Gloxinia is an extremely delicate plant that requires careful and constant care. Despite this, many flower growers still decide to have this “capricious beauty”, and they are successfully given care at home for gloxinia.

You just need to be careful toGloxinia diseasesdid not spoil the beauty of the flower, so that the leaves did not turn yellow or darken, and the buds did not fall off. So, what kind of diseases and what Gloxinia pestscan prevent it from developing normally, as well as delighting us with abundant flowering. This will be discussed below.

Leaves turn yellow: what to do

Naturally, if a plant’s leaves begin to turn yellow before the dormant period, which in gloxinia, as a rule, begins immediately after the end of flowering, then this is clearly not a disease. In principle, gloxinia does not have an exact time frame in relation to this stage of its life. The plant can go to “rest” in September, October, and also in November.

If gloxinia is still young, then it may not have time to grow its tuber, and therefore it does not yet need a rest period. True, if there is a tuber, and the leaves are clearly drying, it’s time for the plant to rest. In this casefor young gloxinia the following:

Reduce watering and then wait until the leaves dry out.
Set gloxinia aside from a light-lit windowsill.
You should not cut off the green foliage yet and thus force the plant to rest.
Gloxinia should be kept at a temperature of about +12 degrees Celsius during the dormant period.

Why do gloxinia's lower leaves turn yellow?

It doesn’t matter what age the gloxinia is (a young plant or already with a tuber), if it has turned yellow and the leaves below have dried out, which means that watering is insufficient and the frequency must be increased. Perhaps you should simply transplant the gloxinia into a larger pot. If the soil lags behind the wall of the pot, then the plant has developed leaf diseases (dry and turn yellow) precisely from insufficient moisture. That is, the amount of soil is clearly not enough to maintain the necessary supply of moisture for the plant.

Excessive waterlogging can lead to rotting of the plant bulb.

If such a problem has already occurred, the gloxinia should be pulled out of the ground, closely inspect the bulb (for the presence of rot), and, if necessary, cut out all damaged tissue, leaving only healthy ones. In case of illness , after processing, each cut site must be carefully sprinkled with activated carbon powder, the soil must be completely replaced, and the regularity of watering must be normalized.

Why do spots appear on gloxinia leaves?

Brown spots on gloxinia leaves are nothing more than ordinary burns from direct rays of the sun. They appear on the plant if it is in a place that is too exposed to sunlight.

So ifbrown spots appear on gloxinia leaves, and the leaves are clearly drying, then the room is hot, watering is insufficient, and the gloxinia is standing in too hot sun. It should be noted that although this plant does not like direct rays of the sun, it still needs light; for this reason, gloxinia is not placed in partial shade, but is simply slightly shaded for some time.

Other reasons for yellowing leaves may be:

Gloxinia leaves turn yellowalso from diseases such as chlorosis. If the plant is watered with unsettled and very hard water (with chlorine) taken straight from the tap, gloxinia can easily develop chlorosis. To avoid such troubles, the water must not only be left standing, but also softened with a small amount of lemon juice or vinegar. Sometimes the cause of chlorosis is low acidity of the soil. In this case, the soil is replaced with a more suitable one in its composition.
If gloxinia leaves curl, this may also be the result of a violation of the ravila required irrigation regime. The leaves seem to"hug" pot and become like a spoon. In this case, eliminate disease Normalizing watering may help. Before each watering, you need to slightly dry the top of the soil. Also, gloxinia leaves can curl due to extremely low humidity in the air, but at the same time high air temperature. You can place some kind of container with wet expanded clay near the pot.

In any case, frequent watering can partially solve the problem, but you should be extremely careful: stagnation of moisture in the pot is also extremely dangerous.

Problems with gloxinia flowering

It happens that gloxinia is already picking up buds and almost opening its sepals, but the grower is disappointed: inside them there is just a barren flower that looks like a green pea. The reason for this phenomenon may be the wintering of gloxinia in an excessively cold place. Quite quickly, the peduncle of an underdeveloped bud completely darkens, then it should simply be cut off. You can spray the plant with growth stimulants and then make sure that its conditions are quite comfortable.

If ripe buds do not open completely, first become brown, then wither and fall off completely, then this may mean an alarming symptom: damage by thrips or an extremely dangerous spider mite for all house plants. It is necessary, without delay, to urgently treat gloxinia with any suitable insecticides.

