Let’s face it. Discovering a pest infestation on your houseplants can be an anxiety-producing event. It’s natural to want to take care of the issue as quickly as possible, prompting many of us to go “full nuclear” on even the most modest of infestations. However, there are many low-impact, natural methods of dealing with moderate infestations that might be better utilized in your home.
For most common houseplant pests, there are several treatment options available that consist of either naturally occurring ingredients or common household items that you likely have on hand. Most of these methods work by either physically removing pests from a plant, or working to disrupt their ability to properly function.
Using a natural home remedy is often a great first line of defense against pests because they are low impact, free from potentially dangerous active ingredients, and can usually be mixed up using things you’ll likely have on hand, saving you a trip to the garden center.
In this article, we will discuss several different natural home remedies you can use to keep houseplant pests under control. Along with each treatment method, we include a list of which common pests are susceptible to that method. Many of these options can be mixed and matched for greater control, as well!
Why Go Natural?
There are several different reasons why a person might choose to treat plant infestations with natural methods rather than purchasing synthetic chemical options. Perhaps they like the convenience of having the ingredients on hand. Maybe they try to keep a chemical-free home or are working to be more eco-conscious. They might just be intimidated by trying to follow the label instructions of a harsher treatment option.
Whatever the reason may be, it all comes down to what your comfort level is. Natural pest treatments are meant to be easy and safe to use, but you should only pick methods that you are comfortable using within your home.
Natural treatment methods are also a great place to start. Most infestations can be easily dispensed with if caught early enough, so natural methods can be very effective as long as you are thorough and persistent with your applications of natural products. In many cases, stronger alternative options aren’t needed.
Remember, you can always go stronger if you aren’t getting the control you were hoping for, but you might be surprised at how effective some of these methods can be.
Natural Treatment Options and Home Remedies for Houseplant Pests
Let’s dive right into the different natural treatment methods you can use to control for common houseplant pests.
In most cases, these options are created using things you likely have on hand at home, but in some cases, you might need to gather a few items. Things like Neem oil and Diatomaceous Earth are specialized, but are made from completely natural ingredients. You just might not already have them at home.
For your reference, the seven common pests referred to in the title of this article are: aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, and fungus gnats. Look for a list of which of these pests are impacted by each of the treatment methods below.
Physical Removal
By far, one of the most effective treatment methods for any kind of plant pest is some form of physical removal. By manually removing juvenile and adult pests from a plant, you are knocking back the number of individuals that have the potential to add to the population by laying more eggs.
This is often one of the first things you should do when you notice your houseplant is harboring a fledgling infestation, as it will greatly slow the growth of a bug population almost immediately.
While this method is a great start for control, it can be difficult to achieve total eradication on its own. Depending on the plant variety, you might have trouble locating and removing pests from crowded or thick foliage, where there are plenty of cracks and crevices to hide in. Pairing physical removal with another option usually increases eradication success.
Physical removal can take several different forms. Depending on the severity of an infestation and your comfort level with handling bugs, you can start by literally picking individual pests from the plant.
If that sounds tedious or unappealing, another effective option is to wipe the surfaces of your plant down with a damp cloth. This method removes adults, juveniles, and egg clusters while also cleaning debris, dust, and honeydew from your plant.
Another good removal method is to spray your plant with a blast of water. The high-pressure stream can dislodge several pests quickly and target all life stages present. Only use this method if your plant is sturdy enough to endure it. If your plant is delicate, you might end up doing more damage than good.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, and whitefly.
Pruning
Another kind of physical removal actually involves cutting back the most heavily infested or damaged parts of your houseplant as a method of reducing the number of pests on your plant.
Strategic pruning should always be considered an option when dealing with pests. Unless you’re trying to save an extremely rare specimen or if the removal of plant tissue would be detrimental, cutting back the plant can have several benefits.
First, if you cut away the most heavily infested parts of a plant, you greatly reduce the number of egg-laying adults available to perpetuate an infestation.
Second, you can remove the most heavily pest-damaged parts of a plant. Often, weak or damaged growth becomes an easy target for new pests to gain a foothold on the plant, so by removing damaged leaves, you’re further safeguarding the entire plant from worsening infestations.
Pruning can also thin overcrowded foliage to the point where treatment methods that involve spraying become much more effective. Dense, overgrown leaves and tangled stems offer bugs plenty of hiding spots which tend to be protected from spray. By thinning out your plants, you eliminate a lot of those hiding spots, giving your treatment applications better coverage.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, and whitefly.
Soapy Water Sprays
One home remedy you can use in tandem with physical removal is soapy water sprays. Basically, a teaspoon of Castile or dish soap mixed into a quart of water makes for a sudsy spray that can be an effective treatment against soft-bodied bugs.
