I’ve been a lover of houseplants for as long as I can remember! Growing up, my mother believed that you simply could never have enough of them lining a mantelpiece or atop of a nightstand. As I grew up, I brought my Mother’s love of houseplants with me, but a few strange pests as well. Who knew that houseplants could attract so many creepy crawly bugs? As it turned out, I had unfortunately not inherited my Mother’s gift (and love) of all things pest-control! Fortunately, over a quick phone call, my Mother was able to share all of her pest control secrets for beautiful houseplants with me and I’m about to share them with you. If you love decorating with the occasional houseplant, these pest control for houseplants tips and tricks are an absolute must-know!
Pest Control For Houseplants
Did you know that houseplants can be infected by spidermites? It’s true, and your plant might be at risk if there are spiderwebs wove between the leaves! Have you heard of whiteflies? Or small bugs that hover around your plant? They could be infesting your houseplants, too. What about a mealybug infestation? An awful sickness usually characterized by white fluff on the stems and leaves of your plant? Chances are, one of your houseplants could be suffering from one of these diseases or infestations. But you can do something about it with the priceless pest control tips below.
Always Clean And Disinfect Pots
First things first! You can’t sustain a healthy plant in a diseased pot! Thoroughly scrub all plant pots before planting a new house in them to reduce the spread of disease or pests. Before repotting, I always like to run my pots through a diswasher cycle to ensure their clenliness!
Keep Infected Plants Isolated
If one of your plants comes down with an infestation or an infection due to a pest or disease, I find it best to isolate the sick plant during treatment to reduce the risk of infection.
Make Sure There’s Plenty Of Light
Keep plants healthy and pest free by placing them in an area of the home that receives adequate light and heat.
For Mealybug Infected Plants
If your houseplant stems are covered in a while fluff, they’re likely infected with mealybug! Unfortunately, the best treatment for mealybug infested plants is to simply toss them out and disinfect their pot before reuse. For prevention of mealybug, I like to cover my plants with a bit of Neem oil. It actually keeps bugs from coming back!
For Whitefly Infested Plants
Are your houseplants infested with white flies? Don’t worry! We won’t condemn it to the garbage can just yet! To treat plants infested with whiteflies, I recommend hanging fly paper around the plants to help trap the bugs. Introducing a few natural predators like ladybugs will also help to fight off whitefly infestations!
For Spidermites…
Dealing with those creepy, crawly spidermite pests? No longer! Spidermites thrive in dry, hot conditions so to get rid of them, I find it best to mist plant leaves with cold water. To prevent them from coming back, keep plant leaves clean with a mixture of Neem oil and water. Easy enough!
Houseplant bugs are always a difficult pest to fight against! To make sure my home is ready for all of their shenangians, I make sure all of my plants are throughouly inspected upon entrance (so many pests like to piggy back!) to my home. To make triple sure, I spray the plant leaves with a jet of cold water before moving them into the home. That’s often all that is needed to discourage pests from visiting your home in the first place! And now you have the best tips and tricks for pest control for houseplants!
Last but not least, here is a few more articles about plant tips:
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