In this case, you should feed the plant with suitable fertilizers; it is good if there is more phosphorus and potassium in it than nitrogen. If necessary, you can organize additional lighting for gloxinia, carefully adjust the room temperature, as well as humidity.

If the problem looks different, and gloxinia does not bloom at all and does not even form buds, then the reasons may be different, for example:

If there is not enough nitrogen in the soil or, on the contrary, there is too much of it.
When the plant is dark.
Gloxinia is cold indoors.
The soil is low in microelements: phosphorus or potassium.
In the fall, gloxinia was not transplanted into new, more fertile fresh soil.
Gloxinia grows in a pot that is too large; it gains green mass or enlarges the tuber to the detriment of flowering.
The plant did not rest or the rest was extremely short.

It is also possible that the “pet” has simply become old and therefore blooms much less often. In this case, you should think about updating it.

Late blight and fusarium

If there is stagnation of moisture in the trays or the plant has excessively dense soil, late blight may occur. This is a dangerous fungal disease; it can be caused not only by crowded plantings, but also by contaminated soil, high humidity, or a very cold room, especially during the growing season. This disease spreads through dirty tools, poor soil or contaminated water.

Late blight on gloxinia manifests itself as follows:

Wet dark brownish spots appear on the leaves, which are surrounded by a light rim.
You can see mold inside the leaf.
There are small dark brown stripes near the stem.

When infected with late blight, the plant completely stops actively developing, while its leaves wither and its roots rot. Treatment can help in this case: Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate are suitable.

If the air in the room is humid, watering is insufficient and fertilizing is weak, gloxinia may be subject to such illnesses , like fusarium. This is a fungal disease dangerous for plants; it penetrates into a plant weakened by poor care through contaminated soil. At the same time, the leaves of gloxinia wither, curl strongly, and may acquire a brownish color. To prevent the plant from dying, you need to remove it from the pot and clean it from the soil, while treating it with fungicides. After such treatment, transplant the gloxinia into fresh healthy soil.

Gray mold and powdery mildew

If on gloxinia part of the stem begins to slowly turn black, a gray coating is noticeable on the leaves, and later brown spots appear, then the plant may have a dangerous disease - gray rot, which occurs from excessive waterlogging of the soil. After the bush is dug up and carefully examined, diseased areas near the tuber and above-ground parts are removed, and healthy parts are treated with fungicides. At the end of the treatment procedures, the plant is transplanted into healthy soil.

When the room is too cold and the humidity is high, powdery mildew may appear on the plant, it looks like a white powdery coating. The plant becomes deformed and looks sick. This type of disease indoor plants is dangerous and also requires treatment with fungicides and more careful care.

If on the leaves Gloxinia new diseases have emerged , spots of a dark brownish color that turn into large gaps, then gloxinia has phyllostictosis. Just like the above-mentioned diseases, the plant must be treated with copper sulfate, as well as Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride.

So, in order to grow a beautiful and healthy gloxinia, it will take some effort, the right behind it, knowledge of the secrets of keeping it in acceptable conditions. If you follow the rules of caring for it, you will be able to enjoy the contemplation of the magnificent flowering of this plant.

Many indoor plant lovers are familiar with a flower called gloxinia. We will look at gloxinia diseases with photos today. This tuberous plant has a short stem and velvety leaves. The funnel-shaped flowers have beautiful colors.

Gloxinia happens:

standard with a height of up to 25 cm;
compact with a height from 12.5 to 25.3 cm;
miniature, having a height of 5 to 12 cm;
microminiature up to 5 cm high.

The cause of its diseases can be fungi and pests. It is quite difficult to grow a flower that is predominantly blue-violet and red-pink.

Fungal diseases of gloxinia

Why doesn't gloxinia bloom? This question plagues many gardeners. Gloxinias often become ill with various fungal diseases, in which the natural color of the leaves disappears and parts of the plant turn black. If the buds of a plant begin to rot, you can find several reasons for this problem:

excessive watering;
acidic soil;
excess nitrogen.

When watering abundantly, it is enough to adjust it so that the soil is not excessively wet. If the soil is acidic, you need to replant the plant with a complete replacement of the soil. Excessive nitrogen levels may occur after the application of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. It is better to feed with complex fertilizers for gloxinia. They necessarily contain nitrogen and potassium. In addition to these elements, complex fertilizers contain phosphorus and many other chemicals. If a wisteria tuber rots, you need to spray the plants with fungicide 2-3 times.

