Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!! Well not exactly, but still scary.
Let’s talk about some common houseplant pests!
Houseplant pests can multiply quickly indoors and infest many of your prized plants. The indoors can provide perfect environments for these little bugs - warmth, moisture, and light! It is essential to regularly monitor your plants before infestation gets out of control and knowing how to identify these pests is step one!
Gnats
Identifying fungus gnats on houseplants is relatively easy as they look like small fruit flies crawling over the soil or flying around your plants. The difference between fungus gnats and fruit flies is that fruit flies are attracted to fruit and garbage, not your beloved houseplants.
Gnats thrive in moisture. Overwatering your plants is the quickest way to attract them. Overwatering causes root rot and fungus, a gnats favorite snack.
Here’s what we recommend:
Start by isolating your plant, we don’t want these guys to jump ship to a new host!
Purchase houseplant sticky traps and/or neem oil
Let your soil dry out!
Aphids
Aphids are tiny pests that suck the sap of houseplants. They are commonly a green color, which can make them hard to spot on plants. But these tiny insects can be almost any color—black, yellow, red, brown, or blue. There are even fluffy, white aphids that are sap-sucking plant pests.
If you have an aphid infestation, you may see clusters of them on young stems and leaves. You may also see a sticky substance or a black sooty fungus on the leaves.
Here’s what we recommend:
Isolate your plant, wipe down all the leaves with either just water or a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol.
A simple aphid destroyer spray you can make is dish soap and water. Put in a spray bottle and apply daily until the aphids have gone.
You can also use neem oil
Spider Mites
Spider mites are one of the most destructive pests. The most common way to identify spider mites is by checking for silky webs on your plant. Because these bugs are so small, they are extremely hard to spot. If you can see spider mites crawling around plants, that usually means the infestations is huge and its critical to act quickly.
Here’s what we recommend:
Isolate your plant, check surrounding plants as well
Mix together a combination of neem oil, dish soap and water, or isopropyl alcohol and water, and wipe your leaves thoroughly.
Use the neem oil spray weekly to eradicate spider mites. Even when the spider mites have gone, continue using neem oil every two weeks to spray as a preventative measure.
Spider mites prefer warm, dry conditions, to prevent further infestations keep your humidity levels high.