Types of Houseplant Bugs and Ways to Control Their Infestation

Sooner rather than later, houseplant bugs will infest your indoor plants, thereby causing them to wilt and shed their leaves prematurely. It is very essential you know more about the different types of house plant bugs and the most effective ways to control their infestation. 

Your house plants are susceptible to attacks from assorted mite pests and insects. Bugs on houseplants are very capable of causing enormous damage to the health and appearance of the plant. When your houseplants are infested by mites, they will look weak or appear not to be growing vigorously. Usually, houseplants bugs can be traced to recently purchased plants or plants received as gifts. To prevent this, try to put your new plants at an isolated spot for at least a period of two weeks. Within the isolation you can easily determine the presence or absence of bugs on houseplants.  

Some of the most popular houseplants bugs are:  

Greenhouse Whiteflies: They are known to prefer greenhouse grown vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers. Plants such as lantana, hibiscuses are also vulnerable to this pest. They are called whiteflies because they are usually covered with fine white wax. They like to suck sap from the plant, thereby causing damage to the plant. During infestation your houseplant will lack vigor and will have dull looking appearance. To subdue the infestation, one can resort to using sticky cards so as to trap adult whiteflies. It is better to apply, organic insecticides, horticultural oils and insecticidal soaps directly, to the leaves by using a sponge.  

Twospotted spider mites: They are one of the most common pests infesting houseplants. They prefer all plants, because they crawl from one plant to another, thereby infesting all the indoor of nursery plants. Twospotted spider mites like to feed on plant sap and will produce small wounds appearing like white flecks on the outer plant cells. The beginning of the infestation more or less looks like small patches on the underside of the leaves, at the base of the leaf veins. Bit by bit, as the infestation grows, the leaves develop a grayish appearance.  

You can easily spot the webs, if the infestation is major. Heavily infested leaves will drop prematurely. Unless caught in the very early stages of infestation, spider mite infestation is usually deadly. They are very difficult to eliminate and your best recourse is to discard all the plants infested, since these will serve as breeding grounds for new infestations. Sanitize the infected area and try to maintain top quality growing conditions to keep them at bay. Another way to control their spread is by repeatedly washing the small plants with jet of water. This will pressure the eggs and nymphs to get washed off. 

Mealy bugs: They look soft but deadly effective at sucking sap from plants, thereby weakening it and causing its leaves to shed prematurely. They generally prefer, poinsettia, jade, lantana, coleus and cactus.  These pests are known to affect various regions of the plant, from the root to the leaves. While infestation on the leaves is the most visible; frankly, these pests are mostly seen in the roots. The best way to get rid of bugs on the leaves of your houseplant is to swab individual mealy bugs with alcohol or insecticidal soap to curb their population. You can also apply insecticides like disulfoton and imidacloprid, which are also quite effective soil applicants.  

Fungus Gnats: They look tiny and are dark colored. They like to fly across the soil surface. While a nuisance, the fungus gnats do cause little or no damage to the houseplants. Best ways to control them is to change soil moisture conditions. Since the fungus gnat larvae feed mostly on decaying plant material, changing soil moisture conditions will help. Apply yellow sticky cards to help capture the adult gnats.  

Other known houseplant bugs are Aphids, Thrips, soft scales, armored scales and springtail. There are several ways to get rid of bugs on houseplants. You can start by washing your plants repeatedly with jets of water, which will help curb aphid and spider mite population. Hand picking method can be used to control larger houseplant bugs like mealy bugs. Vacuuming can help get rid of whiteflies. Furthermore, trapping some of these insects using bright colored sticky cards can also be very useful.

