- 1). Identify and remove spider mites. When leaves have very small brown or yellow spots and leaves are sticky with fine cobwebs and unhealthily discolored, you have spider mites. Put them in the shower or bathtub and spray with insecticidal soap (usually sold at home and garden stores), making sure you go all the way down to the top of the soil and get into nooks and crannies. Keep the infected plant quarantined until the symptoms seem to be gone, and from now on, mist it more often to add humidity, because the spider mite houseplant pests love dry air. They can also easily transmit from your hands to another plant, so wash hands after handling an indoor plant infested with these houseplant pests.
- 2). Identify and remove mealybugs. If you see cottony white "stuff" mostly on the underside of the leaves and where the leaves meet the stem, you probably have mealybugs. Dab each white area with a touch of rubbing alcohol. Consider using an organic houseplant food or a homemade one with seaweed or kelp, which helps indoor plants get the micro nutrients they need to resist houseplant pests, especially mealybugs.
- 3). Identify and remove aphids. Sometimes you can actually see tiny aphids walking around on your houseplants. Or, they may appear more like sticky clusters which can be black, red, brown or green. Aphids can simply be rubbed off with the hands or put in the shower and "shot" off with a strong spray from a mister turned to the jet stream setting. To avoid them in the future, make sure they aren't getting too much nitrogen or water. Nitrogen is the part of the plant food that makes them nice and green, but too much nitrogen without the other nutrients and minerals in balance will make the plant's cell walls weak and attractive to aphids. Again, a better balanced organic indoor plant food may be better for avoiding these houseplant pests.
- 4). Identify and remove scale insects. Scale insects look somewhat waxy, with black, gray, red, white or brown flat-ish scales that adhere to the plant and like spider might symptoms, the damage from these houseplant pests can discolor the leaves and make them sticky. Use warm soapy water to wash off these houseplant pests, either a spray or gently using a cotton swab or cloth dipped in soapy warm water. Be sure the water is warm. Hot water can cook the plant, and cold water can shock it, adding even more stress. Keep the plant isolated until there are no more scales. In the future, consider an organic houseplant food that helps the indoor plants naturally fend off houseplant pests like scale.
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