Now that the seasons are changing and the spotlight is fading off of annual plants, it's time to turn our attention to our indoor plants.. and their uninvited "friends".

At Tonkadale we are obsessed with your success, and have all too much experience dealing with pests of indoor plants and figuring out the prime solutions to eliminate them.

Above all else, best practice is to inspect plants each time you water; so you can get after insects as soon as possible and before they become an infestation.

In case you don't make it to the bottom of the blog, here's a link to a video and an amazing infographic detailing all the best information to identify and treat pests of indoor plants!

• Appear most commonly on the new growth tips of plants.
• Black, brown, green, or orange in color.
• About 1/16” in size, typically easily visible.
• Indoor plant favorites include angel vine & succulents.  
• Aphids leave behind a clear, sticky residue called honeydew as they feed that results in a layer of black sooty mold.

Solutions:

•  Eight, Insecticidal Super Soap, and Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew are the best treatment options.

• Fungus gnats closely resemble fruit flies.
• The larvae (juvenile form) are found in potting soil.
• Larvae in the soil feed on fungus & decomposing organic matter, which is often found on old or overwatered soil.
• Adults emerge from soil and eat very little, with reproduction as their primary purpose.

Solutions:

• Always purchase potting soil from a reputable supplier, and allow plants' soil to dry between waterings. Replace soil if an infestation occurs.
• A soil cover such as sand or terrarium pebbles may act as a barrier and prevent egg laying on the soil surface.
• Use yellow sticky traps to lure and trap adults.
• Most insecticidal sprays will kill fungus gnats on contact, but their pupae and eggs are more difficult to treat with sprays.

• Mealybugs are about 1/5" long and wide.
• Mealy bugs have a white, waxy, and fuzzy appearance which en masse looks like cotton or perlite.
• They can be found anywhere on plants, but prefer to hide in unfolding leaves and difficult-to-spot places.

Solutions:

• Physical removal with cotton swabs or a soft cloth is an easy first step to reduce population. You can also use a cotton swab to apply rubbing alcohol onto the bugs to target them directly. Be sure to test on a small piece of the plant first to ensure that the alcohol won't damage it.
• Pruning away infested plant parts can also reduce popluation pressure.
• Eight, Insecticidal Super Soap or Horticultural Oil are the best treatments for mealybugs.

• Spider mites are difficult to see, but are usually red, brown, or pale yellow.
• The two-spotted spider mite is the most common pest of indoor plants. They are often found on citrus, palms, alocasia, and ivy.
• In heavy infestations, spider mites create webbing that resembles spiderwebs, usually at the growth points.
• Spider mites always appear on the undersides of leaves, and their damage looks like tiny yellow dots or stippling on leaf surfaces.

Solutions:

• Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew or other Spinosad-containing products, and Horticultural Oil are among the best options for control.

• Scale are found in various sizes (commonly 4-5mm but sometimes smaller), and are usually brown or black in color.
• Scale have a hard outer shell and appear to be simple, immobile bumps on leaves or stems.
• Many species of scale excrete honeydew, which is often how infestations are spotted.

Solutions:

• Physical removal or scraping (like picking off a scab) can be used to reduce adult poputations.
• Horticultural Oil or Neem Oil are the only controls for scale insects, though complete control is difficult to achieve. These oils work by suffocating scale insects.

• Thrips are typically very small, 1-2 mm long with long, narrow bodies.
• Thrips have many possible colorations, usually light green, brown or orange.
• Feeding damage looks like silvery or faded patches on leaves & flower petals due to thrips' rasping, scraping mouth parts.

Solutions:

• Trap adults with yellow sticky traps.
• Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew or other Spinosad-containing products, Eight, or Insecticidal Super Soap are best treatments.

• Whiteflies can be as small as 1/12", and are somewhat triangular in shape.
• They are not actually flies, instead are closely related to aphids and mealybugs.
• Found in clusters on the undersides of leaves, often on tropical plants like poinsettias, citrus, mandevilla, and hibuscus.
• Whiteflies have piercing mouthparts that nibble holes into plant leaves, causing leaves to wilt & drop. They also excrete honeydew.

Solutions:

• Trap adults with yellow sticky traps.
• Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew or other Spinosad-containing products, Eight, or Insecticidal Super Soap are best treatments.

• Active Ingredient: neem oil and pyrethrins
• Pyrethrins mimic chrysanthemum extract, which is toxic to insects*.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Suitable for organic gardening

• Active Ingredient: spinosad
• Naturally occurring bacteria found in old rum distilleries
• Kills mites, thrips, caterpillars.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Suitable for organic gardening

• Active Ingredient: Lambda-cyhalothrin (a pyrethrin)
• Pyrethrins mimic chrysanthemum extract which is toxic to insects*.
• Broad spectrum coverage, kills all insect pests besides scale with small residual control.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Not suitable for organic gardening

• Active Ingredient: mineral oil
• Works by suffocating insects by coating them.
• Effective on contact against all insects and mites. No residual control.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Suitable for organic gardening

• Active Ingredient: potassium salt of fatty acids
• No need to rinse or wash after application.
• Bugs have a hard time moving, and are suffocated. No residual control.
• Can control most insects and mites.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Suitable for organic gardening

• Active Ingredient: extract from the African neem tree
• Repellent, contact kill, and insect growth regulator.
• Can be used to control any insect or mite.
• Spray directly onto insects
• Suitable for organic gardening