House Plants and their Bugs, Pests and Insects

House plants can be beautiful, but they may also be affected by things that you are not even aware of. Having a few house plant insects is just annoying, but with to many bugs, your house plants will be destroyed in record time.

There are problems that certain plants can get hit hard with. You have no idea how many times house plants are infected by bugs, pests and insects, and people do not even realize that these mites are actually in the house.

When you purchase your house plants, take the time to make sure that they do not have an insect infestation of one sort or another. Again, when you bring your summer plants into your home for the winter, check for bugs. Sometimes this may be tricky as the bugs will borrow their way into the soil, but you will want to make certain that there is no evidence of a present infestation. By simply taking a few precautions, you will considerably reduce the chances of insects attacking your plants.

Insects will also enter your home because people carry them in. This is nearly impossible to prevent as the insects will attach themselves to cloths or come in through an open door or window. A time to watch out for bugs is when the weather is starting to warm up and again when the weather is cooling down. The insects like to come into the homes for shelter.

Plant insects can easily be controlled because it is on such a small scale. The insects or bugs are much more mobile when they are young, but the are always looking for a place to settle where they wont be disturbed. If fact, this is why your house plants can be bothered with insects. The solution to this problem is a general insecticide.

One type of bug that will bother your house plants are aphids. They have a soft body and can be easily controlled with pesticides and insecticide soaps. Other bugs most often encountered include mealy bugs, mites, scale, thrips, whiteflies and various other soil insects. Tiny spiders can also be another problem.

The typical cause of damage caused by the individual bugs includes: Aphids suck the sap out of plants; Mealy Bugs suck the sap out and plants, leaves a cotton-like substance on the plants and also leaves a honey dew substance which attracts ants; Mites suck the sap out of plants; Scale suck the sap out of plants and leaves a sticky honey dew substance that attracts ants and causes fungus growth; Thrips rip and tears foliage and blisters develop where the eggs are laid; Whiteflies cluster on the back of leaves and suck the sap out of the leaves, which turn yellow and die.

Try to avoid adding organic material into your soils. It is not necessary to add fertilizer because the topsoil will have enough nutrients for the plants. You will also want to remove any fallen flowers and leaves, as this would allow moulds and fungus to grow into the soil.

Most of the time there are infestations when the soil has a high organic content because of fungus, gnats, or springtails. If your plant has a fungus or bugs like gnats, you will generally find that your plant is actually decomposing, meaning, it is rotting.

Signs of attacks on your house plants by insects can include leaves turning a yellow or brown colour, plants starting to wilt and stop growing, jagged holes starting to appear in the foliage or a honey dew type substance smeared on the plants.

If you do notice that your house plants are infected with bugs or disease, you will need to take appropriate measures to eliminate the problem. You can consult your local garden nursery for advice or you may want to purchase a pesticide that will not hurt your plants, but will be a solution to your problems. Be sure to use the right product for the insects you have, as some pesticides can actually kill certain house plants. When using any pesticides always make sure to read and follow the warnings that the manufactures puts on the label.

Just remember to examine your house plants every now and then, do not wait for them to start looking sad. By giving the proper feeding, care and fresh air will ensure that you house plants remain healthy and more resistant to insect problems. As always, if you are able to find any problems with insects early enough, it can often be taken care of without the use of pesticides and that is, by far, the best way.

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Darren Lintern publishes articles, guides and reports, on many topics for www.Kerrash.com

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