Natural Ways to Kill Indoor Plant Bugs

Indoor Plant Bugs

• Indoor plant bugs are usually very small. Fungus gnats and thrips are about the size of mosquitoes. They tend to be nuisances rather than real dangers; they are rarely serious enough to kill a plant and pose no threat to you or your family. The sight of them crawling on your plants or flying around your lamps and windows can be irritating. You can use all-natural methods to kill the bugs and clear up infections inside your home.

Spray

• Create a natural bug-killing spray by chopping up a few hot peppers. Place them, seeds and all, in a glass bowl. Bring two cups of water to boil and dump it over the peppers. Once the water has cooled, pour it into the spray bottle. The water is infused with capsaicin, the compound in peppers that makes your lips burn. The capsaicin burns insects. Spray the infused water on bugs to kill them, and on your indoor plants to keep insects away from them.

Cultural Changes

• Use cultural changes to kill indoor plants. Some insect larvae thrive in damp plant soil. You can kill them by drowning. Fill a large bucket with water, and immerse the entire plant pot in water. Leave it for five seconds, then pull it out of the water. You can make your houseplants less hospitable to larvae by letting their soil dry out completely in between waterings. These changes work best with healthy plants that can handle either too much or too little water for a short time.

Considerations

• Avoid spraying the hot pepper water at family members or pets; it can burn if it gets onto someone’s skin or in her eyes. If you only have one infested plant, treat it outdoors to prevent the bugs from spreading to your other houseplants. Badly infested plants might not be salvageable; the plant and all its soil should be discarded. Avoid bringing plant bugs into your home by inspecting all new houseplants carefully, and never reuse old potting soil.