Black insects on houseplants how to fight. Mealybug on indoor plants: how to fight

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The greenhouse climate that we create for plants in the house makes them defenseless against many diseases. Most pests thrive at home. Abundantly fertilizing the earth indoor flower, we give a reason to develop a fungus, and dry and hot air during winter heating is very fond of spider mites and other insects. What measures should be taken to ensure that the plants in the house are as rarely exposed to diseases and pest attacks?

Once something comes up, you should take the following measures:

How to deal with pests?

A small white insect belonging to the white-winged family has more than five hundred subspecies. Most often, plants in greenhouses suffer from it. This rather dangerous sucking pest got its name due to the whitish coating on the wings. The female leaves the eggs on the underside of the leaf and after two weeks midges appear on it. The larvae adhere so strongly to the leaf that it is often very difficult to wash them off with a solution. It is they who cause harm, as they feed on the juice from the leaves and stems.

Fight whitefly with a solution methyl alcohol with water diluted 1:1. A solution of laundry soap also helps a lot.. You have to wipe each leaf of the plant, and if some of its parts are severely affected, then it is better to remove them altogether. The top layer of earth is removed from the home flower in a pot and the soil is treated with intexide.

If the leaves are small or the plant is planted in the garden, then simply spray it with a spray solution. Be sure to ventilate the area after working with chemicals. Sometimes you have to repeat the treatment several times.

To combat aphids, Derris is used, as well as ordinary soapy water. Decoctions of tobacco and wormwood have proven themselves well.

Most often, aphids attack flowering plants. For example, fuchsia and roses.

Thrips and scale insects

Thrips settle on the underside of the leaf plate of ficuses, palm trees and dracaena. Among all indoor flowers, these plants are the most susceptible to thrips attacks. The palm scale prefers all types of domestic palms. Get rid of insects with insecticides, which are sprayed on the plant, and also carry out root tillage in a pot.

Preparations for combating: Photoform, Aktara and Arpachi. Remember to wear gloves while handling flowers and ventilate the room.

This white bug very hard to notice due to its miniature size. It settles in the axils of the leaves, usually in a group, and feeds on plant sap. If treatment is not started in time, the plant may die. Favorable conditions for the reproduction of a mealybug are high humidity and a temperature of more than twenty-five degrees.

They get rid of the worm with the help of Photoform or Actellik solutions. And such a remedy as a soap solution with alcohol, taken in equal parts and thoroughly mixed, also works well for the destruction of these insects. Garlic infusion and olive oil diluted in water also help. . The leaves are rubbed with these solutions, giving Special attention sinuses or sprayed from a spray bottle.

The size of these insects barely reaches one millimeter. It is difficult to detect them at the initial stage. penetration, but subsequently characteristics the presence of a tick can be determined.

The plant is treated with drugs: Agrovertin, Oberon and Kleshchevin. And also use folk remedies, such as; infusion of dandelion flowers, tincture of onion or garlic. Hot water helps to get rid of the tick, for which they wipe the leaves with a sponge dipped in boiling water.

To rid the plant of wood lice, you will have to transplant into another pot with new soil. Be sure to rinse the roots thoroughly and hold longer in warm water. Thus, wood lice float to the surface of the water, after which they are removed.

Outwardly, centipedes look like caterpillars. They can get into the house only if the plant for a long time was on the balcony or stood in the garden. Millipedes love moisture. If the flower is watered a lot and plentifully, then in this way they provoke their appearance.

Centipedes are caught by hand, using various traps for this. You can put a flat object next to the flower, under which they will crawl, and then just remove them.

They fight with them with sticky tape, on which they, like ordinary flies, sit down. Such tapes should be hung directly near the plant, and in extreme cases, you can use chemical preparations. These are such means as: Aktara, Konfidor and Karbofos. They process the leaves and stem of the plant.

These are small thread-like worms that live on and feed on plant roots. In indoor flowers, they rarely appear and only if they have spent the whole summer in the garden. Most often they can be found in southern, tropical plants. When favorable conditions- heat and moisture, nematodes can eat the entire root in one season.

In case you get sick indoor flower there is no point in treating him. It is not recommended to use such chemicals at home, and the likelihood of infection through tools or a pot is very high, so they simply get rid of the flower.

