Using natural pest control for houseplants is much healthier for us and our plants. There are lots of home remedies that work great to kill bugs on houseplants! So skip the toxic chemical pesticides, and try these methods instead.
It can be frustrating to find bugs on a beloved houseplant. But if you have indoor plants, at some point you will likely have to deal with houseplant pests. It’s no fun – trust me, I know!
But there are lots of natural home remedies you can use to kill bugs on indoor plants, so you can skip the harmful chemical pesticides.
First, let’s identify which pests are bugging your houseplants, then we’ll look at some methods of natural pest control for houseplants.
What Are Those Bugs On My Houseplant?
Before you start treating an infested plant, it’s important to know which type of bug you’re dealing with.
That way, you can get rid of them as efficiently as possible. So, here’s a quick list of a few of the most common to help you figure it out…
- Mealybugs are soft bodied scale insects. A mealybug infestation looks like cotton or white powder on the stems, leaf joints or along the veins of leaves.
- Spider mites are tiny and difficult to see. The telltale sign of a spider mite infestation is spider webs on the underside of leaves, or between newly formed leaves. Look closely and you can see the tiny mites moving around on the fine webbing.
- Scale can be very difficult to notice on a plant because they don’t look like bugs. Houseplant scale looks like small brown or greyish colored dots or bumps along the leaf veins, stems, and leaf joints of the plant.
Houseplant scale infestation on an indoor plant
- Fungus gnats, also known as soil gnats, look similar to fruit flies and are just as annoying. Fungus gnats lay their eggs in moist soil, where the larvae will hatch and feed on small roots, fungus, and other organic matter in the soil.
- Whiteflies are easy to identify, the adults will fly around when the leaves of an infested plant are disturbed. Whiteflies lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves.
- Aphids are usually green, but can be just about any color. They are small, fat, and juicy. Many times aphids will blend in with the foliage of the houseplant, making them hard to spot until the plant is infested.
Natural Pest Control For Houseplants
Don’t use synthetic chemical pesticides (also known as insecticides) to try to kill bugs on houseplant.
Not only are they dangerous to you, your family, and your pets; they’re expensive, and don’t always work to kill bugs on indoor plants anyway.
Some common houseplant pests are resistant, or can quickly build up resistance to chemical pesticides.
So, try these safer, more effective natural remedies for bugs on plants instead…
- Soapy water – Soap kills bugs on contact. It’s easy to make your own natural bug killer for indoor plants. My homemade bug spray recipe is one teaspoon mild liquid soap to one liter of water. Use it in a spray bottle, or to wash the leaves of heavily infested plants (test it on a leaf first to make sure the plant isn’t sensitive to the mixture). Organic insecticidal soap also works great as a natural insecticide for houseplants.
Insecticidal soap natural houseplant bug spray
- Rubbing alcohol – Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill and remove insect pests from the plant. This can be a bit tedious, but it works great to remove large clusters of pests like aphids, scale, or mealybugs from a plant.
- Neem oil is a natural pesticide for indoor plants, and it’s very effective for controlling and eliminating common houseplant pests. It also has a residual effect, so you don’t have to treat the plant every day like you would with other methods. If you have issues with recurring infestations, I highly recommend buying some organic neem oil. Learn how to use natural neem oil insecticide here.
Neem oil natural pesticide for houseplants
- Soil toppers – Top the soil of an infested houseplant with a product like Gnatnix or a sand soil cover to control fungus gnats. Topping the soil with diatomaceous earth could also help control fungus gnats and other pests that live and breed in houseplant soil.
- Yellow sticky traps – Yellow sticky traps are inexpensive, non-toxic, and work great to capture adult flying houseplant bugs like fungus gnats, aphids and whiteflies.
Non-toxic sticky traps kill flying houseplant bugs
It will take several treatments to eliminate any houseplant pest infestation, so persistence is key. Once you start treating a houseplant for bugs, continue to treat it at least once a day until the infestation is under control. Don’t despair, we can win this battle and keep our houseplants naturally pest free.
