How to get rid of scale insects on indoor plants

A shield is called a dangerous pest of indoor plants, which in just a couple of months is able to destroy most copies from a home greenhouse. And often this insect even attacks flowers that are poisonous. And today we want to talk about how to get rid of the scale shield and in the future to prevent its reappearance.

How to recognize a pest?

Scabies are insects no larger than 5 mm in size. Numerous tentacles are present on their body, with the help of which they are attached to the surface of leaves and stems. The covers are translucent, look like a wax plate. And if such individuals were found on indoor plants, it means that in front of you is none other than a scale shield - a pest, the fight with which is often quite difficult.

And the main difficulty in the destruction of these parasites is that young individuals do not yet have a sticky carapace, and therefore are able to freely move around the body of the plant and move to neighboring specimens. In addition, male scale insects have wings, thanks to which they can fly up to several meters. For these reasons, absolutely all the flowers in your home collection should be exposed to processing.
However, if adult individuals are quite easy to notice, then their eggs are so tiny that it is very difficult to recognize them with the naked eye. In addition, females always make their masonry on the underside of leaf plates or in those places where leaves are attached to the stem.

When sucking juices from plants, scabbards deprive them of nutrients, as a result of which the flowers lose significant vitality. Affected specimens begin to gradually fade, their growth and development are inhibited. At this time, gluttonous parasites move to the foliage and continue to spoil the plant. Young shoots, which have not yet managed to gain enough energy and strength, suffer the most from scrotum. They die very quickly.

One colony of scale insects can completely destroy an adult plant about half a meter high in just two weeks. As a result of the parasite invasion, only a bare, dry stem will remain of a two-three-year-old flower. And save him will not work.

On a note! When a plant loses 2/3 of its foliage, it cannot be resuscitated!

Therefore, it is necessary to regularly inspect the home greenhouse and, if it detects shields, act immediately, choosing the right methods of control.

Preliminaries

First of all, it is necessary to identify the source of infection of the flower garden - the plant on which the scale insects settled.

On a note! Determining exactly where they came from is quite difficult, since the eggs of these pests could be brought in with the soil, with new specimens, and even with the water that you used for irrigation.

The infected plant or plants should be immediately isolated. It is advisable to clean them in a room where there are no flowers and only after proceeding with treatment.In this case, it is necessary to take into account the fact that scabies are usually most active in early spring and in winter - during this period the flowers are weakened, as they either recover after a winter "sleep" or are at a dormant stage.

Recommendation! For this reason, during the winter and early spring, inspection of the plants should be carried out more often, do not forget to make top dressing on time and sometimes moisten with a spray bottle.

Chemicals from scale insects

Today, preparations for the fight against scale insects can be purchased at almost any flower shop. Among the most popular:

• "Actellik" is a highly effective tool that is used to spray affected plants and water the substrate. It shows excellent results in the treatment of indoor flowers, and in the destruction of scale in the warehouse. To prepare the working fluid, 2 ml of the drug is mixed with a liter of water and immediately used for processing. First, the entire body of the plant is abundantly moistened, and the root system and substrate are shed with residues. The speed of the tool will depend on the viability of the parasite and environmental conditions. These factors also determine how quickly the effect will be visible. The drug "Actellic" provides reliable plant protection for two to three weeks. Among its advantages: prevention of reinfestation, compatibility with other chemicals, which can guarantee a positive effect, the ability to use it to process planting material, in particular seeds. However, at the same time it has an unpleasant odor, it is highly recommended not to use it in residential premises and, due to toxicity, it can be dangerous for the health of people, especially children, and pets.
  
