When you decide to decorate your home with various houseplants then you should also get prepared to handle them with earnest care. As your houseplants can be subject to lots of insects and pests. These are called bugs when they roam on your plants. In this article, we are going to tell you how one can get rid of bugs on houseplants. There are various home remedies through which you can protect your houseplants from mites, creepy bugs, aphids, etc. They start living on the plant saplings, get into the soil, roots and can lead to serious damage if not removed timely.
There are different kinds of pests and bugs that can infect your houseplants. Some of them can be seen flying and some do not appear in front of the eyes. They are present in the form of bacteria or fungus.
Why houseplants get Bugs
The bugs and mites that appear on the indoor houseplants are more difficult to control in comparison with the outdoor plants because they can still be controlled by natural predators. The peak time during which your indoor plants are most likely to get infested with mites and bugs is winters. Lack of fresh air, the state of dormancy, and weaker plant growth due to the winter season lead to bugs on houseplants.
Let us now learn how to get rid of bugs on houseplants:
First, learn to Identify :
- If your houseplant has tiny spiders and spider webs on it or,
- There are white insects roaming around the leaves of your indoor houseplants or,
- If there is a net growth or cluster of bugs in different colors like green, brown or red on flower buds, plants.
- Fruit flies in white or black color are present inside the plant-soil or,
- Scales are present in the form of bumps, spots and you might observe stickiness around the plant leaves.
- Mealybugs are present on the plants in the form of white cotton.
Flying Bugs
Isolate your houseplants as soon as you find traces of infestation. The pests can multiply and reach the other house plants otherwise.
Clean the area where the plant was placed with alcohol or other soapy solutions because the bugs might hide in the area since you remove them from the infested plant.
Use natural cleansers and wash your plants keeping in mind the fact that do not use the soap which your plant is allergic to. Choose insecticidal or liquid soap. Do not forget to wash the pot and plant tray. You can use cotton and dip it into an alcohol solution to remove the bugs.
Long Term Solutions: Use neem oil if you wish to find pest repelling and cleansing solutions for longer periods. Pepper spray and horticulture oil are other forms of natural insecticides.
Other Ways
You may use vacuum cleaners in order to clean bugs on houseplants. This can be used to control a large population of flying bugs and make sure that you do not suck the plant’s leaves during the removal process. You can also use sticky stakes and traps in order to capture the little bugs and kill them.
In the case of Soil
In the case of soil, you can get rid of the bugs by removing the top layer of the soil and then refill the plant with fresh soil. Fine sand can further protect the soil from future infections.
Follow these steps if you wish to get rid of bugs on houseplants and the hard work would be fruitful. Bugs on houseplants can be present in various forms and you should not house them for long otherwise they can make things worse.