The custom of decorating a home with living flowering plants appeared many centuries and even millennia ago. Since ancient times, flowers have been used as gifts. Accordingly, for many years people have known pests of indoor flowers living in the ground. These days, concrete jungle dwellers have a particular need for living greenery, and on windowsills and balconies, many create large, densely overgrown green spaces. Day after day, people passionate about indoor floriculture try to learn new things, study plants, create the most comfortable conditions for them.
Risks for loved ones
Indoor pests living in the ground are more dangerous than any others, although all the dangers are not limited to this group of harmful microorganisms. There are relatively few varieties of pests that can settle in the soil, but they all disrupt the structure of the root, and the flower as a whole suffers from this. As soon as the root part gets sick, the above-ground begins to gradually die. The only way to preserve the he alth and life of the plant isregularly monitor its condition and change the soil in the container in which the plant lives. It is important to control the quality of the soil, replant it only in good and clean soil, and in case of signs of disease, check the soil first of all.
There are a huge number of ways and recipes, as well as specialized publications for gardeners and flower growers that tell you how to deal with indoor plant pests. The choice of a certain method is determined by the type of harmful life form, and this, in turn, depends on the type of soil. Each plant has its own optimal soil composition, and under industrial conditions, soil sets are made with all the components that a flower needs. The probability of contamination of such land is minimal, however, when opening each new package, one should be prepared for potential problems.
Woodlice
One of the common pests of indoor flowers is woodlice. These small insects are distantly related to spiny lobsters, but they do not have such high nutritional qualities, taste and attractive appearance, and choose soil for life. Woodlice can only live in a humid environment. They are not considered a very dangerous type of pest, but if the soil is contaminated, such a disaster will have to be de alt with immediately.
Woodlice love wet areas, often live in the pan. The classic view of this pest of indoor flowers is a gray tint, a flat body, an abundance of limbs. The period of activity is night. Woodlice eat rhizomes, but quicklymanifest themselves, and you can even get rid of them manually, so usually the infection can be identified and cured before the flower receives severe damage. If among the flowers grown there are those that need to be watered frequently, it is necessary to constantly check the pallets and rinse them, avoiding the accumulation of earth. This will prevent the appearance and reproduction of woodlice and protect your favorite plants.
Centipedes
Among the pests of indoor flowers living in the soil, this variety is represented by an abundance of forms. In zoology, there is a class that combines different types of such insects that can eat the root part of plants. When the soil is infected with centipedes, the flower cannot develop normally and gradually dies. You can identify the pest by its appearance: it has a long body, formed by numerous rings, and the legs are extremely small, so at first glance it can be impossible to see them, and for many the centipede seems like a miniature snake.
The soil can be infected with centipedes if you use ordinary soil taken from the street or garden to transplant the plant. There is a risk of purchasing low-quality soil in the store. If there is a suspicion of infection with centipedes, an examination of the soil showed their presence, it is necessary to immediately completely change the substrate by cleaning the rhizomes of the plant from the old earth. It must be remembered that the eggs of the pest can be anywhere, they are very small, and the penetration of even one clutch will infect a new portion.
Springtails
Visually thisa pest of indoor flowers looks like a flea. Biologists know him by the name podura. This type of insect settles in the ground and is characterized by rapid growth and reproduction, especially if the soil is moist. The main food of springtails is the remains of plants. Pest colonies gnaw small holes on the stems of the flower near the roots, less often right on the rhizomes. The life form is most active during wet periods, and especially in autumn, when the growth of the bush slows down or stops completely, the flower cannot fight for its existence and he alth.
Suspecting soil contamination and finding a pest, you should immediately begin treatment. It is not difficult to get rid of springtails - the surface is abundantly covered with dried sand, ash, or potato traps are set. One root crop is cut into two parts, laid on the surface of the soil with a cut, then all the insects that have gathered on the fruit are collected. Ground contamination can be very severe. In this case, it is necessary to use a special remedy for pests of indoor flowers "Bazudin". It can be bought at the store. It can be either a liquid for watering the soil, or a powdered product that must be diluted with water and used for irrigation. Another option is to transplant the plant into clean soil, after washing the pot, rhizomes.
Nematodes
These pests of indoor flowers are the nightmare of many flower growers. They are small worms that damage the root part of plants, and this leads to the death of flowers and greenery. The leaves wither, dry, the roots become covered with bubbles. Damage from nematodesvery large, but the plant is practically not amenable to treatment. More often the pest infects cacti, ficuses. Quite often, nematodes are detected in cyclamens.
