The five most common bugs that live in your home – and how to get rid of them

Get the free Morning Headlines electronic mail for information from our reporters internationally

Sign up to our free Morning Headlines electronic mail

Are you acquainted with clouds of tiny flies showing everytime you transfer your houseplant, or little critters nestling in leaf joints or creating webs on the base of leaves?

These could also be among the many most common houseplant pests, which so typically turn out to be extra evident in winter when it’s too chilly for them outside.

“If you think you’ve got any kind of pest infestation, get yourself a hand lens or a magnifying glass because lots of the life cycles of these creatures are really hard to see,” advises houseplant knowledgeable and On The Ledge houseplant podcast host, Jane Perrone, creator of Houseplant Gardener In A Box (Skittledog, £19.99).

Here are five of the most common houseplant pests you would possibly encounter and how to deal with them.

1. Fungus gnats

Also referred to as sciarid flies, these clouds of tiny black flies are among the many most annoying of houseplant pests, however truly don’t do vital injury to the plant, says Perrone, as they’re actually solely consuming the decomposing materials of fungus in the soil.

The actual attraction for them is moist compost. Like the housefly, they lay eggs in the soil, which can lead to better numbers.

Solution: Keep the compost on the dry facet or set sticky yellow traps on the soil (or over the soil floor) which can catch the gnats, suggests RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter. Use a houseplant formulation compost fairly than peat-free potting media, which is extra susceptible to assist them, he provides.

“The gold-standard treatment is that twice a year, in spring and late summer or autumn, you apply a biological control,” Perrone advises. There’s a microscopic nematode worm, which you purchase in powder kind and combine with water (in accordance to directions) and then apply the answer to the soil. “The soil has to be damp for the treatment to work,” she provides. You can purchase them on-line at retailers corresponding to Ladybird Plantcare or Dragonfli.

Another resolution is to place a carnivorous plant corresponding to pinguicula (butterwort) subsequent to the infested plant, which has sticky leaves that will entice the fungus gnats, suggests houseplant knowledgeable and influencer Tony Le-Britton (@notanotherjungle), creator of Not Another Jungle (DK, £16.99).

2. Aphids

These are very common, showing largely on the stems and tender new progress the place they suck the sap, and they breed extremely rapidly. They have a tendency to go for overstressed crops, so the higher you take care of your houseplants, the much less seemingly they’re to do a lot injury, Barter advises.

Solution: They are simple to management on houseplants. Just squidge them with your finger and thumb to take away them, or use a soap-based insecticide that has been examined on a range of crops and is suitable with natural protocols.

3. Thrips

These very small, pale to darkish brown critters that are round 2mm lengthy have gotten one of the most common houseplant pests, says Le-Britton. They assault leaves, sucking sap and depleting vitality, ensuing in yellow spots on the leaves. They lay their eggs contained in the leaf cells and are troublesome to eradicate, as you may’t see them. Susceptible crops embody philodendron.

Look on the undersides of leaves with a magnifying glass and you might even see the little rice grain-shaped creatures transferring round, Perrone provides.

Solution: The finest approach to cope with them is bodily elimination. When you water the plant, bathe the entire plant down and then wipe the leaves with a humid microfibre fabric, advises Le-Britton.

“There are biological controls you can use but the first thing you should do is isolate your plant away from other plants in your collection and check your other plants, because thrips do spread from plant-to-plant. Repeated cleaning of the leaves with horticultural soap spray will help tackle the problem,” says Perrone.

4. Mealy bugs

These bugs that typically infest succulents corresponding to cacti, monsteras and aloes, seem like tiny woolly woodlice which disguise in nooks and crannies of the plant and beneath the leaves earlier than showing throughout.

“By the time they’ve done that, they have almost certainly infested the rootball, where they are inaccessible, and that’s usually the finish of the plant,” warns Barter. “They suck the sap and leave quantities of honeydew so the plant becomes sticky and dark and is covered by this white gunge.” They are sometimes discovered on orchids. “Unfortunately there is no insecticidal option,” he provides.

Solution: “We have had some success with mixtures of nematodes that are sold to kill a wide range of insects. Otherwise just dispose of the plant because it will infect all your other plants fairly quickly,” Barter provides.

“If you see fluffy white areas on your plant they are the first things to tackle because they are the nests where the adults will lay eggs. Get a cotton bud and some rubbing alcohol (surgical spirit) and dab the area,” Perrone suggests.

Le-Britton recommends bodily elimination to hold numbers down

5. Spider mites

You’ll want a magnifying glass to spot these tiny spherical purple, brown or white mites which seem like specks, however multiply rapidly and go away white grains on the underside of the leaf close to the mid-rib and telltale webbing if the infestation is extreme. Again, they’re sap-suckers and plant signs embody brown and yellowing leaves and stems. They like giant, flat and dry surfaces, so favour crops corresponding to calatheas and alocasias, says Le-Britton.

Solution: Routinely bathe the dry leaves to cut back their numbers, or wipe leaves with a clear damp fabric regularly, he suggests.

“With any pest, there is no silver bullet solution that you are going to be able to do or apply to your plants that is going to fix the problem forever because things are flying in through the window, you are bringing in new plants, new soil, you have to fight a war of attrition,” Perrone concludes.