Insects On House Plants

Insects On Household Plants Lots of people like to bring nature into their dwellings in the form of plants. Luckily there is a broad range of plants that have adapted to the conditions in which we live. They have become adapted to the reduced light, twenty-four hour warmth and the constantly dry atmosphere. Some more than others, it is a fact, but most people go for indoor plants that are easy to look after.

For most people 'easy to maintain' involves giving the plant a cup of water every week.

However, some individuals are willing to take more trouble with their indoor plants and spray them with a mist of water, dust them off and feed them from time to time too. The more time you spend on your plants, the more likely you will be to spot infestations of insects.

Some pests thrive under the same conditions that these plants like. If you only pour a cup of water over your plants once a week, you may not notice populations of insects thriving on your plants until they have done lots of damage or even killed the plant. In truth, insects seldom kill their host household plants, but they will frequently make the plant fairly ill.

This sickness might show up as fading leaves, leaves dying and falling off, leaves becoming spotted or curling or a wilting stem. Usually, problems come when the soil is overly wet as well.

This is a condition that may come about if you only water once a week and then give too much water to make it last a week.

Red spider mites are a common indoor plant insect pest that thrives under wet conditions such as these. An infestation of red spider mites is a significant problem for household plants. If it gets truly bad, the leaves will fade, fall off and the plant will die. Red spider mites can breed very rapidly and move from plant to plant around your house.

Spider mites are like ticks and can be green-to-yellow or red, They are so tiny as to be very hard to see with the naked eye, so the easiest way to see them is with a magnifying glass or you can hold a dark card under a leaf and then tap the leaf a couple of times.

Inspect the card for signs of movement. When you know that they are there you can kill them with the correct spray from your plant shop. Check your watering habits for that pant. For example, it may be better to give less water more often.

Shell insects are also very hard to see without a magnifying lens. When you do magnify them, they look like a blob of wax stuck to the stem or leaves. They suck the plant's sap and so will stunt or even kill a plant over time. The easiest way of removing them is by the use of pesticide.

Mealy bugs look as if they have crawled out of a bag of flour. They are whitish-grey and are easily noticeable, usually on the underside of the leaves. You can brush them off or apply a suitable insecticide. It may take a couple of weeks to kill the bugs and their eggs.

Ants and green fly can also attack larger indoor plants, but they are easier to spot and treat.

Wash the aphids with washing-up water and kill the ants with poison.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on numerous topics, but is currently involved with Insect Removal. If you have an interest in gaming, please visit our website now at Pest management at Home.