Conquering bugs on my African Milk tree
#PestControl This was what this week was all about. I noticed that the African Milk tree was full of the tiniest white bugs. They left a sticky substance on the leaves and were very hard to see, so I took out my 🔍 and went to town. This started on Monday and I think that I have almost eliminated all the little sap suckers completely! I wiped down each and every leaf top and under side with a q-tip drenched in a water and alcohol mixture. I did this every morning this week, I will have to look at the plant again tomorrow but so far so good, geezeee those bugs are tenacious!
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@Ms.Persnickety good luck on those sap suckers.
HOW TO GET RID OF MEALYBUGS ON HOUSEPLANTS
As with any houseplant pest infestation, when you first spot a problem, begin mealybug treatment immediately.
The first thing to do is quarantine the affected plant(s) so that you can prevent mealybugs from infesting your other houseplants.
The next thing to do is to kill mealybugs using organic pest control products and methods. I don’t recommend using synthetic pesticides, because mealybugs are resistant to most chemical pesticides.
They also have the ability to develop a resistance to any chemicals they are exposed to on a regular basis.
SOAPY WATER
Soap kills bugs on contact. It’s easy to make your own natural bug killer for indoor plants. My homemade bug spray recipe is one teaspoon mild liquid soap to one liter of water.
Use it in a spray bottle, or to wash the leaves of heavily infested plants (test it on a leaf first to make sure the plant isn’t sensitive to the mixture).
Organic insecticidal soap also works great as a natural insecticide for houseplants.
RUBBING ALCOHOL
Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill and remove insect pests from the plant.
This can be a bit tedious, but it works great to remove large clusters of pests like aphids, scale, or mealybugs from a plant.
NEEM OIL
Organic neem oil is a natural pesticide for indoor plants, and it’s very effective for controlling and eliminating common houseplant pests.
It also has a residual effect, so you don’t have to treat the plant every day like you would with other methods.
HOW DOES NEEM OIL WORK?
A common misconception is that neem oil is a type of poison. It is not a poison, but rather has a chemical effect on the insects that eat it, which eventually ends up killing them.
Basically, the way it works is that it messes with the brains and hormones of the bugs, so they stop eating and mating, and eventually die off. It also works to smother the pests, which kills them faster.
In addition to killing them, neem oil repels them, and it has a slight residual effect to keep them away longer than other organic methods.
NEEM OIL USES FOR PLANTS
Neem oil won’t kill all of the bugs on contact, so it might take a few days, weeks, or even months for them to disappear from the plant.
The best part is that it only kills the ones that eat plants, so it won’t harm beneficial insects! This is huge, especially if you plan to spray it on plants that are outside, or you want to use it in your garden.
Just be careful when you use it outside to make sure that you don’t spray it directly on any beneficial bugs, because it could still smother them on contact.
It’s also safe to use indoors, and I mainly use neem oil for houseplants since battling infestations can be a common occurrence during the long winter months.
It has helped me get rid of all of the houseplant pests I’ve ever dealt with, and also keeps them bug free for the long run!
HOW TO GET RID OF MEALYBUGS ON HOUSEPLANTS
As with any houseplant pest infestation, when you first spot a problem, begin mealybug treatment immediately.
The first thing to do is quarantine the affected plant(s) so that you can prevent mealybugs from infesting your other houseplants.
The next thing to do is to kill mealybugs using organic pest control products and methods. I don’t recommend using synthetic pesticides, because mealybugs are resistant to most chemical pesticides.
They also have the ability to develop a resistance to any chemicals they are exposed to on a regular basis.
SOAPY WATER
Soap kills bugs on contact. It’s easy to make your own natural bug killer for indoor plants. My homemade bug spray recipe is one teaspoon mild liquid soap to one liter of water.
Use it in a spray bottle, or to wash the leaves of heavily infested plants (test it on a leaf first to make sure the plant isn’t sensitive to the mixture).
Organic insecticidal soap also works great as a natural insecticide for houseplants.
RUBBING ALCOHOL
Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill and remove insect pests from the plant.
This can be a bit tedious, but it works great to remove large clusters of pests like aphids, scale, or mealybugs from a plant.
NEEM OIL
Organic neem oil is a natural pesticide for indoor plants, and it’s very effective for controlling and eliminating common houseplant pests.
It also has a residual effect, so you don’t have to treat the plant every day like you would with other methods.
HOW DOES NEEM OIL WORK?
A common misconception is that neem oil is a type of poison. It is not a poison, but rather has a chemical effect on the insects that eat it, which eventually ends up killing them.
Basically, the way it works is that it messes with the brains and hormones of the bugs, so they stop eating and mating, and eventually die off. It also works to smother the pests, which kills them faster.
In addition to killing them, neem oil repels them, and it has a slight residual effect to keep them away longer than other organic methods.
NEEM OIL USES FOR PLANTS
Neem oil won’t kill all of the bugs on contact, so it might take a few days, weeks, or even months for them to disappear from the plant.
The best part is that it only kills the ones that eat plants, so it won’t harm beneficial insects! This is huge, especially if you plan to spray it on plants that are outside, or you want to use it in your garden.
Just be careful when you use it outside to make sure that you don’t spray it directly on any beneficial bugs, because it could still smother them on contact.
It’s also safe to use indoors, and I mainly use neem oil for houseplants since battling infestations can be a common occurrence during the long winter months.
It has helped me get rid of all of the houseplant pests I’ve ever dealt with, and also keeps them bug free for the long run!
@KikiGoldblatt Thank you, I think that today was the last day of the this week long treatment and I am hoping that I was able to eliminate all of the bugs, if there should be any left by tomorrow I’ll continue with the treatment! !