Root onion mites

These mites are very tenacious and remain in the scales of bulbous plants even during their storage. Often, when purchasing a bulb in the market or in a dubious place, you can get infected material. If she has scales in brown dust, then perhaps the bulb was struck by a tick. With a strong infection, you can even notice hollow passages inside.

Fungal diseases and measures to combat them

What are fungal diseases?

diseased plants

The appearance of this pest cannot be confused with anything. This is a fairly large relative of the scale insect. Mealybug reaches up to 8 mm in length.

Female individuals of "hairy lice" have an undeveloped oval-shaped body, more characteristic of insect larvae. Numerous eggs are laid in special sacs in the axils of the leaves. The shoots on which the pest lives are covered with a sticky, waxy coating of white.

Males are not at all like females - they have wings and normally developed limbs, the body is divided into sections and ends in a bundle of tail filaments

With the help of their oral apparatus, females and larvae easily pierce the surface of a leaf, bud or shoot and suck the juices out of it. Young mealybugs are extremely mobile and easily move between plants. Sexually mature males do not feed, because as they grow older, their mouthparts atrophy.

Signs of a mealybug infection

To detect pests, it is enough to carefully examine a houseplant.

Main features:

drooping appearance, lethargy of leaves and shoots;
underdeveloped buds, deformed leaves;
white powdery coating with lumps;
small "mosquitoes" (male mealybugs) on the windows near the pots;
the presence of sticky mucus (honeydew) on all parts of the plant;
the presence of white blotches in an earthy coma during transplantation;
the presence of white oval insects.

Any of these symptoms may indicate the appearance of a worm. Not a single flower is immune from infection. Citrus, amaryllis, cycad and palm plants, as well as cacti, violets and orchids, should be taken under special control.

Often suffers from an azalea pest, the photo of which is given in the article. The pest attacks young shoots. Leaves stop growing and turn yellow. Azalea, whose photo demonstrates her beauty, struck by insects, is losing its former appearance.

Harm to the plant

The mealybug literally draws all the nutrients from the flowers, disrupting their growth and normal development. Sweet honeydew secreted by females provokes the development of associated fungal infections. Due to the sticky impermeable coating, the green pet's breathing worsens. This can lead to wilting and even leaf fall.

Mealy aphids (another name for mealybugs) do not give preference to a certain part of the plant, hitting everything that comes in its path. Under attack are not only shoots, buds and leaves, but also roots. If treatment is not started as soon as possible, the mealybug will spread to surrounding indoor plantings. In time, he will destroy them all. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately declare war if you notice a mealybug on houseplants. How to deal with a pest will be described below.

Causes of the appearance of the mealybug

Why do these harmful insects appear?

There are several main reasons:

The presence of eggs and larvae in the soil. Even purchased soil can be contaminated, so it is very important to treat it with hot steam before use.
Transfer of larvae with newly acquired plants. New pets should be kept separately and periodically carefully inspected. You can put them next to the rest of the flowers only after finally making sure that there are no pests.
Mistakes in care - low air temperature in the room, stagnation of moisture in the soil, insufficient lighting, excessive fertilization. Improper care significantly reduces the immunity of the plant, provoking various diseases.
The presence of dust on the leaves, irregular removal of dry parts.
Untimely replacement of earth in pots. Harmful insects can start inside a compacted earthen coma.
Poor quality water for irrigation.

Folk methods of dealing with mealybugs

Now you know how dangerous a pest is for plants. You can easily determine that a mealybug has settled on houseplants.

How to deal with such an insect? With a small focus of infection, you can try to get rid of it without special means.

Popular home remedies:

Infusion from medicinal herbs. To process the plant, you can use horsetail, calendula. Powder purchased at a pharmacy should be brewed with boiling water. After the agent has cooled, the plant is treated with it. To prepare the infusion, use the following ratios: 100 g of horsetail (calendula) per 1 liter of liquid.
Tincture of garlic. This is enough effective method mealybug control. Peel and mince a medium-sized whole head of garlic. Pour a liter of hot water and let it brew for 4 hours. Tincture of garlic is applied to the leaves and trunk with cotton wool or a sponge.
Oil emulsion. Mix 2 tablespoons in a liter of warm water olive oil. Spray the affected leaves with a spray bottle.
Soap-alcohol solution. For its preparation, it is better to take natural soap, without perfume additives. For 1 liter of water, 1 teaspoon of grated soap and 1 tablespoon of ethyl alcohol is enough. Spray the affected parts of the plant, avoiding getting the solution on the earthen ball. You can carry out the procedure 1 time in 3 days. It is necessary to wash off the applied agent a day after spraying.
Lemon tincture and orange peel. A surprisingly simple recipe that allows you to effectively rid the plant of pests. Take the peels of lemon, orange and pour boiling water over them. The ratio is as follows: 30-50 g of zest per 1 liter of liquid. During the day, the remedy should be infused. Then treat your green pets with this infusion using a spray bottle.

