What's eating my peperomia serpens?

Peperomia serpens, a trailing houseplant with small heart-shaped leaves, is most often bothered by mealybugs hiding along its many stems and by spider mites in dry indoor air. Fungus gnats can attack if soil stays soggy. Overall pest pressure is low when the plant has good airflow and is not overwatered.

Waxy white fluff nestled at stem joints and leaf axils; leaves may yellow and growth stalls. Remove by hand with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab; follow with a neem oil spray applied every 7–10 days for three cycles.

Tiny pale stippling on leaves and fine webbing on stems; foliage looks dusty or bronzed. Shower the plant to dislodge mites, then apply insecticidal soap spray to all surfaces. Increase ambient humidity above 50%.

Adult gnats hover around soil; larvae feed on fine roots, causing trailing stems to look limp. Let soil dry between waterings; use yellow sticky traps and a Bti-based soil drench to break the larval cycle.