How to get rid of scale insects on indoor flowers? REVIEW!

Pests How to deal with scale insects on indoor plants Scale insects are dangerous insect pests that attack indoor plants. Most often they accumulate on the leaves, stems and petioles of flowers, with their entire body tightly adjacent to their surface. In a few days, insects can spread to all the plants in the apartment and destroy them, so the appearance of at least one pest is a reason to immediately begin the fight. You can get rid of scale insects using modern insecticides or folk remedies.

Features of scale insects

Scale insects can settle on both garden and indoor crops and cause serious harm to them. The body of the pest is covered with a high-density protective shell, which includes 1-2 skins, as well as secretory wax. The shield can be easily detached from the body. The pest has a sucking mouthpart. Different species differ in size, color and taste preferences.

This pest is dangerous because immediately after the larvae emerge from the eggs, they spread throughout all above-ground parts of the plant. At the same time, they begin to actively suck out cell sap. It often happens that pests cover the entire surface of the leaves.

Larvae can be found on the stem, trunk and underside of leaf blades. If there are a lot of pests, then a coating consisting of their bodies appears on the bush. Because of this, the leaf plates turn yellow and die ahead of time, the stems dry out, and the plant itself stops developing and growing.

Adults and their larvae can be found on domestic plants all year round. Their reproduction occurs rapidly. Most species of scale insects reproduce by oviparity, but viviparous species are also found. At first, the larvae are highly mobile. At the same time, flying males are the most mobile, so they easily move to nearby bushes. But the lifespan of males is only a few days. Females live for several months and actively reproduce during this time.

Pests secrete honeydew during their life, which is a sticky coating. A sooty fungus settles on it, which also harms the plant.

There are also false scale insects, which are easily confused with scale insects. These are arthropod insects that are part of the same order. However, they are classified into a separate family, which consists of more than 1000 species. False scale insects differ from scale insects in that they lack a waxy shell. The dried skin of females, which die after laying eggs, acts as protection for oviposition and larvae.

How to understand that scale insects have settled on a bush? Young individuals move quite quickly, and they can only be seen with a magnifying glass. If, at the junction of the leaf cuttings and the shoot or trunk, there are rounded scales of brown or light color, then this means a scale infestation. Moreover, the scales are adults. If there are already a lot of insects on the plant, then honeydew (sticky liquid) will begin to drip from it onto the windowsill, which is also a clear sign of the presence of scale insects.

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Description of the insect

Scale insects are insect pests belonging to the Pseudococcid family. They are very easy to confuse with false scale insects. A distinctive feature of scale insects is the presence of a removable shell. If, when you try to remove the shell, the insect continues to sit on the leaf, then it is a scale insect. In false scale insects, it will not be possible to separate the shield, since it is part of their body. When examining the false shield under a microscope, you can see that its eyes are located directly on the shield.

Scale insects on indoor plants

Scale insects are fairly small insects, their length is up to 5 mm. The lifespan of pests is short and depends on gender. Females live no more than 4 months. After laying eggs, they protect the clutch with their body, so they sit motionless. Males are more mobile, some are even able to fly, but their life expectancy does not exceed 2–3 days.

After hatching from the eggs, the larvae begin to move around the plant until they settle in one place. After this, they do not move until a wax shield is formed.

Scale insect larvae

At any stage of their development, scale insects cause harm to the plant. They feed on the juice of indoor flowers, and can even settle on poisonous ones. After pests settle on plants, they begin to wither and dry out. New leaves stop growing, and old ones gradually turn yellow, dry out and fall off. If you start the process and do not use any control methods to remove scale insects, the flowers may die.

Scale insects do not appear on indoor plants as often as in the garden. Palm trees, citrus fruits and bromeliads suffer most from these pests.

Preventative treatment

In order to protect your home plants from scale insects, you will need to take a number of preventive measures:

1. You need to regularly check the quality of the substrate in the container with the plant. Pay attention to how clean and high quality it is.
2. Trim weakened and dead stems in a timely manner, and the cut areas should be disinfected.
3. Be sure to regularly ventilate the room in the last winter and first spring weeks. Make sure the humidity level is appropriate for the plants. If necessary, systematically moisten them with a sprayer, especially the underside of the foliage.
4. Any new bush must be quarantined for 4 weeks. It is also needed by those crops that were outside in the summer. They are placed separately from other house plants and observed for some time. You can also treat plants to prevent pests and diseases.

