Plant care - pests

Plant Care - Pests

Dealing with pests that eat away at your beautiful plants can prove frustrating. James helps you get rid of them with both biological and eco-friendly practices.

Lesson Summary

• Aphids can reproduce parthenogenetically. In other words, they can clone themselves.
• Pests can quickly become a nuisance with indoor gardening, as there are no predators or limiting factors to population growth.
• I recommend quarantining new plants as they often have one or two pests which can quickly become a problem.
• I fill the spray can with a mixture of water and washing detergent. The ratio is one litre of water to one drop of washing up liquid.
• You can use any generic washing up liquid, in the UK this could be Ariel. For those based in North America, I would recommend using Dawn's washing detergent.
• The detergent found in washing up liquid and hand soap sprayed all over the plant drowns the insects.
• I will completely saturate new plants with the solution.
• Keep your new plant in a separate room or area of your house, where you don't have many plants for a few weeks.
• If you don't find any pest outbreaks the plant is good to go.
• SB Invigorator is a good alternative, a three-in-one solution that feeds the plant as well as acting as a fungicide and insecticide.
• Scale insect is a tiny black or brown scale, you may notice little collections on your plants.
• Vodka or 70% alcohol hand sanitiser can dissolve the scale bugs shell. Brush over the scale insects with cotton buds soaked in the alcohol.

Biological Pest Control

• I use predatory mites as biological control, as they feed on pests.
• They do not need to go directly on the plant's stem, just close to it. You can put it behind the plant pot or on a frame nearby.
• These predatory mites are prey specific and only feed on certain types of pests.
• You can use live springtails to control the mould in terrariums as they feed on mould.
• Add a tablespoon or two of springtails to a terrarium.
• They will also eat dead leaves and loose foliage.
• This helps to maintain the overall health of the terrarium, and turn organic waste into fertilizer.
• You can buy springtails from reptile or exotic pet shops.

Equipment Used

• Spray bottle
• Washing up liquid
• SB Invigorator
• Live mites
• Live springtails

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Have a look at your plants, if you have any signs of pests start adopting at least one of the pest control measures mentioned above.