Mealybug chemicals

With the ineffectiveness of folk methods or large foci of infection, one has to turn to chemical insecticides.

Widely available effective drugs against mealybugs:

"Decis".
"Vertimek".
"Tsvetofos".
Nurell D.
Phosphamide.
"Bi-58".
"Actellik".
Fitoverm.
"Aplaud".

Special difficulties with such substances should not arise. The main thing is to carefully read the instructions and follow all precautions.

Affected plants should be quarantined. Usually 3-4 insecticide treatments are sufficient. If the pests still remain, you need to change the drug.

Precautionary measures

Make sure that the drugs used do not cause harm:

Use chemicals only in a well ventilated area.
Keep children and pets out of the way.
Use agents to avoid poisoning personal protection.

Preventive measures

Periodically inspect green spaces.
Replant grown flowers regularly.
Inspect the earthen ball during transplantation. Rinse the soil with hot water (about 55° C).
Properly care for flowers according to their preferences.
Timely remove dying parts of the plant. Dried leaves can serve as a convenient shelter for various pests.
Before planting, scald the pots with boiling water, and steam the soil.
Observe quarantine measures for new plants.

Insects are an integral part of any ecosystem, but they have no place on the landscaped window sills of apartments. Especially if a mealybug appeared on houseplants. How to deal with a pest, you know. Therefore, use any available methods. After all, healthy home plants without pests are actively developing and delighting the eye with bright greenery and abundant flowering.

Many flower lovers make a characteristic mistake - they do not remove enough attention to plants and do not carry out prophylaxis against diseases and insects. Pests indoor plants very common, despite the fact that the flowers are indoors. With improper care and violation of the watering or lighting schedule, insects may appear on the plants, which, without treatment, will quickly destroy the flowers.

A description of the main pests of indoor plants with photos and methods of control can be found in this article.

What are the dangers of indoor plant pests

The easiest way to deal with insects is with the help of special preparations. Most of them are contact, that is, they destroy the insect when a certain agent directly hits it.

are considered more efficient system tools. When watering and spraying, they get inside the culture, and make the juice poisonous, and any living creatures die when eating the leaves.

It is important that the treatment must be carried out several times in order to destroy not only adults, but also their larvae and eggs. Below is a description of the most common types of such insects, and methods of dealing with them.

spider mite

The spider mite is one of the most dangerous insects, since it is difficult to notice the damage to the culture at an early stage, and in the future it is almost impossible to get rid of it completely.

In temperate climates, spider mites can easily appear on flowers by simply flying in with a stream of air through an open window or window.

Symptoms

As mentioned above, it is difficult to determine a spider mite infection, but if you know the main symptoms, you can detect it in the early stages.

The characteristic signs of damage by a spider mite are(picture 1):

A variegated color of the leaves appears, and their surface itself looks dusty. This means that the leaves are already affected by flares, and covered with their waste products.
At a later stage, the leaves begin to gradually turn yellow and fall off.
A web can be seen between the trunk and leaves.

Figure 1. Flowers affected by spider mites

It is important to start treatment at an early stage, because only in this case there is a chance to save cultures. Otherwise, the flower may completely die.

Treatment

For elimination spider mite you need to use special preparations-acaricides, the action of which is directed specifically at this group of insects. By the best means This group includes Vermitek, Fitoverm, Apollo and Neoron. These drugs can be used for any kind.

Note: There is also a more powerful Actellik drug, but its effect is so strong that it destroys not only ticks, but can also cause the death of the culture. It is especially detrimental to the growth of orchids.