Why are they dangerous?

Like other leaf-sucking and leaf-gnawing pests, scale insects feed on plant juices. They prefer succulent young shoots, making no difference between weeds and cultivated plants.

With extensive lesions, the leaves begin to fall off, the plant weakens, and cannot form fruit ovaries. The sticky liquid secreted by insects blocks the access of oxygen and disrupts the process of photosynthesis.

Moving from plant to plant, flying male scale insects and active larvae carry fungi and viruses that cause a variety of diseases that are difficult to treat.

Expert opinion Stefania Bogdanovna Mityuk

The not completely destroyed scale insect can manifest itself next year, attacking the garden and vegetable garden with the first warm days. The more parasites there are in an area, the more difficult it is to get rid of them. In severe cases, some gardeners completely destroy the affected plants, replacing them with new ones.

How to get rid of scale insects

Fighting methods

How to deal with scale insects indoors? This can be done in various ways. If there are few pests on the bush, then you can give it a warm shower (45 degrees), and then the remaining adult pests should be removed mechanically with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol or an unnecessary toothbrush.

It is necessary to re-inspect the plant after a week and a half. If you find scale insects again, they need to be removed mechanically, and then treated with any folk remedy. A follow-up examination is carried out after 2 weeks.

If pests were initially found on several bushes, it is recommended to treat them with a folk remedy. If there are a lot of pests, then you should spray with a pesticide.

Folk remedies

There are many folk remedies used to kill scale insects. They act more gently than pesticides, but are also less effective. As a rule, they are used for preventive treatments, as well as for spraying plants at the initial stage of infection.

Folk remedies:

1. Remove pests from leaf blades using a toothbrush. Then the injured areas should be smeared with onion, crushed to a mushy state. After this, treatment is carried out with a mixture consisting of one liter of water and 25 grams of green soap (40 grams of laundry soap), which is pre-ground on a grater. Literally five drops of kerosene are added to the finished mixture and everything needs to be mixed well again. Treat the shoots and foliage with a spray bottle with the prepared product, or you can lubricate them.
2. When the plant is mechanically cleaned, it is treated with an oil-soap mixture. To prepare it in 1 tbsp. of water, beat 5 to 10 grams of any soap product (dishwashing detergent, grated soap, washing powder or flea shampoo) until foam appears. Then 20 to 30 mg of technical oil is poured into the mixture. The surface of the substrate in the container is covered with plastic film to protect it from the mixture. Treat shoots and foliage. Wash the bush well with cold water after 6–12 hours. To get rid of the pest completely, you need to treat the plant with this composition 2 or 3 times with a break of 1–1.5 weeks.
3. In 1 tbsp. add five garlic cloves to the water, which must first be chopped. Cover the container tightly and put it in a dark place. After a few hours, filter the mixture using gauze folded in three layers. Spray the bush with the infusion, which must first be mechanically cleared of pests. It is necessary to treat the plant 3 or 4 times. In the same way you can make an infusion of onions: for 1 tbsp. water 1 medium sized onion.
4. Pepper infusion is very effective and can be stored for a long time. For every 100 milligrams of water, take 10 grams of finely chopped fresh hot pepper. It should be boiled for five minutes. Bring the mixture to the original volume by adding the required amount of water. Cover the container tightly and leave for 24 hours. Then the broth is filtered and placed in a sealed container. Store on the refrigerator shelf.
5. Dried celandine herb in an amount of 0.3 kg is mixed with a liter of hot water. Cover the container tightly and leave the mixture for 24 hours. Filter the infusion and treat the bush with a spray bottle or wipe the shoots and foliage with it.
6. Combine half a liter of water and 1 tbsp. l. olive oils. Using a brush, this composition is distributed over the surface of the plant. Insects die because oxygen ceases to flow to them. The procedure is carried out once every 7 days until the pests are completely killed. Olive oil can be replaced with transformer oil (4 milligrams per 1 liter of water).
7. 0.5 liters of water are mixed with 40 grams of dried tobacco leaves. The infusion is kept for 24 hours, after which it is filtered and diluted with water 1:2.

