Whether you have green fingers or no idea what to do with a plant. Plants can suffer from pests at any time. How do you recognize the pests, and what causes them? We’ve figured that out for you!
The main causes of plant pests
- Excessive watering
- Plant in a drafty place
- Draught
- Too low humidity.
Aphid
You can recognize aphids by small aphids that are in a clump at the growth points of the plant. An aphid can have different colours, but usually it is green or black.
Pulvinaria
As soon as you see a small brown bump on your plant, you know that Pulvinaria has formed. You can scrape off the Pulvinaria with your nail.
Pay attention! Pulvinaria also secretes honeydew. This is very sticky, and therefore immediately stubborn to remove.
Scale insects
Actually, almost exactly the same as the pulvinaria. The only difference? A scale insect doesn’t secrete honeydew. Again, you can remove the brown lump with your nail.
Mealybug
Mealybug is easy to spot. The pests form small white tufts that resemble mold. Although you quickly recognize this when you see mealybugs, the mealybug settles in difficult places. You will find mealybug in small nooks and crannies of the plant.
Remove the fluff with a kitchen paper. A small white hairy creature remains (if all goes well). This creature is a few millimeters long.
Spider mites
You recognize spider mites as yellow, red or black arachnids. The bugs are between 0.1 and 1 millimetre in size. Hard to see on the naked eye! What you can see is the webs they create over the leaves.
Thrips
If silvery spots are formed on the leaves of your plants, you know you are dealing with thrips. The black bugs are 1 millimeter in size. Larvae are somewhat smaller and white in colour. The spots are both on and under the leaf of the plant. It may well be that you do not notice the first damage immediately.
Sciara analis
Dark-winged fungus gnats are small black flies that you soon recognize in your house. They are very slow and actually a lot smaller than a normal fly. Dark-winged fungus gnats, as the Sciara analis is also called, lay eggs in the moist potting soil. This means that the mosquitoes multiply in no time.
The cause of dark-winged fungus gnats is a surplus of water. That’s how you take care of the control, by the way! As little water as possible. If that doesn’t work, it’s best to buy nematodes and add them to the watering.