In some cases, for prevention, the leaves are periodically washed with warm water and shampoo for dogs, to which acaricides are also added. But such a remedy is not useful, and it is better to simply clean the leaves with warm water, and if insects are found, use special preparations.

Shchitovki

It is not difficult to recognize the scale insect: on leaves and stems, it looks like a tubercle or seal. The insect sticks to the plant, making its stems and leaves sticky (Figure 2).

Scale insects feed on juice, which is why the flowers gradually weaken. As a rule, the presence of insects is determined before the culture dies, and therapeutic measures are taken in time.

You will find more information about this type of insect and how to deal with it in the video.

Ways to fight

To combat scale insects, systemic insecticides Konfidor, Aktara and Mospilan are used. These agents are effective against all insects except mites. To obtain the effect you need, you need not only to spray the leaves, but also pour the soil with the finished solution so that the drug is absorbed by the roots.

Figure 2. Damage to flowers by scale insects

With a small lesion, the scale insects can also be eliminated manually: by collecting insects and wiping the stems with a damp, clean cloth. After that, it is necessary to carry out preventive spraying with Karate or Actellik preparations, and all new specimens must be quarantined.

It is very easy to determine the lesion by the characteristic white formations, similar to cotton wool or clods of white cobwebs. Most often it affects cacti, spreading along their root system (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Symptoms of the spread of the mealybug

For the fight, drugs Confidor and Aktara are used, using the solution not only for spraying, but also for watering the soil.

Outwardly, they look like small midges that constantly curl around the flowers, although the larvae are located and develop in the soil (Figure 4).

Note: This pest can tell you if you are taking care of flowerpots correctly, because mushroom mosquitoes start on flowers only with excessive watering.

Figure 4. Mushroom mosquitoes

To fight, first of all, the irrigation regime is normalized, and the flowers are sprayed with systemic insecticides: Confidor, Aktara and Regent. A single spray is enough to kill the insect.

Thrips are also considered common pests, and everyone has probably seen them. Bending down to sniff any wild flower, especially dandelion, small black midges can be seen inside. These are thrips, which in summer can enter the apartment through open windows and settle on flowers (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Thrips symptoms

Thrips eat the leaves, leaving characteristic black dots on them. For the fight, it is better to use systemic insecticides (Aktaroy or Vermitek), since contact ones are not effective enough.

Small insects that settle in whole colonies on crops in open field and the conditions of a city apartment. The aphids stick to the stems and drink juice from them (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Aphids on plant leaves

Since insects reproduce very quickly, they are able to short term destroy all plants. Therefore, when the first signs of damage are found, the flower must be treated with Aktara systemic insecticide or contact Decis and Karate.

Other indoor plant pests

The most common indoor plant pests have been described above, but there are other insects that can cause significant damage to flowers.

Pests of indoor crops also include(picture 7):

Whitefly: small white midge, which settles in colonies on the lower part of the leaves;
mining fly lays larvae on leaves, and young individuals gnaw through leaves and stems;
caterpillars they rarely attack home flowers, but if they are found, it will not be difficult to get rid of them by collecting caterpillars by hand or treating them with any insecticide;
snails gnaw roots, getting into the house along with forest or garden soil. To get rid of them, you need to lay out pieces of apples on the ground and collect the snails by hand;
Centipedes- long insects with many limbs. Insects gnaw on the roots, and to combat them, diazonin preparations are used, which are injected directly into the soil.
Podura appear with excessive watering and are mainly on the ground. They do not pose a danger to flowers, but spoil its aesthetic appearance.

Figure 7. Common pests of indoor flowers: 1 - whitefly, 2 - mining fly, 3 - caterpillars, 4 - snails, 5 - centipedes, 6 - podura

To control most of these insects, except for snails, systemic insecticides are used.

Whitefly control methods, as an example of a houseplant pest, are shown in the video.

Preparations against pests

For quick, and most importantly, effective pest control, contact or systemic insecticides are used. If you do not know which drug is better to choose, we will give some features of such drugs.

Many flower growers avoid chemicals, considering them too toxic. In fact, such drugs are dangerous only for insects, but not for humans. The toxicity of any agent is displayed in the LD50 indicator, which shows how much a substance needs to be drunk, eaten or inhaled in order to have a risk of death (50% probability).

