green ones. At this point, I don't care what kind they are...I just want them off my patio.

    I feel ya, original poster. :)

  • Kimmsr
    9 years ago

    Spiders build their webs where there is a good chance that the webs will capture the spiders food source, insects (bugs). Sometimes that might be around or near a light source (insects are attracted to light), or in the dark, or anywhere else where an insect could be trapped.
    Sweeping the web away may not do much since the spider often simply build a new one in the same place, although sometimes sweeping the web away also sweeps the spider away.
    Spraying pesticides to control spiders, especially inside the house, can create an unhealthy environment for those living in that house. The best means of control is to trap and move those spiders.

  • Shaun Ebert
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I don't have a problem with what spiders do, just what they do to my siding

  • oldgardenguy_zone6
    8 years ago

    Shaun you have food source somewhere close or the spiders wouldn't be there in that great of numbers try spraying that side of your house with soapy water Dawn would work or better an insect soap then power wash there in a few days .

  • Shaun Ebert
    8 years ago

    I live on a pond, so there is a food source and unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it. (Except move) I think because my house is white, and there is a street light that shines on it, the bugs and spiders like to congregate there.

  • oldgardenguy_zone6
    8 years ago

    That could be it you could put up a diif color siding but wow the cost of getting rid of spider poop . I know this sounds a little weird but when I was doing an insect col. for bio. class I hung two white sheets then put a 4ft black light up to shine on the sheets and every bug within sight was on those sheets got an A on the variety and number I got . this might look odd and a little tacky if you have anyone living close by. Or just power wash every week I would still try the soap to knock down the spider population do it every time you see spiders reappearing.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    8 years ago

    Shaun, I feel for you! The bottom level of our two story home is brick and hides the spots that spiders leave. And I surely do have lots of spiders around the perimeters! This morning, in a very heavy dew, our home looked like we had been visited by a Halloween decorating committee overnight!

    Perhaps THIS attached link will offer some advice and possible cleaning agents. I hope so.

  • scootoir
    7 years ago

    We recently bought a house close to our old house and based on the webs on the patio cover this one had LOTS of spiders outside. It was so annoying to fight our way through them with a broom. Last month we had a canvas-covered metal gazebo removed from the patio and replaced with an open trellis style cover in "alumawood". It has made a huge difference. They guys who took out the gazebo said there were black widows in the corners. So glad that is gone! Still have some spider webs on the outdoor chairs but nothing like it was.

  • tuscanpeasant
    6 years ago

    Mmm...Tough decision. It looks like you're going to have to burn everything to the ground. :)


  • k legaspi
    2 years ago

    Dont do it. it will unbalance your ecosystem. They are good!
    just my humble 2 cents. Take care. You know, there is wiley r e gi me using t r o l ls to make usa have chaos. So youre prolly a nice real person , but just in case not, Im pointing out the spiders eat bugs that are not so desireable

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