In domestic plants, this variety of harmful insects is relatively rare. If garden soil is used for transplanting, the risk of infection will increase significantly. Especially a lot of problems nematodes bring to people who grow indoor flowers in greenhouses.
Spider mite
Photos and names of pests of indoor flowers are presented in this article. Among others, be sure to pay attention to the spider mite, which harms both the rhizomes and the ground part of the flower. It infects almost any plant, and the highest risk is for flowers that live on the balcony or in the yard in warm weather. You can detect a tick if a thin cobweb appears between the leaves. The insect eats the foliage from the inside, causing the greens to lose color and curl. Buds, if a tick droops in them, fall dry, you can’t count on any flowers.
Mass attacks of spider mites are observed during the hot period, and the best way to protect plants is to maintain a fairly high level of humidity by spraying the flower regularly. The treatment of indoor flowers from pests of this type consists in spraying with acaricidal solutions (Alatar, Caesar), sold in a gardening store. Having processed the bush, you should wrap it with a film - this will help prevent the spread of infection to other plants, and also createincreased levels of humidity, due to which the tick will die faster.
Aphid
The prevalence of this pest is extremely high, and it is not difficult to detect infection. Aphids damage any variety of flowers growing indoors or outdoors, and are especially active during the warm season. Some species have wings. Having flown through the window into the house, the insect settles on the plant and begins to suck juice from the stem and greenery. The bush gradually weakens, cannot develop and bloom.
The easiest way to cure a plant from aphids is at an early stage of infection. Experienced gardeners, who tell how to get rid of pests of indoor flowers, are advised to wash the infected bush first with soapy water, then with running clean water. If insects have spread throughout the plant, the colony is numerous, you will have to resort to special products to combat it. In stores you can find the medicine "Fas". You can use wormwood, tobacco tinctures. Frequent preventive treatment of all plants is a sure way to avoid the appearance of aphid colonies.
Whiteflies
This insect is similar in appearance to flying aphids. The pest is tiny - about 3 mm long, lives on the foliage from the inside, feeds on sucked juice. Due to infection, the green part of the plant soon fades, turns yellow, leaves fall. The pest migrated to our region from the humid tropics, it feels best in a warm room with moist air. Most often, whiteflies attack vegetation with thinleaves, as well as during flowering. In a special risk group - hibiscus, azalea. Primroses are often affected.
In order not to have to figure out how to get rid of a pest of indoor flowers, you should constantly ventilate the room, and also keep the temperature in it not too high. In case of infection, insecticides should be used ("Aktara", "Mospilan"). As a prophylaxis with such a solution, the bushes are treated monthly. It is extremely difficult, sometimes impossible, to cure an infection, so special attention should be paid to prevention.
Weevils
The length of the body of the insect is up to one and a half centimeters; a typical external sign that allows it to be identified is hard wings. Reference books with photos and names of pests of indoor flowers usually indicate that weevils especially often infect azalea and begonia. The harmful insect eats the foliage of the plant along the edges, and the damage is irreparable. The larvae of this pest feed on rhizomes. Attacking the bush from two sides at once, the weevil causes a slowdown and h alt in development, and soon the flower weakens and dies.
To eliminate weevils, special disinfecting compounds have been developed ("Iskra", "Kemifos"). Insecticides can be purchased at almost any garden supply store. If the infection is very strong, a week after the initial treatment, repeat the procedure.
Caterpillars
Don't find someone who doesn't know about them. Even the most inexperienced flower growers who do not haveconcepts of pests and diseases of indoor flowers, represent what a caterpillar is and why it is dangerous. This term refers to the larvae of butterflies. Their food is green plants. At risk of infection are flowers that live on balconies, verandas and in the yard. If you do not pay enough attention to the condition of the plants, the caterpillars can eat all the leaves clean. True, not everything is so bad: it is not difficult to deal with them, you can see the caterpillar with the naked eye, and then remove it with your hands. To avoid infection, all plants should be sprayed with insecticides (Senpai, ExtraFlor) as a preventive measure.
Worms, scale insects
These similar varieties of pests are a real disaster for flower growers and their pets. If an infection has occurred, it is very difficult to get rid of the insect, as they multiply rapidly, and several generations change in just a year. You can identify worms and scale insects by their shell, which gives them a visual resemblance to mussels. A photo of pests and the disease of indoor flowers that they cause is presented below. These insects form numerous colonies, settle on leaves, stems, occupy a stable position and begin to suck out the juice. They lack mobility.
The type in question includes the mealybug, which is popularly known as the false ladybug. This pest can move within the plant. It survives well at home, since the most comfortable temperature for the mealybug is room temperature.
