Often check for plague to avoid overwhelming invasion.

Check for bugs regularly to avoid bad surprises. Look for anything alive on your plant, you might come across some friends like ladybug or earthworms, unluckily you could discover some less desired hosts.

Look at the overall growing space. It should remain as clean as possible.

Check leaves on both sides, very often bugs make home under leaves.

Check stem for cochineal.

Check the soil, black gnat lay in it and then maggots feed on roots.

To avoid bugs, it's best to keep optimal temperature and humidity conditions.

All materials should be clean : growing space, pots, watering can, substrat...

Each time a new plant will enter the room, it's good to check it carefully, including roots, and to wait a few days before putting it next to other plants..

If you’re under attack ? you can normally get rid of any bugs by doing these following actions, according to the plague.

Remove affected leaves and burn them or throw them far from your plants.

Clean leaves and bark with water, you can do it in your shower, or outside with a hose. Focus on the underside of leaves, and don’t forget stems and branches.

For roots or soil problems, repot the plant and clean it.

Clean the whole growing space

Spray neem oil or easily home made insecticide on plants.

Spraying notice : When spraying, raise the source of light at maximum and switch off the fan. That way you don’t spray the lamp, and leaves don’t burn from too much light.

Avoid spraying any product on flowers, they will get contaminated by the product, and you’ll feel it in the aroma and it doesn’t sound very healthy. That means that if you are in the flowering phase and already have buds showing, it becomes tricky to remove pests. The best solution is prevention by making sure everything is clean before starting the flowering phase. In desperate cases, you can check the water curing solution and harvest earlier.

Try to understand why bugs came and could settle, they usually appear when conditions are unbalanced. You must be able to change temperature or hygrometry to make them feel unwelcome…

You can also consider adding to your growing space some predatory insects, they might not eradicate the plague, but they help to keep it under control.

here is some example of which bugs appear according to weather conditions :

Too dry : It attracts spider mites, cochenal.

Too humid : It attracts compost flies, and mold.

Hot and humid : It attracts white flies and mold.

Humid and cold : Fusarium loves it and broad mites are ok with it..

Common pest you might come across :

Spider mites - Acarid (mainy species)

The most feared one, pretty hard to see, and when their presence is obvious, it’s too late ! It is very hard to get rid of them, so you have to follow a strict protocol.

They live under the leaves, measuring less than a millimeter and feeding on the sap. Small white dot on the upper side of the leaves is a first sign of their presence. When they are well settled, they build webs around buds and leaves.

If you spot the plague in early age, you can consider pruning or even removing the whole plant that is infested.

Anyway, clean everything after removing plants from growing space. Be very careful not to re-introduce the acarid after cleaning.

Shower your plant. Go frankly but gently.  It will remove most of them. If you have already formed buds, make sure they dry fast and properly !

If the plant is in vegetative state, spray neem oil or a homemade insecticide. Repeat spraying every 2/3 days until they are under control.

If you already have nice buds, avoid spraying anything on them, especially during the 4 last weeks .

To prevent the apparition and development of spider mites, you should lower the temperature to 22 maximum, and regularly spray water. Try to keep a 60% hygrometry level. During vegetative phase, you can spray neem oil in prevention every 10/15 days.

Broad mites - Polyphagotarsonemus latus :

Another good friend ! Very similar to spider mites, they don’t make webs, but they really weaken plants. They develop well at 20°C and show great hardiness to cold. Heat is their weak point because above 35°C they start to deperish.

Symptoms are twisted or droopy upper leaves. Stunt plants and old leaves can have a blistered appearance and look hooked on the edge.

To get rid of them, follow the same strategy as for spider mites, with a focus on spraying neem oil or homemade insecticides (shower will not eradicate them…).

In addition, you can place your plants in a warm (<35°C) place for one hour or more. Be careful not to harm plants with too much heat.

Thrips - thripidae (many species) :

You can encounter these little insects under leaves, they also spent a part of their life in the soil. They feed on the sap, leaving a yellow-silver mark on the upside of the leaves. They measure 1 to 2 millimeter.

