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What's Eating Your Houseplants?
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If you had your houseplants outside, enjoying brighter light and humidity during the warm season, they're probably back indoors now. Unfortunately, sometimes you bring in more than you bargined for. You might discover that you've adopted a colony of aphids, for example. Never fear- in this article, we'll help you sort it out.
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Take a close look at any houseplants that have been outdoors. If you've got hitchhikers, they'll often hide in crevices, beneath leaves, or in the soil itself. If possible, you'll want to remove your plant from its pot and inspect the roots, as well.
Choose a spot with strong light for your inspection. You may want a magnifying glass to get a better look. You can also use the macro setting on your phone's camera.
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See anything? If so, isolate the plant right away to prevent the problem from spreading.
Here are the most common creatures that you might spot, and how to deal with them. Bear in mind that most treatments will need to be repeated over a period of weeks to break the pest's lifecycle.
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These little plant vampires can be green, black, brown, yellow, red, or gray. They're able to reproduce at will, so even a single aphid can create a population explosion.
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If you find them feeding on your plants, spray off the leaves using a solution of 20% dish soap to 80% water. Follow this up 20 minutes later by rinsing the leaves with water. Repeat as needed until all the aphids are gone.
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Fungus gnats are annoying, but in large numbers they can also damage plant roots by burrowing into them or chewing off the root hairs. They're members of the fly family,
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which means that they're susceptible to the naturally occurring BTI bacteria used in mosquito dunks and granules. Dissolve these in water, and then use that water whenever you water your
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houseplants for the next month, until the last of the eggs and larvae die off. You can also spread a layer of fine gravel over the surface of the soil, as the adults can't lay their eggs in gravel.
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Mealybugs & other
Scale Insects
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Like aphids, scale insects suck the sap out of plants. There are lots of different types, including root mealybugs, (pictured far right) which attack the roots of a plant rather than the leaves and stems.
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Root mealybugs will need to be dealt with using a systemic treatment (see 'Using a Systemic Safely' below.)
The more common mealybugs and other scale type insects can be killed with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. This will deal with the near microscopic "crawlers" from some types of scale insects. Adults can be spot removed using isopropyl alcohol on an old toothbrush or a cotton swab.
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Spider mites are in the spider family, and like spiders, they make webs. Since the mites themselves are tiny, the webs might be the first thing that you notice on your plants.
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You might also see tiny yellow dots and discoloration on the leaves where the spider mites are feeding.
You'll want to act as soon as you see any sign of spider mites, because they're among the most rapidly spreading and destructive houseplant pests, capable of killing plants in short order.
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Spider mites like warm, dry environments, so isolate your plant somewhere cool and/or moist, such as a bathroom. Spray or wipe the plant down all over with horticultural oil.
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This will smother the spider mite's eggs as well as targeting the adults. Repeat applications periodically until you don't see any more mites.
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Thrips are even tinier than spider mites, but they multiply like mad, laying eggs inside the leaf tissue where surface treatments can't reach them. The emerging
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larvae eat the leaves from the inside out, leaving telltale damage. Because they're inside the plant, they're best controlled using a houseplant systemic. (See below.)
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If you need to target the entire plant at once, use a product rated for houseplants, such as Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Control. The insecticide is taken up by the plant's
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roots so that any insect feeding on it will be affected.
Although there are lots of outdoor systemics on the market, don't be tempted to use them! The concentration of insecticide will be too high for houseplants.
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are coming!
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Grab your friends and sign up early for our holiday workshops! These fill up fast every year, so reserve your spot at hoerrnursery.com/workshops.
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Better yet, book an appointment with our We Design You Install team, and let us take care of it! Miley and Ben can give you a great landscape plan to work from, tailored for your space. You'll be able to beat the booking rush in spring, and get straight back to gardening!
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