Insect pests Scale insects on indoor flowers. Website "Garden World"

Remedies and preparations for scale insects

If there are already a lot of pests, then it is recommended to treat the bush with an insecticidal preparation as soon as possible:

1. Bankol . Differs in contact-intestinal action. It paralyzes insects, causing them to die 72 hours after treatment. The product has low toxicity for humans.
2. Fitoverm . This highly effective drug has low toxicity for humans. But to get rid of the pest, the flower needs to be treated several times.
3. Mospilan . Systemic insecticidal drug. It penetrates the plant tissue, causing the death of larvae, adults, and eggs.
4. Aktara . Systemic highly toxic agent. Recommended for use in open ground, but you must adhere to safety precautions.
5. Phosbecide . Insectoacaricide of systemic and intestinal action, characterized by toxicity. When working with it, you must take precautions.
6. Ragor (BI-58) . Insectoacaricide of contact-intestinal action, characterized by high toxicity and a pronounced, unpleasant odor. It is also recommended to use it in open ground, but do not forget about precautions.
7. Aktellik . Insectoacaricide with a wide spectrum of action. Does not contribute to the development of addiction in pests, and also prevents their reappearance.
8. Bitoxibacillin . Bacterial insecticidal preparation. Promotes intestinal damage in scale insects. After 24 hours of spraying with the product, the pests stop eating, which leads to their death after 3 days.

In addition to the listed means, the following are used to exterminate such a pest: Konfidor, Iskra Zolotaya, Fufanon, Novaktion, Alatar, Tanrek, Colorado, Karbofos, Kemifos, Antiklesch, Admiral, etc.

Scale insects on plants ❦ my simple way to combat scale insects ❦ helped the first time

Treatment methods: what means to combat the pest?

In order to get rid of parasites, you must first determine the degree of damage to the plant; if insects are found on only one flower, it is recommended to isolate it from the rest and use a mechanical method of removing pests, as it is the most gentle for the plant.

1. To do this, you need to prepare a soap solution and a cotton swab.
2. Cotton wool should be moistened in the resulting liquid and treated with it on each leaf and stem.
3. Then the surface must be carefully rubbed with a metal or plastic brush. If the infestation is significant, it is recommended to remove the insects with a knife.
4. Then the plant should be washed to clean its surface from the soap solution.
5. At the end of the procedure, it is recommended to spray with special chemicals.

When treating flowers with insecticides, you should strictly follow the instructions. Often medications do not bring the desired result the first time. Some pests can hide in the axils of leaves or scales of bulbs, so the chemical does not reach them. After a few days, the surviving individuals will reproduce. In this case, re-processing will be required.

For a reliable result (even in the absence of signs of recurrent infection), it is recommended to repeat the procedure after 7 days. If the scale insect has managed to spread to neighboring flowers, all plants should be treated. It is recommended to remove and burn the most pest-infested leaves and shoots.

The top layer of soil and the surface on which the pot with the diseased plant is located, for example a windowsill, are also subject to treatment. If larvae get on it, there is a high probability of re-infection. The surface of the window is also dangerous, so when processing you should not forget about it.

Reference! Insecticides are more effective in controlling scale insect larvae. Chemicals cause almost no harm to adult individuals, since the body of the pests is covered with a thick protective shell.

After the procedure, it is recommended to wrap the pot with the plant in plastic wrap. After a few hours, the flower needs to be washed and the top layer of soil needs to be renewed.

For human safety, spraying with insecticides should be carried out in the fresh air. A plant treated with chemicals should not be left in places exposed to direct sunlight. The following drugs are considered the most effective in the fight against scale insects:

1. "Bankol." The product is intended for the extermination of sucking and gnawing insects. Does not have a pronounced odor.
2. "Inta-vir". Broad-spectrum drug.
3. "Aktellik". It has a high degree of efficiency. It is not recommended for use in closed spaces, as it has a strong and persistent odor.
4. "Aktara". Broad-spectrum agent. It is used to treat both plants and soil. The solution should be poured over the roots of the flower. The product spreads throughout all organs of the plant, making it toxic to pests. Can only be used for flowers whose height exceeds 30 cm.
5. "Mospilan". Penetrates into any part of the plant, after which it spreads evenly inside it, reaching even those areas that have not been treated.