To get rid of them, follow the protocol for spider mites. In addition, you have to get rid of the ones that are in the soil. You can simply spray it, but be aware that root plants are not fond of insecticide... You can also remove the 3-4 upper cm of the soil and replace it by a clean layer of soil instead. Another good solution is to let the soil dry for some time in order to kill the hiding thrips. don’t kill your plant though.

Black gnat - Sciaridae :

This small fly looks simple, but can be the starting point of big problems !! Very often, they enter your growing space with bad soil you bring. Once here, it is very difficult to get rid of them.

They live everywhere in the growing space, and they reproduce in the soil in which maggots feed from the roots, making plants weak. Humidity and warm conditions make them reproduce faster. The more they have a place to hide, the easier it will be for them to persist.

To eliminate a plague, the most satisfying solution is to let the soil dry almost completely between 2 waterings. Magoots will die by drying. Make sure the space is clean, and don’t leave water anywhere. After some time, their number will reduce until (almost) disappearing.

You should feel really concerned by the presence of black flies, because besides feeding on the roots they create an entrance door to fungus and bacteria.

You can use a yellow adhesive trap to know if flies are around. They are attracted by yellow colors and get stuck on the adhesive. These traps tell you when there are flies, but hardly stop the plague.

If you really can’t deal with the flies, you can use a redoutable weapon. It is the Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT), it literally kills all maggots. Use only if other solutions don’t work. To use, simply spray a small amount on the top of your already wet substrate.

White flies - Aleyrodidae :

They settle under the leaves, where they lay their eggs and feed on the sap.  Measuring 2 millimeters, they can quickly become a little army. When numerous, if you shake the plant, you’ll have a swarm of them flying around !  Never wait when you notice a pest !

Because it is not that easy to remove eggs, washing might not be enough, so you can opt for spraying neem oil or a hand made insecticide.

You can use a yellow adhesive trap to know if flies are around. They are attracted by yellow colors and get stuck on the adhesive. These traps tell you when there are flies, but will not stop the plague.

Mealy bugs - Pseudococcidae :

They are easy to see because they settle directly on stems and branches. They appreciate warm and humid conditions. With their specific shape, and the honeydew (the fluffy, sticky substance) they leave behind them, you can’t miss them !

To remove them, the most efficient way is to use a tissue and to remove them manually. You can also spray on stem and leaves neem oil or handmade insecticide.

Despite the harm they directly do by feeding on plants, the honeydew attracts mold and promotes its growth, so cleaning is again a very good idea.

Aphids - Aphidoidea :

They are very common in gardens, and can be very destructive if not properly handled.

Aphids are usually black or green, but it depends where you live. They feed on the sap and produce honeydew, which attract ants and mold.

To get rid of them, you can follow the strategy of spider mites fighting. The shower can be useful at first to eliminate the majority of them. To completely clean them, you can spray neem oil or a homemade insecticide.

Extra tips :

Remember that all plague can be slowed down, or even avoided by settling the right humidity and temperature. Prevention is the key to less problems.

If you are not far from harvesting and you face an attack, it’s a very tricky situation because you can’t spray anything on your buds. An unexpected solution can come from the way you harvest and dry your plant : you can make a water curing ! It cleans the buds from insects and webs without having to spray anything. After cutting the bud, trim the leaves and soak the bud in clean, chemical free water (distilled water works fine). Change water every 12 hours and let them soak for 3 to 6 days. When done, simply dry your bud the normal way, giving extra care to possible molding.

Outside, the little ecosystem of your garden keeps the place balanced. In spring and summer, if I have a plague, I thoroughly clean the plant and then I put it outside, in the middle of the grass under a tree in order to let the predator eat the leftover. After a few days, I spray it with neem oil, and put it back to normal. If you opt for this, be careful about 2 points : Place the plant in the shade, because the sun is too strong and will burn the leaves. Keep the same photoperiod (length of light) that you are having inside, otherwise, the plant will get lost between growing and flowering phases and will loose time.