How to Prevent Pests and Diseases on Houseplants

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Today, I’m going to answer a question from a viewer, Crystallin Ortiz, who asked how to prevent your houseplants from being attacked by pests and diseases. There are a few things that you can do and keep in mind.

The first thing is to buy from a really good provider of plants—a nursery somewhere that knows how to take care of plants is a better place. Now, that’s not to say you can’t get some from a big box store or a home and garden center, but just be careful when you get them from those places. It’s not always your fault if a plant starts to go downhill within a month or two; plants are slow to react. So keep that in mind; plants are also slow to show pests and diseases. They may have been treated prior to you getting them for pests or diseases, and then it comes back again. That’s why getting them from a good grower in the first place is important.

It’s also important to buy houseplants that have been taken good care of by the grower and that look healthy to begin with. I have a video on that coming out too on how to choose healthy houseplants, and I’ve done different videos on that as well—choosing a healthy household plant from the very beginning.

Another tip is to quarantine your houseplants when you first get them. I have a video on that as well. This is a really good practice because you can see if it has a problem before it spreads to all your other plants. Quarantining for four to six weeks will show you if a plant has a pest or a disease before you put it with the rest of your plants.

Now, say you’ve got the plants with all your other plants, and you want to know what to do to keep them from getting pests and diseases in general. One of the things to keep in mind is that pests are attracted to decaying foliage on your plant. That is their job; pests generally break down decaying foliage so it can be recycled into the soil, feeding the plant.

Pests play a good role in nature by keeping things in balance and controlling decaying matter. However, in your house, you don’t want those pests. As you’ve probably noticed if you’ve had pests before—most likely, since you’re watching this video—they can go really crazy in your indoor garden very quickly because there aren’t any other predators for them.

So, what you want to do is make sure to keep off dead and dying foliage as much as possible. Even this palm here, named Marco, doesn’t have much, but I am going to remove what little he does have so that there’s nothing targeting the pests. If you don’t have any decaying matter, then, of course, they’re going to go for your good leaves instead.

Other ways to keep pests away include proper watering. It’s really important not to let them dry out and also not to overwater them. Overwatering leads to root rot very quickly. A simple way to prevent root rot is to water correctly. If you under-water, it weakens the plant, and the weaker the plant is, the more chances you have of pests and diseases coming to feast on it.

It’s a survival of the fittest situation that goes on. Outdoors, a weakening plant signifies that things should come in and eat it, so it can break down and a new plant can take its place. Once again, you have more of a simulated situation indoors; you are the father or mother nature, creating your own little microcosm or microclimate in your house.

You definitely want to keep the plants as strong as possible. Proper watering is one of the top things for that. Also, adequate lighting is critical. Plants need enough light to thrive. If you do not have enough light for your plants, they will begin to falter. Once they start to falter, that’s when pests notice, and they’ll come in for the feast.

Another thing to keep in mind is proper lighting. If you don’t have bright enough light in your home for your houseplants, consider using full-spectrum lighting. Full-spectrum light bulbs come in many different sizes and fit just about any fixture. You can also get full-spectrum fixtures as well.

You want to get the light as close to the top of the plant as possible, without it burning the plant. For Marco here, I would ideally keep the light about six to eight inches above him. He does get some light from the window, but if I needed to add more light, that’s what I would do. Adequate lighting is really important.

Another aspect is nutrients. Keeping your plants strong with nutrients is essential. If you’re watering correctly and they have enough light, it’s also important to give them nutrients. Nutrients don’t make a plant grow; proper lighting does. Plants photosynthesize to get their energy, and that energy is what makes them grow. Nutrients provide the plant with the necessary components to grow even more healthily.

So you want to make sure your lighting and watering are under control first before you start fertilizing. When you do have everything aligned, proper fertilization is essential so that the plant doesn’t become nutrient-deficient. This is another way to keep the plant healthy and robust, which helps fend off pests and diseases, particularly pests.

I also have a fertilizer and pumice, which is good for drainage. I have my Green Gourmet fertilizer, too. The pumice is great for drainage, which helps prevent root rot, and the Green Gourmet is an organic, gentle fertilizer with lots of good ingredients, like worm castings. Worm castings actually contain components that help plants fend off pests and diseases, so that’s another good addition to your soil.

Will you still get some pests? Yes, you will. You can use some natural remedies and effective treatments. I have videos on this and will continue to make more on the different pests. But starting from the beginning to keep your plants as healthy as possible, these are some great tips to keep in mind. You may find that a very healthy plant starts to get a little pest, but when you address it, it disappears because the plant is already healthy. It’s similar to a healthy person getting a slight illness, but their immune system fends it off and they recover.

So, those are some tips for keeping your plants healthy, happy, and pest- and disease-free. Thank you for stopping by today! Please leave any comments about any indoor gardening tutorials you’d like to see. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, and share this video. Please check the bell if you’d like to be notified when new videos are released.

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