Dealing With Insects on House Plants

Having houseplants can make coming home from work a really fresh and lively experience. Not only do houseplants increase the visual appeal of the house, they also induce a positive atmosphere by giving oxygen and taking in all the carbon dioxide present in the surroundings. Having a house plant has its own set of problems but if tackled systematically, plants could really make your day!

Insects are one of the major consequences of having houseplants that is unavoidable as long as proper care is not taken. Insects and pests act as a career as well responsible for many health related problems and are unwelcome everywhere. Many household insects and pests are brought by infested plants. Careful checking of the new plants should be done to detect insects. If possible the houseplants can be planted in separately as a quarantine to avoid the infestation to other plants. The method or the procedures that you would be using should be changed to help control many household insects and pests.

Household plants that are not maintained and cared for in a regular manner are mostly vulnerable for insects and pest attack. Some of these insects are virtually not harmful but others could possess a serious threat to the appearance of the plant. Houseplants health is also in danger because of insects as they tent to bring along with them many diseases or feed on the nutrients that are required by the plant. Basically, if your houseplant is growing slowly in spite of proper care like sunlight, nutrients etc. or is suffering from mite bites or scale marks then you must look for an insect infestation.

Some of the common insects found in houseplants are
* Spider mites- detected by their webbing,
* Mealy bugs – detected by small cotton like cysts,
* Scales – These are hard to detect as they attach to the root structure of a plant and make and oval cover around them
* Aphids- Detected by small spots on the surface of a parts of a plant.

There are various methods by which house plants can be controlled, namely

* Handpicking: Many of the larger insects can be controlled by handpicking the insects regularly. Use of hand for scale insects and mealy bugs, and portable vacuum cleaners is advised for whiteflies.
* Syringing houseplants: This is a technique by which the plants are washed by jet of water. Many household plants can be freed from insect infestation just using this technique. This is a common solution for infestations of bugs and spiders.
* Sublime changes: Moist soil is a breeding ground for insects, also hot or dry location is optimum for spider infestations. Small changes can be made to keep plants healthy.
* Traps: Many yellow colored insect traps are available in the market which can be used to reduce insect infestation. These traps can also be made at home by using yellow color paper or cardboard and some sticky material. Generally, insects like whiteflies, winged aphids, and fungus gnats are controlled by this method.
* Sanitation: Very ill or infested plants are best discarded for preventing spreading of infestation.
* Other methods: many other methods like biological predator method, alcohol, horticultural oils, Neem and insecticides both synthetic and natural are commonly used to control insects in houseplant.