You can spray flowers not only with special preparations. 96 percent alcohol is also suitable for this. To do this, it is recommended to use a fine spray.

Alcohol can burn the plant. Therefore, it is recommended to first test the product on 1-2 sheets and see how they react. If there are no negative consequences, you can begin treating the entire surface. A small amount of the substance is required. After application, the alcohol should evaporate quickly.

Instead of chemicals, you can use the following folk remedies:

• garlic or onion water;
• pepper tincture;
• solution from celandine juice, etc.

Important! With a large number of scale insects, folk remedies are ineffective. It is recommended to use them only simultaneously with the mechanical processing method.

How to deal with scale insects on indoor plants

Most often, scale insects settle on indoor crops such as tropical and subtropical palms, cacti, indoor roses, citrus fruits, begonias and pomegranates. They also like to settle on ferns and representatives of the Araceae family, for example: caladium, philodendron, monstera, calla and spathiphyllum.

Scale on an orchid

Also, the scale insect often settles on a lovely orchid. It is especially a pity for the gardener to lose this plant, because it is not only very beautiful, but also costs a lot of money. How to save an orchid from scale insects? In this case, it is not recommended to use pesticides, but the final choice of product is influenced by the degree of damage to the flower.

After detecting insects, you need to rinse the bush as quickly as possible under a warm shower, while trying to remove all pests from its flower stalks and foliage, using an unnecessary toothbrush. Next, place the flower in quarantine, and you can put it in a greenhouse: such pests do not like high humidity. Instead, you can put a transparent plastic bag on the bush, which must be removed twice a day for a third of an hour to ventilate the bush and to prevent burns.

Next, the orchid needs to be treated with either a pesticide or a folk remedy. Of the chemical products, gardeners most often use Fitoverm, Aktar and Aktellik. At the same time, among the folk remedies most often used to treat such an exotic plant are onion, pepper or garlic infusions, as well as soap and kerosene emulsion. You can also treat the bush with alcohol. For species with thick foliage, the bush must be treated with a cotton pad, which is moistened in ethyl alcohol. Varieties with thin leaves are treated with an ethanol solution (10 ml per 1 liter of water), and a brush is used to apply it.

so that the ORCHID DOES NOT SUCK THE JUICE, scale insects on the orchid are easy to get rid of!

Scale insect on lemon

Pests can get on indoor lemons from fruits, other indoor crops, or from bouquets of fresh flowers. Also, the pest may end up in the room, getting there through the window with a gust of wind. Remember that the optimal level of air humidity in the room is an effective preventive measure against scale insects.

If pests settle on a lemon, then its growth will deteriorate and the foliage will begin to yellow and become smaller. If you have symptoms, you need to act immediately. First, try to remove all pests from the plant with a toothbrush, after which it is washed well under a warm shower. Then wipe all leaf blades and the trunk with a cotton pad moistened with alcohol. Finally, spray the bush with an insecticidal solution. Repeated spraying must be done after a week and a half.

If there are not very many insects on the tree, then the treatment can be carried out with a folk remedy: onion infusion, kerosene-soap emulsion or a solution of transformer (olive) oil.

Whenever you treat a bush, be sure to protect the surface of the substrate in the pot with film. And after you get rid of the scale insects completely, it will not be a bad idea to replace the top layer of the substrate in the container.

The simplest method of treating lemon scale insects!!! Diaspididae treatment.

Scale insect on ficus

Pests get to your home ficus in the same ways as they do to lemons. The initial symptom of the appearance of scale insects is considered to be a sticky coating on the foliage, which is honeydew (honeydew). Sooty fungus settles on it quite quickly.