Rex Begonia Planting Media

Planting medium is a key component when it will grow crops. Planting medium that will be used must be tailored to the type of what to plant crops. Determine appropriate planting medium and standard for different types of plants native habitat is difficult. This is because each region has its humidity and wind speed are different. In general, the planting medium must be able to keep moisture around the root area, providing enough air, and may withhold the availability of nutrients.
To get a good planting medium and according to the type of crop to be planted, a hobbyists must have an understanding of the characteristics of growing media which may vary from each type. Especially for begonia rex is the most suitable media bamboo leaves which had almost rotted included in the category of organic matter use of organic materials as planting media is far superior compared with inorganic materials. That's because organic material is able to provide nutrients for plants. In addition, organic materials also have pores macro and micro are nearly balanced so that the resulting air circulation is good enough and has high water absorption.
Organic materials will undergo a process of weathering or decomposition by microorganisms. Through this process, will produce carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and minerals. Minerals produced is a source of nutrients that can be absorbed by plants as a food substance. However, the process of decomposition is too fast can lead to the emergence of seedling disease. To avoid this, the planting medium must be frequently replaced. Therefore, the addition of nutrients should be given before the material must still planting medium underwent decomposition.
Based on the author's experience with the media bamboo leaf begonia plant roots is very easy to develop because if there is excess water would be easily wasted and also available free air in the media because there are a lot of air cavity.

Begonia

His name is Begonia. At first glance, some of these plants somewhat oval shaped with a strong fiber. If you look at it, we are reminded by the figure of the tongue. But the feather-like leaves are smooth and thick carpets Like silk. And not infrequently, some fans call it plant tongue ornamental plant that carpets made ​​from fine-smooth as silk.

If plants anthurium and aglaonema still high-priced, it could not hurt if you attempt this one crop. The shape is cute, but still in character, both in color and in structure leaves a lot overgrown with fine hair. The leaves are somewhat oval, with a joint firm fingers, and a distinctive color pattern, color basically on top and some red (below).

Besides hair, a few other Begonia species are also formed with a waxy leaf surface and soft, some are rough and full of wrinkles. Almost all of Begonia leaves produce a creeping rhizome, or in the soil.

Begonia is a wild plant that grows in wet forests or sometimes planted as an ornamental plant. Begonia can grow well in moist places, humus soil, and in a slightly shaded, ranging from 900 m to 2300 m above sea level. Begonia usually will bloom from June until September. Proper harvest time is September to November.

As the trend of growing ornamental plants, begonia climbed caste. Had not responded because of its existence spread in all public places until the forest, are now increasingly Begonia makeup. As the use of growth media is more exclusive, that is in the pot, Begonia started ogled people.

Temperature

Temperature. The most favorable temperature for interior plants during the day is 65 to 70° and during the nigh, 60 to 65° F. During the summer, plants that are located in direct sunlight may need to be moved or shaded during midday to avoid extreme heat and injury.

During the winter, plants may need to be moved away from the window. The window is the colder part of the room, especially if there are no storm windows. If the plants are to be kept near the window, some sort of protection such as plastic or paper is needed.

Houseplants may be moved outside if done gradually. It should be done until the night temperature is regularly above 60° F. Do not put plants directly in the sun. It can be a great shock to the plants and will do them no good. Slowly put them into direct sunlight. It takes time for plants to get used to the different light intensities and the higher temperatures. When the outdoor temperatures begin to go lower than 60° F., the plants should be brought back inside.

Watering

Most plants should be kept moist, but not super saturated. The soil should be drenched each watering, which means allowing the water to flow out of the container. Therefore, care should be taken when selecting a container. The planter should have drainage holes in the bottom so the excess water is able to drain out. If the plant is being watered through the bottom, remember to remove the plant from the water within an hour or as soon as the surface of the soil is moist. If the plant is left in standing water, damage may occur to the root systems. Tap water is generally safe for houseplants. If the water is softened, an adverse effect may occur. Most softeners contain sodium, which may build up in the soil and eventually become toxic. Another element which may be present in water is fluoride. Fluoride can cause injury in some foliage plants, especially those in the Lilaceae family.

Clay pots are good if one is prone to overwatering. Clay pots are porous, meaning that when the surface of the soil dries, the rest of the soil is also dry. Plants grown in plastic pots will require less watering because they are non-porous and hold water longer. Clay and plastic pots, with drainage holes, are the best containers in which to grow successful plants.