How to Identify and Control Common Plant Pests?

Gardening in your yard has major upsides, but it has one irritating downside. Pests that attack your beautiful plants and delicious homegrown vegetables. Several insects and other pests feed on houseplants. These pests most often come into the home on newly purchased plants or on those that have been outside for the summer. This article will help you learn about common pests and how to identify them.

Aphids

Aphids may very well be the most commonly known unwanted houseplant pests. You’ll find aphids in green, black, yellow or red. Aphids are a soft-bodied insect, so they’re very easy to squish between your fingers. Aphids are usually found feeding on new growth or the undersides of leaves.

Cabbage Worms

Holes in cabbage leaves are a telltale sign of cabbage worm feeding. Green, hairy cabbageworms have a velvety appearance and a row of light spots along their backs. These voracious feeders eat vegetable plant leaves, creating large, irregular holes, often along the midrib.

Spider Mites

Since spider mites are extremely small, plant damage is typically the first sign of their presence. Spider mite adults and their immature forms damage plants by sucking plant sap. If the mites are left unchecked, leaves become bronzed or yellow and the plant dies.

Tomato Hornworms

Tomato hornworms measure up to 4 inches long and feature posterior horns. The adults are large moths that appear at dusk. The tomato hornworm is the larval stage of the five-spotted hawk moth. Both stages of this insect are formidable to see.

Cucumber Beetles

Cucumber beetles eat roots, leaves, and flowers and transmit bacterial wilt disease along the way. The larvae are white and thin. As the larvae, they feed on roots, leaving plants susceptible to wind damage. Common targets of these beetles are cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, winter and summer squash, and gourds.

39 total views, 1 views today