Figure 8. Popular pesticides for houseplants

In most cases, all such drugs do not differ in increased toxicity to humans. They contain special substances that are dangerous for insects, but harmless to humans, and the lethal dose is several tens or hundreds of grams.

Also, do not trust the unpleasant pungent odor. Modern insecticides most often have no smell at all, and at the same time they have a fairly high efficiency in pest control.

When choosing a drug for pest control, it is better to alternate groups of drugs, using, for example, pyrethroid, organophosphorus and neonicotinoid drugs in turn so that insects do not develop immunity (Figure 8).

How much excitement we bring diseases of our favorite plant. Only yesterday it looked great, and today you found traces of aphids or shiny tubercles of scale insects on its leaves. It is important to know in advance how to help him in such cases. How to deal with numerous enemies: insects, mollusks, rodents?

Let us consider in more detail each type of pest that causes trouble to indoor plants.

Aphids are a typical type of sucking insect. You can notice it with the naked eye, despite the fact that it is very small (about 2 mm). There are up to 200 of its species. At the end of winter, in spring, it appears on houseplants. In warm, stuffy rooms, aphids occur throughout the year.

The most common color of the insect is green, but there are gray, orange, yellow, black. Another name is known - greenfly. Although only males have wings.

The aphid is located in whole colonies on the underside of the leaves, on buds, young shoots and tender tops of the stems. It reproduces very quickly. Individuals reach full maturity in 7 days. The insect is saturated with the juice of plants, weakens them and is able to completely destroy them. In addition, it spreads viral diseases.

Failure to comply with growing conditions is the cause of the spread of aphids:

excessive fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers;
irrigation disturbances;
illness.

Aphids are easy to recognize. Roses, abutilons, fuchsias are more often affected by it, and ficuses, milkweed, are not afraid of it.

How to get rid of aphids

The defeat of aphids is an unpleasant phenomenon, but must be eradicated.

Ways to get rid:

Rinse with warm water. Used for minor damage to the plant. The method is not suitable for large plants or if they are just transplanted.
Pinching the affected shoot.
The use of oil aerosols and further processing with infusions of tobacco, wormwood.
When using pesticides, remember that frequent use some drugs contribute to the development of immunity in aphids.

Important to remember! Studying the instructions will allow you to avoid purchasing drugs containing the same active substance.

Effective remedies: pirimicarb, permethrin, derris, syphos, resmetrin, feverfew. Plants are treated once every 8 days. Only 4 procedures.

All processing work is best done outside, in the bathroom. Keep it straight Sun rays do not fall on the leaves before they dry. Dead insects remain on the plant. They are recommended to be washed off after the termination of the drug.

Special sticks and balls impregnated with insecticides, ready-made aerosols are sold.

Shchitovki

Scale insects are another representative of sucking pests. The most famous are ordinary, brown and false shields. Insects got their name from the waxy shiny shell that covers them. They stick to the leaves, stems and trunks of the plant. Thanks to the shield, it is difficult to recognize them. You can see only hatched vagrants looking for places to hide.

The damage to the plant by the scale insect is judged by yellow, brown or whitish spots on the leaves. The leaves lose their shine, they fade.

The shape of the body of the false shield is oval, its length is about 3 mm. The color ranges from yellowish grayish in larvae to yellowish brownish. Sometimes it is confused with aphids. It can damage cacti, palm trees.

Constant inspection with a magnifying glass or palpation with fingers reveals raised plaques on the plant.

How to deal with scale insects

Shield protection is a dense shell. The fight against them begins with the removal of insects. They take a thin hard brush or toothbrush, moisten it in alcohol, vodka or prepared soapy water and process the leaves once every 7 days for a month.

A few recipes for processing indoor plants:

Prepare an emulsion. Beat until foam 10 g of soap with a glass of water. Combine with 30 g of machine oil. The soil is covered with foil. The composition is used to treat the leaves, stems and trunk of a damaged plant. After 12 hours, the emulsion is washed off. After two treatments with an interval of 10 days, scale insects die.
You can take one small onion, 5 cloves of garlic or 50 g of hot pepper, chop, insist in 1 glass of water for a day. Strain. Treat the plant.
If the moment is missed, there are a lot of shields, apply chemical methods- treatment with insecticides: actellik, fosbecid, selinone.