A close form of the pest is the rootworm. It is smaller than powdery, lives in the root part of the plant and most of all harms varieties of flowers with dense foliage. The pest generates burning green dew.
Features of infection
Scale insects, scale insects can spread almost instantly, and the damage from them is so serious that the plant will soon die without proper treatment. The first signs of infection are stem cracks, the foliage gradually turns yellow, the branches die off, after which the bush dies completely.
When an infection with this pest is detected, the treatment of indoor flowers begins with the treatment of damaged parts of the plant. To do this, use an alcohol solution. The foliage is wiped, and after a third of an hour insects are removed with a cotton pad. After that, the bush is treated with the Actellik insecticide (or others of your choice).
If an infection has occurred with a variety that affects the roots of the plant, you will have to transplant the flower into a new soil. Before placing in a new pot, the root system is washed with clean running water. After transplanting, the plant is watered with a 50% insecticide solution for at least a quarter of a year.
Miners
These harmful flies are capable of laying eggs on the green part of plants, and the larvae hatching from them eat literally everything in front of them, gnaw through tunnels in the greenery. If there are few of them, then the appearance suffers, and with a strong infection, the development of the bush stops. There are few miner victims among indoor plants, and infection is rarely significant. You can usually just remove the affected leaf as soon as signs are detected.disease.
Thrips
These black pests on houseplants are tiny insects that rarely exceed a millimeter in size. A thrips infestation is very similar to a tick infestation, but the web does not appear. They reproduce rapidly and actively in warm climates. The insect has a pair of wings, however, individuals move little. The plant is harmed by both adults and larvae. Thrips are able to draw fluid from the bush, and this slows down growth and development, the leaves dry from lack of oxygen and moisture. If thrips penetrate the buds, they become deformed, covered with whitish foci, and die.
Experienced flower growers advise using a simple folk remedy for a pest of indoor flowers - naphthalene, the smell of which repels this insect. In order not to have to fight the infection, for preventive purposes, you can put a couple of blocks near those flowers that are especially loved by thrips - begonias, cyclamen. If the bush is sick, buy a remedy for aphids. The pet is treated twice, between procedures a five-day pause is made.
Having found an infection with thrips, spray the plant with garlic, onion infusion. A glass of water is taken on a small spoonful of the crushed product, insisted for a day. If a plant that cannot be sprayed is infected, the garlic is finely chopped and laid out around, everything is covered with a film for several hours.
Cyclamen mite
As the name implies, most often settles on cyclamens, although it can affect ivy, violet, pelargonium. Differs in small dimensions. When breeding, the colony looks like the bottom of the leaf is covered with dust. Developmentplants slow down, the leaves curl up at the edges, the stems are deformed, and the buds fall. The insect loves moisture. If you do not know how to treat indoor flowers from pests in this case, then you should not use chemicals, because they do not affect the pest. To heal the plant, it is necessary to remove the affected areas.
Identification of the tick is difficult due to its small size and ability to hide in the corners of greenery. If signs of infection are found, the affected areas must be cut off, with a strong spread of the pest, the flower should be thrown away. You can try to use systemic insecticides, but you can not count on success. Sometimes Temik, a granular substance that is applied to the soil, is chosen for treatment. This medicine has a strong effect, but it does not always help.
Sciara
Sometimes you have to look for how to treat indoor flowers from pests, because sciara are wound up at home - small, mosquito-like flies, the length of which rarely exceeds 1.5 mm. The insect has a narrow body, a round head, a pair of transparent wings in front, and h alteres are located behind in the area of the second pair of wings. The insect has a sucking type of mouth organ, flies well, multiplies rapidly in a suitable climate. Among the people, sciara is better known as a mushroom mosquito. The larvae of this insect harm the root system of the plant, lead to decay. An adult mosquito does not harm flowers, but lays eggs on the surface of the ground. The larva has the appearance of a worm, devoid of limbs, reaches a length of 10 mm. a lack offeed substrate at home causes an attack on the young roots of plants.
Having noticed numerous flies at home, it is necessary to find out what kind of infection has occurred - sciara is very similar to Drosophila, but approaches to combating them are different. If larvae are found in a pot of soil, it is necessary to cultivate the land with Karbofos. When transplanting a plant into a new soil, preventive treatment should be carried out in order to exclude infection with sciara. You can notice the infection if, when you touch the pot, small dark insects take off from it. The soil in which the larvae live becomes like sand, and the diseased plant looks bad and cannot grow.