Most of the common plant pests produce some kind of waxy coating or exoskeleton that protects them from extreme temperatures and keeps them from dehydrating. Soap suds do an excellent job of breaking down those waxy coatings, similar to what it does to grease in the kitchen, leaving pests vulnerable to desiccation and other functional issues.
The key to success with this method is coverage. The soap suds have to come in contact with the pests in order to combat them, so be sure you are being thorough during your application, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves and denser parts of the plant.
You will likely have to repeat this treatment several times to get better control, so plan on spraying every few days for about two weeks.
Depending on the variety, sometimes soap can work to dissolve a plant’s waxy cuticle that protects its leaves from damage, so be aware that you should keep an eye on your plant’s health during and after any applications. If possible, you may want to test this method on a small portion of your plant to make sure it can handle the soap.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, and whitefly.
Rubbing Alcohol
Similar to soap, another method you can use to target a pest’s waxy protective coating is with rubbing alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol works the same way, basically dissolving any protective qualities of a soft-bodied pest, causing suffocation or desiccation, resulting in death.
There are different ways to apply rubbing alcohol depending on the pest you are dealing with, but a good rule to abide by is to start with a diluted strength and work your way up, as needed. By only using the strength you need to kill the bugs, you’ll prevent your plant’s protective cuticle from any unnecessary exposure to the alcohol.
You can use 70% isopropyl alcohol as a spray by combining it with about 20 parts of water. This drops the strength of the solution low enough so that it still works against many pest types. If you find your plant is fairing fine after a spray but you think you need more strength, slowly alter the ratio of the solution with each application to be more effective. Again, coverage is key, so be mindful of how you spray and plan to repeat this treatment twice a week until you gain control.
For more stationary pests, like mealybugs or scale, you can target individuals by tapping each one with the end of a Q-Tip soaked in alcohol. This application method is very effective and has a high rate of mortality. As an extra precaution for your plant, we suggest you still dilute your alcohol with water; however, because it’s such a targeted method, you likely won’t have a lot of extra solution dripping where you don’t want it to go.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, and whitefly.
Neem Oil
When it comes to natural treatment methods for plant pests, the closest thing you’ll ever get to a silver bullet just might be Neem oil.
Neem oil is a naturally derived product that is produced from the seeds and leaves of Neem trees, which are native to South Asia. It contains an active ingredient, called azadirachtin, which is a natural insect repellent and insecticide.
Neem oil works on a variety of different levels. Depending on the pest, Neem oil can act as a contact insecticide, causing death immediately. It can also work to suppress the appetites of insects to a point of starvation.
It has a thick, viscous quality to it, and when sprayed, will fully coat a bug’s body, interrupting feeding and respiration, leading to suffocation, and eventually, death.
Aside from pests, Neem oil has also been shown to be effective against several different fungal infections.
Neem oil can be purchased as a concentrate to keep on hand or as a pre-mixed product that can be “ready to spray” immediately.
You can even do Neem oil drenches that work to target any pests that use soil as their feeding or breeding grounds, like fungus gnats.
For a moderate infestation, use a Neem oil spray two to three times a week, making sure you achieve total coverage of the plant. Repeat, as needed, over the next few weeks. I like to occasionally wash my plants in between Neem applications to remove any pest carcasses, so I have a better idea of the true living population on my plant.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, and fungus gnats.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Similar to soapy water or rubbing alcohol, good old hydrogen peroxide can have the same detrimental effect on waxy protective cuticles, meaning that it can be an effective treatment for many pest infestations.
In general, 3% hydrogen peroxide diluted in half creates a potent spray treatment for soft-bodied insects like aphids, thrips, and whiteflies. For spider mites, or pests that have more protection, like mealybugs and scale, undiluted 3% peroxide can be used.
It’s always a good idea to test any strength of peroxide spray on a small part of the plant first to make sure you aren’t going to harm it. Generally, at the strengths listed above, most houseplants do fine, even with multiple applications per week.
My favorite way to utilize hydrogen peroxide is actually as a drench. I know many folks battle fungus gnats in their home constantly, but a simple peroxide drench to the soil might be all that is needed to gain the upper hand on these persistent pests.
Apply a drench of one part 3% hydrogen peroxide to four parts water the next time your infested plant needs to be watered. The peroxide will react with organic matter in the soil (including fungus gnat larvae), causing a chemical reaction that kills larvae and only leaves carbon dioxide and water as byproducts.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, and fungus gnats.
