How do you keep plant pests at bay?
By Fleur
@Fleura (34927)
United Kingdom
November 24, 2015 4:52am CST
After reading a post about houseplants by DaddyEvil http://www.mylot.com/post/2864390/houseplants-anyone
I wondered how all you plant-lovers deal with pests.
I seem to be waging a never-ending war of attrition against pests on my plants, mainly aphids and scale insects. I try not to use pesticides so I waste a lot of time washing the plants with soapy water or spraying them in the shower. In the summer I put some outside in the hope that some sort of natural pest-control like ladybirds or birds will intervene, but sometimes this seems to make the problem worse and at the end of summer I have a plant just covered in scale insects and sticky with honeydew and black sooty mould. And I bring in slugs from the pots that have been outside.
Aphids especially carry diseases and both aphids and scale insects will literally suck the last life out of a plant. Both secrete honeydew which fosters growth of sooty mould – and this isn’t just unsightly but clogs the plants’ leaves and also makes a horrible mess on nearby furniture and curtains which cannot be removed from soft furnishings. And I have plants on every windowsill in the house.
My partner thinks I should just throw out affected plants, and of course there is a limit to how many times you can carry a large plant up and down to the bathroom. I have resorted to using a systemic insecticide about once a year on larger plants but I don’t want to promote resistance. How does anyone else avoid or overcome this problem?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2015.
8 people like this
7 responses
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
24 Nov 15
You scared me then, I had never noticed any pests attacking my orchids so that made me think that perhaps I just hadn't seen them, I had to go and check! But no, mine seem to be pest-free even though there are scale bugs in the house. One of them was given to me by guests a few years ago and it is just flowering now again and seems fine!
In my house the scale insects mostly go for my citrus plants (like the clementine pictured) and a large umbrella tree (Schefflera) which are both a real pain to deal with as they have so many small leaves, and the Schefflera is far too big to get into the shower!.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)
• China
25 Nov 15
It is really a pain to see those insects indulging themselves in wanton on the potplants .Some tell me that using 4:8 vinegar and water to spray on the scale insects can kill them.I will have a go at my cape jasmine .
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 May 16
I've never had houseplants or greenhouse plants, so I haven't had to keep the ladybugs out. All my calendula and my wormwood growing outside suffered a horrible aphid infestation for two weeks. The ladybugs came in and ate them all. Don't know what to do with the black sooty mold on the wormwood, though. The ladybugs left it for me. It's amazing how they got rid of the aphids in just two weeks. They just kept at it. The photo shows what was the most heavily infested plant after the ladybugs finished with it. The stems used to be covered with red aphids and you could barely see the green stems.
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@sofssu (23660)
•
24 Nov 15
Here is something I have tried and tested.. I never throw away any of my plants. I cut off all affected portions and burn them up. Then I remove much of the leaves especially the ones in the lower portion of the plants and then give then a good wash with one part to ten parts of dish soap and water. I also use the same solution to spray every week until the plant is bug free.
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