Prevention and treatment
To minimize the risk of sciara, it is necessary to water the flowers in moderation, avoiding waterlogging of the soil. The more moisture, the faster the mushroom mosquito will breed. Do not water the plant before the topsoil dries out. In case of excessive watering, excess moisture must be removed from the pan, and a clod of earth should be dried.
If insects appear, measures should be taken to prevent their reproduction. Mosquitoes lay their larvae in the moist topsoil, so you need to make sure that the ground on top is dry. It is recommended to use sterilized substrates, regularly remove dead parts of the bush, include coarse types of earth in the soil - peat, coal, coconut fiber. Assuming poor soil quality, freeze it.
Choosing thanspray indoor flowers from pests, it is worth taking a closer look at aerosols against flying insects. You can use the usual Raid, Dichlorvos. Before spraying, remove all food products from the room, and after spraying, leave the room closed for several hours. Not only plants are processed in a similar way, but also their usual habitats - window sills and racks. Irrigation insecticides ("Karbofos") can come to the rescue. The solutions are prepared following the instructions, the soil is treated twice with a week-long pause between procedures.
Grape Elephant
The adult eats the leaves of the plant, but the harm from it is relatively minor - much more dangerous than the larva. The length of an individual is up to 2.5 cm, the shade of the outer covers is light cream. The larvae live in the soil, feed on the root system of plants. The affected bush withers, droops and soon dies.
The problem with grape elephant infection is that it is very difficult to detect the infection in time. When noticeable signs appear, as a rule, the rhizomes of the plant are already affected to such an extent that survival is simply impossible. Trying to save a pet, you need to look into a gardening store and ask how to water indoor flowers from pests - any insecticide of a systemic effect (Actor, Presto) will do. If the plant is doing well, but the foliage has bugs, you should spill the pot with insecticide as a preventive measure.
Phylloxera
Such a pest often affects bulbous, cacti, sometimes starts in palm trees and bromeliadshouse plants. The affected specimen withers, does not develop, the leaves turn yellow. Inspection of the rhizomes reveals tiny insects covered with whitish fluff. At times they are on the surface of the ground. How to spray indoor flowers from pests? Experienced flower growers advise using Bayer Garden products. Preference is given to chemical products containing fatty acids, Pyrethrum. To prevent the appearance of phylloxera, it is necessary to control the level of soil moisture, preventing it from drying out.
Features of diseases
In biology, it is customary to talk about two types of pests: some gnaw, others suck juices from plants. The former eat the bush alive, the latter do not violate the integrity of the greenery, but deprive the flower of cell sap. The sucking type is considered more dangerous, and it is problematic to notice it before it is too late. Most sucking species are tiny and can only be seen in detail with a microscope. The symptoms of infection become obvious when no treatment helps, and the infection has probably spread to neighboring pots.
Before you learn how and what to spray indoor flowers from pests, you should understand the causes of the appearance of insects, because, as you know, prevention is the best method of treatment. From practice it is clear that very often the pest gets home with a new flower. When buying a new thing, you should carefully examine it for diseases. Cut flowers are a potential source of danger. No matter howthe bouquet is beautiful, a tick, thrips sometimes get home with it. It is impossible to take soil from public sources for plant transplantation - the probability of the presence of nematodes, pupae of various pests, which will cause serious problems in the near future, is too high. In the spring, breeding seedlings is associated with dangers. Almost all pests multiply, as they say, exponentially, and just a couple of insects, missed during an inattentive examination of the plant, becomes a threat to the whole variety of green pets.
Plant care and prevention
To minimize the risks of infection, it is necessary not only to inspect all new clothes, but also to treat all color manipulations responsibly. It is recommended to regularly disinfect the containers, treat the soil with insecticides, and immediately isolate the plant in case of primary signs of infection. Modern watering and fertilizing, proper nutrition and lighting provide the flower with he alth, and therefore increase its resistance.
If there are few pests, it is necessary to wash the plant under running water. Especially in detail they study the reverse side of the green. When infested with insects with hard skins, you can clean the stems and leaves with an old toothbrush, a brush soaked in liquid soap. To get rid of the sucking forms of insects, the plants are treated with denatured alcohol or an alcohol solution with a soft brush, and after a few minutes they are rinsed under running water in order to avoid burns. You need to have time and patience. If it was decided to manually collect pests, one such procedure is guaranteednot enough, the plant will have to be cleaned every five days until inspections show the complete absence of infection.
Many begin to deal with the problem with the help of chemicals, but many experienced flower growers recommend avoiding the use of such products at home - there are no pesticides allowed for home use, because in an enclosed space and a limited amount of air, the damage from them becomes many times stronger.
The article examined photos of pests of indoor flowers and the treatment of the diseases they cause.