Ticks

There are up to 10 thousand different ticks. Flower growers are troubled by cobweb and root onions.

Spider mites settle in the lower part of the leaves. They got their name for the cobweb, which appears at the place of its attachment to the vein. The appearance of a cobweb means that the lesion is serious. The leaves soon turn pale, turn white, turn yellow, dry out.

Ticks are resistant to most pesticides. It's hard to fight them.

Ways to deal with spider mites:

removal of damaged shoots, leaves, flowers;
washing with a shower or rubbing with an alcohol, soapy solution (recipe for plants with large leaves);
transfer of a diseased plant to a separate place;
treatment with special preparations.

It's important to know! Treat with strong chemicals only on the street or on a loggia with open window. It is advisable to carry out 4 procedures with different acaricides with an interval of 3-4 days. The pest may return. It is better not to rely on folk methods, but to use special means: nissoran, pyrethrum, oberon, sunmite, apollo, actellik. Acaricide is a special preparation for the fight against spider mites.

The enemy of bulbous and corm plants is root onion mites. They are located at the bottom of the bulbs. If during transplantation you notice that the bottom is damaged, then try to disinfect the bulb: heat it at a temperature not higher than 40 ° for 7-10 days, sprinkle with chalk.

Strawberry or cyclamen mite infects saintpaulias, balsams, cyclamen, pelargoniums. Ticks are located on the tops of shoots, in buds. It differs from the spider mite in that it spreads in wet conditions. When these pests are found, it is better to destroy the plant.

These are very small sucking insects. They develop rapidly at an air temperature of 20-28°. A decrease in temperature below 10 ° leads to a loss of their activity.

Damaged parts of the plant become discolored, turn brown and die. The leaves appear leaden. But unlike spider mites, thrips do not have cobwebs. Plant growth slows down, flowers are deformed. It is the thrips that harm the flowers. You can see them jumping next to the plant.

Thrips control:

increase watering and air humidity;
spray with contact insecticides once every 8 days with re-treatment 4 times;
cut off damaged leaves;
use naphthalene balls to repel thrips.

Effective means: decis, karbofos, fitoverm.

greenhouse whitefly

She is a small white fly. They often appear in greenhouses. They multiply quickly. Affect the lower part of the leaves.

The whitefly can be found on balsams, pelargoniums, fuchsias, begonias. She settles on plants with tender leaves and flowering ones.

For catching it, special plates coated with glue are used. Place them directly into flower pots or hung nearby. Insecticides only affect adults. Recommended regular spraying after 10 days with drugs: pyrethrum, resmethrin, pirimifosmethyl, permethrin. You can buy insecticidal soap.

Recognition is complicated by the lack of obvious signs. If you see a plant dying, look at the roots. The presence of swellings on them is a sign of a nematode.

The plant must be burned. Don't just throw it away.

Sciarid mosquitoes are brought into the soil room from the garden. Gradually, the larvae, similar to small worms, become small black flies. They do not cause any particular problems. Only larvae can damage the roots of small or weakened plants.

The reasons for their appearance:

excessive soil moisture;
the presence of a substrate enriched with organic fertilizers.

Watering the soil with malathion or permethrin will help kill these insects. Make sure the soil dries out well between waterings.

Prevention measures

Gardening Tips:

new plants should not be immediately placed next to their own, let them stand separately for 14 days;
conduct regular inspections of the leaves from below;
indoor flowers love cleanliness, spray them more often;
do not install plants close to each other, crowding promotes the spread of pests.

Folk methods Pest control only helps initial stage. If the moment is missed - use chemicals.

Pests on indoor plants are not so few. Most often they are very small, not always immediately noticeable. They live and reproduce both in the soil and on parts of the plant itself. If pests of indoor plants appear and no action is taken with them, then the flowers begin to wither, turn yellow, and then die altogether.

What needs to be done to save pets? First of all, find out what harmful insects are on the flowers. To do this, a thorough examination of the plant itself and the soil is carried out. After that, a merciless struggle begins with various methods. Remember, any delay is fraught with disastrous consequences.

Insects live in the ground (on the roots), on leaves, stems, gnaw out buds.

Pests of indoor plants

Plants react to each pest in a special way: can change the color of the leaves, slow down their growth. When visually inspecting a houseplant, you can notice changes in leaves, stems.