• "Aktara" - is used to protect plants from various parasites, including from scale insects. Like the previous tool, it can be used for spraying and spilling the soil. However, most of the working fluid is better to soak the soil. In this case, the active substances are properly absorbed into the body of the plant and, when the pests eat their juices, they will surely die after a while. Since the drug "Aktara" is allowed for use both in open ground and for treating flowers directly in the apartment, it should be diluted correctly, and for each specific case there is a dosage: from scabs in residential premises - 1 ml of the product per 1 liter of water for flower processing in open ground - 4 g of dry matter per 1 liter of water, then the resulting solution is diluted in a sprayer tank (600 ml of water per ¼ water tank), for spraying trees and bushes of currant - 4 g of dry matter per 1 liter of water , then the resulting p target diluted in a tank sprayer (¼ to water tank 250 ml). 24 hours after treatment, the pests die. This drug can be used in combination with growth stimulants. However, remember that it is toxic to bees and other insects that are involved in pollination of plants.
• "Bankol" is one of the best remedies for scale insects, which is used to protect indoor flowers. It shows contact activity and, getting on the body of the parasite, paralyzes its nervous system. Within two to three days, he dies. To process flowers, 0.5 g of the drug is dissolved in a liter of water. "Bankol" is characterized by low toxicity, continues to be effective even after rain and is odorless. However, in order for the product to guarantee a positive result, it is advisable to use it at high thermometer values.
• “Fitoverm” is a biological acaricide that helps a lot from a whole complex of parasites of domestic plants, including from scale insects. In order to make a working solution, 2 ml of the drug must be diluted in half a liter of water. Infected specimens are sprayed with the finished fluid.The main advantage of Fitoverm is that it is the least toxic compared to the chemicals listed above. However, this will require a larger number of treatments.

Chemicals regulations

Chemicals are quite effective in combating scale insects and provide long-term prevention of their reappearance. However, it should be noted that:

• these funds have a certain degree of toxicity, and therefore it is necessary to work with them extremely carefully and carefully read the instructions;
• if there are animals or children in the house, then at the time of processing the plants they should be removed from the premises;
• you can’t often use the same remedy, because otherwise parasites will develop immunity - drugs, and more precisely, the active substances on which they are based, it is advisable to constantly change.

Folk recipes

Much safer are folk remedies for the control of scale insects. These include:

• Pepper infusion. In order to cook it, 100 g of sharp chili pods must be passed through a meat grinder and pour the resulting mass with two liters of water. The mixture is kept in a cool place for 24 hours, after which it is poured into a spray bottle and the plants are sprayed. However, it should be remembered that the scabbard protects the dense carapace from the action of the poison, and therefore it is necessary to carry out processing only after the removal of parasites from the body of the flower. With abundant spraying, eggs that have time to lay pests will be destroyed, and plants will receive reliable protection against repeated attacks. Pepper infusion is used for several months, making two-week intervals between treatments.
• Soap-oil emulsion. This tool is prepared from 10 g of soap and 30 ml of machine oil. First, the indicated amount of soap is dissolved in 200 ml of water, whipped in a foam and oil is added. Before using this drug, the substrate must be covered with a plastic bag. The solution is treated with a plant and left for 6-12 hours. After the specified time, the remnants of the product are removed with cold water. It is necessary to use a soap-oil emulsion two to three times with a weekly break.
  
• Soap solution is the most common folk remedy that helps to get rid not only of scabies, but also of other plant-eating insects. To prepare it, 20 g of soap chips are dissolved in a liter of water and 10 ml of pure alcohol is added. The finished liquid is used to treat the stems and leaves of the affected plants once a week. Apply it several times until the moment when no parasite remains on the flower. It is most convenient to carry out the treatment with a brush, wiping with a solution both the leaves and stems of the plant. To destroy the eggs, the affected specimens should be treated for several months.
  

  Advice! Before applying soap solution from scabs on indoor flowers, it is necessary to find out how resistant they are to its effects. For this, the product is applied to only one leaflet and wait several days. If its color does not become dull and it does not fade, it means that with this tool it is quite possible to process the whole flower.

• Onion gruel. Another quite effective remedy for scale insects, which is prepared as follows: free the heads of onions from the husks and pass through a meat grinder. The resulting slurry is applied to the damaged areas with a soft toothbrush, after which the flower from the spray is treated with a soap solution.

Besides, in anti-scale it is useful to know that its reproduction and development is noticeably slowed down at low humidity and under the influence of direct sunlight. And if the plants that you are going to cure are resistant to these factors, it is advisable to slightly reduce their watering and rearrange them to a more illuminated place. Plus, the room needs to be often ventilated and place indoor flowers away from each other - avoiding their crowding, you will provide adequate ventilation.