Beneficial Predatory Insects
In general, I often skip the discussion on predatory insects as a means of pest control in your home. This is mainly because releasing a bunch of lacewings, beneficial wasps, or ladybugs indoors tends to result in good bugs being just about everywhere in your house except on the plants you need them on.
While it is true beneficial insects can be tricky to deploy, they actually do quite a good job in controlling pest populations on the plants they reside on, but their release is often unwanted and inconvenient indoors.
However, I will mention that beneficial nematodes might have a place in your arsenal against soil-dwelling pests. Nematodes are tiny parasitic insects that infect larvae, take control of their systems, and slow down their feeding, eventually killing them.
Of the seven pests that are mentioned in this article, only fungus gnats complete a portion of their lifecycle in the soil, so nematodes can be a good option if you are having trouble controlling gnats by other means.
Steinernema Feltiae is one species of beneficial nematode that is effective against fungus gnats and can be purchased as a powder that is mixed with water and applied as a drench to the soil.
Good for: Fungus gnats.
Diatomaceous Earth
You may be familiar with diatomaceous earth out in the vegetable garden, where it can be used as an effective slug and ant repellant. But you can also use it to great effect indoors against all sorts of houseplant pests.
Diatomaceous earth, or DE, is a talc-like powder that is made from the desiccated exoskeletons of tiny aquatic organisms, called diatoms. These shells are crushed into a fine powder that is actually quite jagged and sharp on a microscopic level, and therefore, able to cut and shred the soft bodies of many plant pests, causing death.
DE is most effective as a dry powder, so shaking it over a plant’s surface is the best way to achieve thorough coverage. You can also take a fine paintbrush and actually powder the undersides of leaves or harder-to-reach places on the plant for better results.
To help treat fungus gnats, sprinkle a layer of DE over the surface of the potting soil. Any newly pupated adults trying to leave the soil will come into contact with it. Obviously, you’ll need to reapply DE after any time you water and once the topsoil has dried.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, and fungus gnats.
Vinegar
Vinegar just might be the absolute rockstar of home remedies. People use it as a disinfectant, cleaning solution, health elixir, cooking aid, and so much more.
It can also be a pretty effective pest control when applied correctly. Vinegar is essentially a mixture of water and acetic acid and is often strong enough to act as a contact insecticide. This means that many of the soft-bodied insects that you find on your houseplants are susceptible to the acidic compounds of vinegar.
Mixing a solution of white or apple cider vinegar in water, at a ratio of about 1:3, should be strong enough to create an effective pest spray. Spray your plant about once a week with this solution to target both juvenile and adult aphids, thrips, mites, scales, and whiteflies.
For flying pests, such as fungus gnats and whitefly, you can create apple cider vinegar traps to help remove egg-laying adults from the population. In a small dish, mix apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap and place within the plant. The vinegar attracts the flying adults, while the soap breaks the surface tension of the liquid, causing them to sink when they try to land on it.
Good for: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, and fungus gnats.
Essential Oils
Although this last treatment isn’t actually a method that kills insects, I included it on the list because essential oils can be very effective in repelling common plant pests.
Just as there are plants that pests find particularly attractive, there are other plants that they actively avoid, mainly because they can’t stand their smells. Certain odor-producing compounds are overtly offensive to pests and can be utilized as a preventative measure protecting your houseplants.
Essential oils such as peppermint, clove, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, tea tree, and cayenne are common compounds that can be applied in and around your home to deter pests from coming inside.
Peppermint is frequently used on plants, mainly because bugs can’t seem to stand its odor (even though it is pleasant to us), and it isn’t overly strong or dangerous to use on plants. You can even buy pre-mixed peppermint sprays to use on your plants on a weekly basis, which is enough to consistently repel pests.
If you don’t want to spray, you can always take your preferred variety of essential oils and place a few drops on a cotton ball that can be tucked beneath the plant in its pot. The oil will diffuse over time and you can reapply, as needed.
In my personal experience and research, essential oil sprays are more effective against less-protected pests, like aphids, thrips, and spider mites. Mealybugs and scale tend to have tough exteriors that can shield them from this type of treatment.
Good For: Aphids, thrips, spider mites, and whitefly.
Final Thoughts
Any time we discover a pest infestation on our houseplants, our panic tends to drive us to use treatment methods that may be a bit, for lack of a better word, overkill. Synthetic chemical insecticides are, no doubt, an effective choice, but remember that you have options.
If you want to minimize your use of harsher chemicals or just want to use what you have on hand at home, there are plenty of low impact, natural pest treatment options at your disposal. The key to success with these methods is to apply treatments thoroughly, ensuring good coverage. Then, repeating treatment as needed until the infestation is under control. With a little know how and persistence, you can fight back against pests without the need for strong chemicals.