Plant pests are just a part of the deal when you have interior plants, but dealing with an out of control infestation can cause some serious headaches. Not only do plant pests cause cosmetic damage to once happy houseplants, but if left to their own devices, an infestation can kill the affected plant and spread to those around it. It’s important to catch the issue early in order to effectively treat and control plant pests.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a cyclical program that uses comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. The goal of IPM is control, it’s commonly accepted in the practice that complete eradication isn’t ecologically or economically sustainable, but plant pests can be managed if the following steps are taken.
The first line of defense is prevention. Healthy plants that are thriving in their environment are able to fend off pests pretty effectively without our help. By choosing the correct lighting situation for each plant, practicing good watering techniques, and ensuring plants are receiving proper ventilation, you can prevent plant pests from taking up free real estate. Taking it a step further, you can apply beneficial insects (we’ll get into that later) or spray your plants down with your favorite non-chemical plant pest treatment, such as castile soap or neem oil, monthly.
In interior settings, it’s not always possible to give your plants the ideal environmental conditions. Therefore, the next crucial step in IPM is to monitor. This step is key in catching infestations early! Check plant foliage thoroughly and regularly, be sure to lift the underside of leaves, and inspect the stems and grow points. If you’re unsure of what you’re looking for we’ve written in depth articles about identifying common plant pests such as spider mites, thrips , scal e, and mealybugs. A metho d we use for this step is regular dusting. Dusting your plants monthly allows you to take a close look at the foliage while also keeping them clean!
On the dreaded day that you do discover pests living rent free on your plant, it’s important to correctly identify the pest and the level of the issue in order to treat it effectively and ecologically. This step is called intervention and there are a few options that should be considered before reaching for chemical treatments. While chemical pesticides can wipe out the issue, they can compromise the overall health of the plant in the long term, they can be toxic to pets and p e ople in large a mounts– s o put those chemicals away and let’s discuss the methods to consider first. These methods should be used in a cyclical approach. Once treatment is deemed necessary and performed, revert to the prevention and monitoring steps.