Up next, learn exactly how to get rid of houseplant bugs naturally.
If you’re tired of battling bugs on your indoor plants, then you need a copy of my Houseplant Pest Control eBook. It has everything you need in order to get rid of those nasty bugs FOR GOOD! Download your copy today!
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More Posts About Natural Plant Insect Control
- Where Do Houseplant Pests Come From?
- How To Debug Houseplants Before Bringing Them Indoors
- Natural Garden Pest Control Remedies And Recipes
Leave a comment below and share your favorite home remedies and methods of natural pest control for houseplants!
Hilary says
How do you mix/apply the neem oil?
Amy Andrychowicz says
It depends on the type of neem oil you buy. The neem oil that I recommend above needs to be mixed with a soapy water solution, and I use this organic liquid soap to mix mine. Some other types of neem oil come pre-mixed and don’t need any extra mixing, but be careful because not all of them are organic, and could be mixed with other chemicals. Here’s more information about neem oil and how to use it.
Leslie says
None of the bugs listed are what I am having a problem with. Mine are tiny black bugs coming from the soil that are fast and scramble every where when I touch the pot the plant is in. I have treated the soil with the soap mixture when I potted it but it seems to have only gotten rid of the fungus gnats.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Those are baby fungus gnats (the larvae). The adults are the ones that fly. Here’s how to get rid of fungus gnats in houseplants soil.
Ann Hooper says
Can I use a natural homemade spray for the little. Fruitfly looking bugs around my african violets? They have just started to appear about a week ago. So far there aren’t many but I want to stop the progress now
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, those are called fungus gnats and they are very common. They come from the soil, and don’t feed on the leaves. So you’ll need to treat the soil of your African violet plant. Here’s how to get rid of fungus gnats.
fotomatt says
Can I use the Pure Castile soap to spray my container veggies (tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and herbs)? Thanks from Colorado…
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, you can use castile soap to kill pests on veggies, just be sure to dilute it as I mentioned above. I also recommend using one that doesn’t contain any essential oils. I use Dr. Bronners Baby Mild liquid soap. Also, I always recommend testing it on a leaf first to make sure it doesn’t cause any damage before spraying the whole plant. Some plants are more sensitive to sprays than others.
Aliza says
Would using a soapy water spray on a regular basis (like once or twice a day) be a good preventative measure or would that be overkill? I recently had a bad outbreak of everything (scale, mealybugs, and spidermites) they all just hit at once it seemed and I lost a few of my long time favorite houseplants. I sterilized all my pots via dishwasher, and washed and repotted the ones that were healthy. my goal is to do better prevention before anything starts, this website has been so helpful in dealing with this outbreak and the aftermath.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Oh no, all of those houseplant pests attacked at one! Yikes! That is super frustrating. Spraying the plants with soapy water multiple times a day is definitely overkill. I don’t blame you for wanting to do that though, I have been in your shoes, and I would have done anything to keep the bugs from coming back too!
Have you tried using organic neem oil yet? It does have a residual effect that will help to keep the bugs away. Here’s more info about that… How To Use Neem Oil On Indoor Plants.
But, if you’ve been able to get rid of all the bugs, then I would just monitor the plants very closely for a while, inspecting them daily. After a few months, if you don’t see any signs of bugs, then you should be in the clear.
And I’m so glad to hear you’re finding lots of help on my site, that’s fantastic. So happy to help!
Lisa says
I have seen somewhere saying mixing hydrogen peroxide with water and water the soil down once a month can help kill all larvae hiding in the plant soil. Have you heard of it?
Amy Andrychowicz says
I have also heard that before, but I have never tried it myself. There are several people who have left comments on my post about fungus gnats, so you can go there to read the discussions if you’d like to learn more… How To Get Rid Of Fungus Gnats In Houseplants Soil. Just scroll down to the comments section, and search for the word “peroxide” to see all the related comments.