Spring is here and summer is approaching and with these seasons come open windows, screen doors, and an invasion of house plant pests, not that we haven’t been have our fair share all fall and winter. Once an insect infects one or your plants, the chances are fairly good that it will spread to the rest if you don’t isolate the infected plant immediately. Removing dead plant debris, providing good air circulation, keeping leaves clean, and never using products like milk or mayonaise to clean the leaves are good preventative measures. Check your plants often, because bugs like aphids reproduce so quickly you may have none one day and a week later have hundreds. Be sure to look at the underside of leaves and stir the soil to see what might be hiding. Keep a package of Yellow Sticky Insect Cards on hand so you can quickly put a few pieces in your plants and start trapping the pests as soon as you see them. Here are the most common insects that attack our houseplants and some pictures to help identify them. You can find more detailed information about plant pests and how to get rid of them in the Glossary Section of HousePlant411.
Aphids
Fungus Gnats
Mealy Bugs
Scale
Thrips
Whitefly