Carefully inspect the branches, trunk and underside of the leaf blades. On them you can see adult individuals, which are plaques of a brownish-gray or whitish hue. Over time, the surface of the leaf plates becomes unsightly and uneven due to the growth of new tissue. The foliage turns red, becomes deformed and dies. If no measures are taken, then after a couple of years mass death of branches and foliage will begin, and cracks will appear on the bark. Most often, the pest settles on the Benjamin ficus.

How to help ficus? Cut out any branches and foliage that are particularly affected. Next, give the bush a warm shower and, using a stiff sponge or brush, thoroughly clean all its above-ground organs from pests. If there are few pests, then a biological or folk remedy can be used for treatment. However, experienced gardeners advise moving the bush outside and spraying it with a powerful insectoacaricide.

But even this will not give a 100% guarantee of complete destruction of pests. Therefore, after three or four days, a control examination is carried out. If you find scale insects again, then wash the bush again and remove the insects with a brush. After 7 days, treat the bush again with a pesticide. Next, do not forget to regularly inspect your ficus.

Scale insect on ficus benjamina. Cat flea drops against scale insects. How to replace Aktara

Preventive measures at home

To prevent these small and harmful insects from appearing on your indoor plants, you should carry out simple preventive procedures. Among the main ones are:

• constant monitoring of the quality of the soil in the pot, it must be constantly fresh;
• timely pruning and removal of infected and dead parts of the plant and treatment of cut areas with disinfectants;
• regular ventilation of the room, especially at the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season, and further spraying of the leaves with water;
• compliance with quarantine. Plants that have spent the summer in natural conditions are carefully inspected, cleaned, washed and treated with preventive medications before being placed back into the room with other flowers.

You can get rid of scale insects by various means. At the first stage, with minor damage, the plant is washed with a cold shower, then the larvae are removed mechanically, using a toothbrush, which is moistened in an alcohol solution or hydrogen peroxide.

It is not possible to remove insects in one go, so the procedure is repeated 2-3 times a week. If these measures do not help, and the pests remain on the shoots and leaves, then more radical steps are taken.

How to get rid of scale insects in the garden

Scale insects can settle not only on house plants, but also in the garden. At the same time, it is quite difficult to get rid of them. As a rule, pests appear on the site along with new planting material. But there are other methods of infecting garden crops with scale insects.

Quite often, such an insect settles on gooseberries and currants. The hatching of larvae is observed during the flowering period of the bush, after which they quickly attach themselves to the branches, stems and foliage. You can get rid of larvae quite simply and quickly using chemicals. However, adults have a chitinous shell and a waxy layer, which provide powerful protection. Most chemicals simply cannot overcome this protection. Therefore, the plant is cleaned of adult insects using a stiff plastic or metal brush. Trim and destroy all shoots and foliage that contain many scale insects.

In this case, it is much easier to prevent the appearance of pests than to get rid of them. Therefore, it is recommended to regularly carry out preventive treatments with folk and chemical remedies. Treat shrubs and the soil surface underneath them with Nitrafen solution (3%). This is done before sap flow begins in early spring. This will help destroy all the larvae that were hiding from winter frosts in the bark of branches and in the top layer of soil.

Another effective way is to wipe all the branches of the bush with a soft cloth dipped in kerosene-soap emulsion. However, this procedure must be carried out systematically and quite often.

This pest can also settle on fruit trees and ornamental crops. But no matter what plant in the garden it settles on, you need to fight it using the same methods as on currants.

Alexander Petrov. Treatment for apple scale insects and acacia false scale insects

Effective methods of fighting scale insects

The easiest way to get rid of scale insects is at an early stage, when it has not yet managed to occupy the entire flower or several plants. Then basic mechanical removal methods are suitable, involving wiping all parts of indoor plants with available household products. The use of chemical control agents can be considered as a last resort when almost all plants in the house are affected. Therefore, control methods depend on the extent of pest damage to indoor plants.

Mechanical method

This is the simplest, most affordable and environmentally friendly way to get rid of pests that have settled on indoor plants. To implement this method, it is enough to prepare warm water, 45 degrees, soap, cotton pads, gloves and be patient.