Appearance of white spots

White spots - a signal of the appearance:

Mealy or root bug. You need to examine all parts of the flower. If you notice "cotton" lumps, then there is a pest.
When a whitefly appears, the leaves become sticky and may fall off.
The presence of a red spider (clover) mite can be determined by a whitish mesh, a spider by a cobweb. Leaves with a large number of insects die off.

What do yellow spots indicate?

The appearance of yellow spots on the leaves, you need to examine the leaves. If fingers stick to them, these are traces left by the scale insect. The cause may be the appearance of enchitreya. Tiny white worms live in the soil at the very root.

brown spots

The presence of brown, brownish spots from the bottom of the leaf and white smudges from above indicates the action of thrips.

Deformation of the green parts of the plant

If the shoots and leaves on the flowers begin to deform, then the flower is affected by aphids or cyclamen mites. Aphids leave behind sticky traces. She sucks the juice of indoor plants, from which they can dry out. If dust appears on the leaves from below, they curl up - the mite “hosts”.

Withering

The cause of drooping leaves and shoots is fungal mosquitoes, leaf or gall nematodes.

Description of pests

Pests of indoor plants can cause harm, bring to the death of green spaces, if they are not dealt with. Consider the most common insects, their destructive activity.

spider mite

Spider mite on indoor plants is the most frequent "guest". Due to their small size, they are invisible to the naked eye. You need to consider the lower part of the flower, because these pests do not tolerate light and moisture. Insects may appear to eat in a dry and hot room. In such conditions, the development of the spider mite is rapid.

If you grow geraniums, palm trees, then they need to be inspected constantly. Insects pierce the tender part of the leaves, suck out the juice. As a result, the leaves become faded, crumble.

Aphid

Aphids can be seen despite their small size. They are black and green. Insect colonies multiply rapidly: the female lays at least 150 larvae, which themselves enter the breeding stage after 7 days.
Third generation females have the ability to fly. They move to any indoor plants, lay larvae. On the paws, diseases are transferred to the flowers, for example, different types flower mosaic. Getting rid of aphids is not as easy as it seems.

Shchitovki

Shchitovka on indoor plants - dangerous pest, loves to settle on cuttings, leaves, stems. It is not difficult to detect it: it is flat, oval, with the lower part of the body closely adjacent to the substrate.

These pests are different. Real scale insects hide under the shell, just like turtles. False scale insects do not have such an opportunity, since this part of the body is inseparable.

The favorite colors of these pests are:

lemons;
oranges;
tangerines;
oleanders;
ivy;
palm trees.

Scale insects settle on the lower part of the sheet. Colonies develop rapidly. Slowly moving dots appear on the leaves, somewhat reminiscent of plaques. Around their habitat, the leaves turn yellow. Insects suck the juice of tender plants and shoots, deplete the plant. If you do not start a timely fight, indoor flowers die.

thrips

Ficuses, palm trees are affected by a small jumping beetle - thrips. Females, having made holes in leaves or flower buds, lay eggs. The damage is microscopic and cannot be seen with the naked eye. The signal that thrips on indoor plants is a silvery pattern that appears on the leaves. The insects themselves live on the back of the leaf.

Podura white

These creatures can also jump. This is a soil insect that lives directly in pots. It is distinguished by an elongated body, on which sparse hairs are visible. Mustache on the head. Most often appear in soils rich in humus.

The basis of nutrition is plant residues, but it does not shun a living root system. It is clear that the eaten roots can no longer cope with their function, the plant slows down its growth, and may die.

Mealybugs

These are white worms, they love the back of the sheet in those places where the vein passes. Females are large, up to half a centimeter, very prolific. They arrange houses for the offspring, similar to lumps of cotton wool, and lay eggs in them. The hatched larvae are mobile, quickly gaining space on the flowers.
Flower growers who grow cacti need to constantly inspect the plants for signs of a mealybug. It is they who are preferred by these pests of indoor plants and it is necessary to take immediate measures to combat them.

whitefly

Whiteflies are by and large greenhouse insects. If you purchased flowers in these places, do not be too lazy to examine them carefully. Even one female whitefly on indoor plants will produce huge offspring in a short time. Then the question arises how to fight. Favorite flowers of the pest are fuchsias, ferns, geraniums. A two-millimeter insect feeds on the juice of plants, as a result, it weakens, withers away.

mushroom mosquitoes

It often happens that flower growers notice flying small flies around their flowers, but do not attach any importance to this. And in vain, because the fly lays larvae in moist fertile soil. The larvae are microscopic, so their appearance is not immediately noticeable. The danger of insects is that the smallest creatures feed on the root system of plants. As a result, the flower dies.

