Finding pests on your plants is alarming, but catching them early makes treatment simple. Here's a guide to the most common culprits.
Spider Mites
Look for: Fine webbing underneath leaves, tiny moving dots, stippled (yellow-flecked) leaves.
Treatment: Increase humidity, mist leaves, wipe with neem oil solution. Repeat weekly for 3–4 weeks.
Fungus Gnats
Look for: Tiny flies hovering around soil, larvae in compost.
Treatment: Allow soil to dry out between waterings. Use sticky yellow traps. Apply neem oil to soil.
Mealybugs
Look for: White fluffy/cottony clusters in leaf joints and stem forks.
Treatment: Remove with cotton wool soaked in isopropyl alcohol. Spray with diluted washing-up liquid. Isolate the plant immediately.
Scale Insects
Look for: Brown oval bumps on stems that don't move. Sticky honeydew on leaves.
Treatment: Scrape off manually, then treat with neem oil.
Aphids
Look for: Clusters of tiny green, black, or white insects on new growth. Curled, deformed leaves.
Treatment: Blast off with a water jet. Spray with diluted soap solution.
