Houseplant pests are the worst. Not only can they wreak havoc on that unique plant you found at the nursery, but they can spread. And fast. If you are dealing with houseplant pests, your best course of action is to diagnose and treat the problem. And fast. Here’s how to diagnose and treat houseplant pests in your own home.
Aphids
If the underside of your houseplant leaves has clusters of small brown, yellow, green, or red insects on them, you could be suffering from an aphid infestation. Apids will feed on the sap of your houseplants, they secrete a sticky dark juice on to the other leaves of your plant, causing damage and mold if not treated.
First, begin by pinching off any areas that are heavily infested. Throw this away outside. For heavy infestations, house down your plant with a safe insecticidal soap found here. For smaller spot treatments, apply Neem Oil to the affected areas. It’s a natural solution that kills insects on contact.
Fungus Gnats
If there’s one houseplant pest that I’ve gone through the wringer with, it would be fungus gnats! These small flies are the common bane of any houseplant owner. Though the flies themselves aren’t a problem, the larve feeds on plant roots and this can be a problem down the line. For a natural way to get rid of fungus gnats, mix one-part hydrogen peroxide with four parts water. Wait for the surface of the soil to dry out and then pour directly on soil. The hydrogen peroxide will fizz as it kills the gnats on the surface. Repeat until all are killed.
Mealy Bugs
Mealy Bugs are a common killer of houseplants and that might be because they look so unsuspecting. Wingless, and less than an inch long, mealybugs look like white cotton tufts in the corners of your plants. They attach to the stems and leaves of your plant, sucking out sap and then secreting it onto other leaves causing mold.
If your infestation is light, you can get rid of individual insects by dabbing them with a cotton ball or q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol. For larger infestations, I recommend spraying the plant every 7-10 days with a Neem Oil spray. The Neem Oil will kill the insects on contact and disrupt their life cycle. You may need as many as 3 applications to get rid of the problem completely. Mealy Bugs often affect Prayer Plants.
Scale
I have nightmares of scale infestations. Scale bugs are hard-shelled insects that attach to the stems and leaves of houseplants, sucking the sap and secreting them. In some cases they are soft-shelled (mealybugs are one of them). Because the insects are often large, brown, and go relatively unnoticed, these infestations can get out of control quickly. To treat, pick off the plants by hand (in most cases, scale insects will fall right off) or dab with rubbing alcohol. Next, give the plant spraying down with insecticidal soap, reapplying every 7 days, three times.
Scale insects can cause plants to yellow, begin drooping, and almost look “withered.”
