When the conditions are right for a snake plant to grow and become established, several types of insects attack the plant.
Many of them tend to soak up sap from within the plant. Although this won’t lead to the rapid demise of your Snake Plant.
By eventually weakening the plant, it will not be able to reach its full potential.
A good thing about this plant is that it is a very robust house plant, and preventative measures and treatments are relatively straightforward to attain.
It is very rare for Sapsucking Bugs to occur on Snake Plants, provided that they are grown under optimal conditions. The leathery leaves are coated in a hard waxy cuticle which makes them tough for insects to penetrate.
In this article, you will learn how to keep your plants in peak condition and how to deal with any bugs that may appear.
Common Snake Plant Bugs
The following insects commonly attack snake plants.
Mealybugs (pseudococcidae)
Symptoms
Small white pieces of fluff resemble these little bugs. These bugs thrive in joints between your leaves, which are difficult to observe since they can hide from view and suck the juices out of your plant’s leaves.
Treatment
Unless they establish themselves, these bugs are a nuisance. Thankfully, a variety of natural remedies can easily be used to eradicate them. The presence of heavy infestations can be avoided by close observation.
Spider Mites (tetranychidae)
Symptoms
These tiny creatures are so small that they can sometimes be difficult to see without a microscope.
Sometimes their presence will be detected by the fine webs that they create at the leaf’s base.
Weakened by heavy infestations, the plant’s tiny wounds will make it more vulnerable to disease.
Treatment
If you catch these guys in the early stages you can often remove them with a good sprinkle of water. By preserving the humidity levels, they will be prevented from returning.
Scale Insects
Symptoms
We often fail to recognize these bugs as bugs because they do not resemble the kind of insects that we most commonly perceive.
Their brown outer skin is actually more akin to a scab than a bug. Underneath their outer skin, the rust-colored organisms are silently absorbing nutrients from your plants.
Treatment
Then you can use one of the insecticidal preparations outlined below, or you can just scrape them off with a fingernail once you have identified them.
White Fly
Symptoms
The flies look more like miniature moths than flies, which are tiny little white insects. The majority of the time, you will notice them when moving the plant or watering it.
At this stage, you will be alerted to the problem by a small cloud of flying insects. Their excretions are also an attractant of other insects or pests and can cause mold.
Treatment
You can often deal with these pests by taking your plant outside and squirting it with water. Get rid of all eggs and larva by washing the leaves down well.
When you bring your plants back indoors, you can use a sticky trap to prevent further infestation.
Aphids
Symptoms
They can breed fast but they’re easy to spot. There don’t seem to be any plants that are 100% immune to these pests.
The sticky honey dew that they excrete will be visible if you examine your plants.
New tips of plants are better for sucking sap from because they’re softer and more easily accessible.
Treatment
Rather than being able to defend themselves, these creatures live due to their ability to breed really fast.
So long as you examine your plants often and catch attacks early, you will have no problem dealing with them.
You will soon gain control of your body with the aid of one of the biological products listed below.
Caterpillars
Symptoms
Caterpillars tend to eat the leaves rather than simply sucking their sap, unlike most pests we have examined so far.
They do this by leaving very obvious telltale signs in the form of large holes chewed out from the edge of the leaf.
If you see this indication of their presence, examine your plants closely and you’ll find the villains deeply hidden.
Treatment
Getting rid of these caterpillars is as simple as picking them off by hand and destroying them.
When you are done, check the leaves carefully for any eggs that might be yet to hatch.
If you wipe down your sofa with insecticidal soap or neem oil, any eggs should be eliminated and further infestations prevented.
Thrips
Symptoms
If the leaves of your Snake Plant start curling and distorting, an infestation of thrips is likely to be present.
These tiny black bugs are not only one of the easiest pests to deal with, they are also one of the most likely.
Treatment
Leaves may have to be cut away if they are seriously damaged and then you will need to wait for healthy new growth.
Most of the time, this will only be required when there has been a severe infection.
When you notice the damage early, it can be taken outside and sprayed away by spraying.
To prevent their reappearance, regular wiping should prevent their reappearance with vegetable soap or Neem oil.
Fungus Gnats
Symptoms
In fact, these tiny creatures have no effect on the plant itself at all. It’s not like they harm it.
Especially one that is as strong as the Snake Plant, but it is unsightly and can signal a broader problem.
Overwatering is the key cause. Only when larvae are really numerous do they pose a danger to root systems.
Treatment
Plants adapted to the conditions of dry, potting mixture are attracted to the excessively damp conditions created by overly moist soil that does not drain properly.
In any case, you will want to address this condition swiftly, since it can prove deadly, and which will at the same time eliminate the gnats.
By allowing the top two inches of the soil to dry between waterings, you will prevent insects from colonizing the soil and provide your plants with a healthier growing medium.
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