The pest control procedure consists of several stages:

• First you need to prepare a working solution by dissolving soap in water. Any soap will do. A cotton pad is soaked in this solution, after which the entire plant is wiped, especially the lower parts of the leaves, where these parasites like to be. This method allows you to get rid of coccida - the sticky layer that scale insects leave behind. Before processing, it is better to cover the pot with plastic wrap.
• The entire plant should be wiped with a rag soaked in the solution, after which the shell of the pests, which protects them from external influences, will be removed. Particular attention should be paid to the bark of the plant, since the shells are not so noticeable here, but they are definitely present. This may take up to 4 hours.
• After this procedure, the plant can be washed under running water at room temperature to remove any remaining soap. It is better to do this in the bathroom using a mixer to get a normal stream of water.
• Somewhere the next day, when the flower has dried well, it can be treated with special compounds. At the same time, the composition should be applied carefully, especially in hard-to-reach places. It is better to place the pot in a plastic bag. After this treatment, the leaves should not be wiped. If some areas are missed, some individuals may survive.

It is better to carry out similar stages of scale insect destruction up to 4 times a month to ensure its complete destruction. If you do the procedure only once, then there is a high probability of another invasion of such parasites, since they multiply quite quickly.

Fighting scale insects (pests of indoor plants). Part 1

Types of scale insects with photos and names

Scientists have found a very large number of species of scale insects. At the same time, they differ from each other in food preferences. For example, the yellow pear scale insect can settle on cherries, pears, plums, hornbeams, sweet cherries, apple trees, peach trees and ash trees, as well as hawthorns and privets. At the same time, the red pear scale insect, in addition to pome and stone fruit trees, prefers horse chestnut, walnut and dogwood.

On fruit trees, as a rule, comma-shaped, violet, rose-colored scale insects, as well as red and yellow pear scale insects live. Poplar, euonymus, willow and rose scale insects, as well as pine, spruce and fir, can settle on ornamental shrubs and trees.

Mulberry scale is found in the garden. It feeds on pumpkins, fodder beets, eggplants and carrots, and can also harm ornamental and fruit bushes and trees. Household crops can be affected by ivy, orange comma, cactus, palm and euonymus scales. Below is a description of those species that are most widespread and pose the greatest danger:

California scale insect (Quadraspidiotus perniciosus)

This species is very dangerous for plants in the garden. It can settle on plants such as lilac, quince, cherry, plum, apple, rose, apricot, cherry, peach, pear, hawthorn, etc. This pest has a miniature size and a dark gray color. In an adult female, the length of the scutum does not exceed 0.15–0.2 cm. The homeland of this species is Northern China and Primorye. However, today it is found in every corner of the world. This insect differs from other pests in that it leads to very rapid destruction of the vascular system of the bush. If it settles on a pome crop, then concentric red spots appear on its fruits.

False Californian scale insect (Quadraspidiotus ostreaeformis)

Settles on willow, linden, hawthorn, yellow acacia and fruit trees. The short oval or rounded scutellum of the female is colored orange or yellow, its size is approximately 0.2 cm. The edge of the scutum is olive-gray or brown.

Mulberry scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona)

It is a polyphagous insect, like the Californian scale insect. It settles on bushes and fruit trees, as well as on vegetable plants. The female's body is colored yellow or pale orange, and its size is about 0.2 cm.

Comma scale insect (Lepidosaphes ulmi)

It has become widespread in mid-latitudes. This species lives on pear, hawthorn, rowan, apple, plum and currant trees. In the female, the brownish-gray scutellum has a curved, comma-shaped shape. Its size is about 0.3 cm, and both the female herself and her egg hide under it. The larvae are colored yellow.

Cactus scale (Diaspis echinocacti)

It harms both cacti and other succulent plants. The pest quickly “captures” the entire bush. The white shield is round in shape and measures about 0.25 cm.

Rose scale insect (Aulacaspis rosae)

She prefers to settle on roses, rose hips, strawberries and blackberries. Its vital activity leads to rapid and significant destruction of the vascular system of the bush. The pest itself is yellow or brown and covered with a white shield about 0.4 cm in size.

In addition to the listed varieties, at home and in the open ground you can find such varieties as European pear, brown, thuja, apple comma, orange comma, red orange, pine spindle and thorn scale.

We destroy scale insects on indoor flowers!