How to deal with pests on houseplants

Many beginner flower growers are wondering how to deal with pests of indoor plants. The answer to it is important, since insects multiply rapidly, you should not waste time.

Exist different ways to help get rid of pests:

mechanical;
biological;
folk;
chemical.

If pests of houseplants are correctly recognized, and measures to combat them will be effective.

Mechanical

You need to start with the safest measures for a person, especially since they often help a lot. Before starting work, disinfect and sharpen tools. All damaged leaves and shoots are cut off, the places of cuts should be sprinkled with activated charcoal.
Beetles and visible larvae are selected manually: worms, scale insects, slugs, caterpillars. Leaves with pests such as aphids can be wiped with a cotton pad. A contrast shower, spraying with water helps to get rid of pests that live on the green parts of the plant.

Biological

How to deal with harmful insects with biological agents? Such preparations are based on plants. Most often used:

"Fitoverm";
"Agrovertin";
Iskra-Bio.

Before use, you need to read the instructions. Since they destroy pests, they contain poison in small doses. Plants are treated early in the morning, left in a shady place until all parts of the plant dry out. The room where the treatment was carried out is ventilated. It is necessary to wash all exposed parts of the body with warm water and detergents.

Folk methods

If indoor pests of plants have appeared, treatment can be carried out for centuries folk remedies. To do this, prepare decoctions, infusions from:

yarrow;
chamomile;
dandelion;
nails;
nettles;
garlic;
Luke;
peels of oranges, tangerines, lemons.

These environmentally friendly and harmless to humans plants are able to effectively destroy harmful insects. Steamed citrus peels can be dug into the soil. Insects do not like their smell.

An infusion of tobacco, stove ash, a solution of potassium permanganate, furacilin or soda works well. So that the liquid does not immediately drain from the plants, laundry soap is added to it.

Chemical

With the use of chemical pest control agents, quick successes can be achieved. It is better to resort to their help as a last resort, if other methods have not given. positive result. It should be remembered that such products are unsafe for humans and beneficial insects. It is necessary to work with chemicals with the window open, removing children and animals from the room. In addition, when working, you need to use personal protective equipment. After work, you need to thoroughly wash your hands and face.
The treated plants are removed in the shade until the solution is completely dry. The place where the treatment was carried out should be washed with hot water and detergents.
Remember that chemicals are toxic, so keep them out of the reach of children and pets.
Popular and effective remedies for pests of indoor plants:

"Karbofos";
"Chlorophos";
"Siphos";
"Trichlormetafos";
"Pyrethrum";
"Decis";
Fury.

They are able to destroy almost all harmful insects.

Getting rid of harmful insects

Shchitovka

The shell of insects makes them invulnerable even to toxic drugs. With a large accumulation of pests, they should be cleaned with a toothbrush, moistened with alcohol.
Of the chemicals it is better to use:

Aktellik;
Detis;
Intavir.

Getting rid of thrips

If thrips appeared on the flowers, they must be urgently isolated from healthy plants and processed. Put flowers in a cool room with high humidity.

An adult insect can be destroyed with special preparations:

Karbofos;
spark bio;
Fitoverm.

Thrips eggs thrive safely in the soil. One treatment will not be enough. Repeated in a week, just by this time a new batch of pests will hatch. It is advisable to transplant the plant into a new pot and fresh soil. In order not to transfer the larvae to a new vessel, the roots are washed with clean water.

The people have long used the treatment of the plant with an infusion of garlic to get rid of thrips. You can go the other way: spread chopped garlic on the soil, close the flower with cellophane and leave for 2-3 hours. Repeat the procedure every other day until complete destruction.

Plants will be healthy if timely prevention is carried out, the rules for caring for each indoor flower are followed.
Use high-quality soil, be sure to disinfect it before planting. Purchase indoor flowers themselves from reliable sellers. The appearance of pests is easier to prevent than to deal with them.