Why isn't gloxinia blooming yet? Among diseases of fungal origin, anthracnose deserves special mention. Its symptoms are brown spots on the leaves. They gradually move onto the shoots and onto the trunk of the plant. Ultimately this leads to their rotting and destruction. Anthracnose in gloxinia must be treated without fail. This disease can attack plants with mechanical damage. Increased air humidity and soil acidity, a lack of phosphorus and potassium can also provoke the disease.

To prevent pathology, complex care is required: you need to spray the plant with copper oxychloride, cuproxate or oxychrome and feed it with fertilizers. Otherwise, with the help of working equipment and with the help of various pests, the disease will spread to neighboring plants. Sick specimens should not be placed outside during rain. All work equipment should be disinfected after use. If the infection of the plant is very severe, then it is better to destroy the flower by burning it. The initial stage of this disease is eliminated. Treatment is as follows:

you just need to remove the diseased parts of flowers with brown spots (leaves, stems, buds);
spray the plant with fungicide 2-3 times with an interval of 2-3 weeks.

Another disease is ascochytaosis. Its signs are the appearance of red spots with brown rims on the leaves of the plant. The spots may also have a brown color. This can happen when air humidity increases. For treatment you need:

completely remove all leaves affected by spots;
to prevent the spread of infection, it is better to burn them;
treat the diseased plant with Bordeaux mixture;
After 7-10 days, repeat the treatment.

Instead of Bordeaux mixture, you can use copper sulfate, fungicides such as Abiga-Pik or Vectra.

Phyllosticosis is a fairly common disease. Dark round spots appear on the leaves. Their middle is brown. The leaf grows and breaks appear where spots appear. When these signs appear, you should immediately spray the diseased plant. Treatment of gloxinia consists of treating them with preparations containing copper. This may be Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate or copper oxychloride.

A few more fungal diseases

Diseases of a fungal nature include septoria. It can be carried by raindrops and wind. Optimal conditions for the appearance of this disease:

being in a room with a temperature of 20-25° with a humidity of 98%;
moistening the leaves for a long time (up to 48 hours);
low light level.

Gray-brown spots appear on the leaves of the diseased plant. Outwardly, they resemble rust. The leaves then begin to fall. The stems dry out and gradually die off. The buds may also be damaged. It is recommended to treat the plant with fungicides such as Benomyl and other or any copper-containing preparations. Treatment should be repeated after 7-10 days.

Late blight is a disease caused by fungi. It can spread through soil and equipment, through planting materials and rainwater. The pathogens can live in soil for up to 8 years. Late blight occurs under the following circumstances:

over-compacted soil;
stagnation of water during irrigation;
dense population of plants;
the soil is poorly prepared;
watering is done with rainwater;
too frequent spraying;
air humidity 80% or higher;
temperature changes from 10 to 22° during the day.

Signs of late blight are brown spots with a pale green border. The inside of the leaves may become covered with a coating of white mold. It manifests itself well when wet weather sets in. Leaves dry out and die when dry weather sets in. Dark brown stripes may appear on the stems. The plant is withering. It is very difficult to treat a sick gloxinia. Chemicals don't help. Only proper prevention will be effective. It is necessary to water the plants with cuprozan. You can use polycarbicide and polymarcin for this. Before planting gloxinia or when transplanting it, you need to sterilize the soil. It is good to soak the roots of the plant for 5 minutes in a suspension of captan. It is almost impossible to cure a diseased plant, so the only correct way out is to burn it.

Gray rot also has its own signs. A fluffy white coating appears. It affects pedicels and leaf petioles. The flower rots and dies. The reasons are the close arrangement of plants, increased humidity in the room, insufficient ventilation of the roots due to compacted soil. You just need to provide moderate watering and add sand, perlite or vermiculite to the soil. These additives will ensure high-quality ventilation of the roots. There should be no drafts in the room with gloxinia. The disease is treated with fungicides at intervals of 7 days.

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease. With it, all parts of the plant are covered with a white coating, which quickly turns powdery. The disease develops with excessive watering, temperature changes, and dampness in the room. It is better to burn a completely infected plant immediately. You can try to treat the initial stage of the disease with fungicides.

Diseases caused by pests

Pests cause a lot of damage to flowers. The most popular type of gloxinia pest is thrips. These are insects that feed on plant juices. Their individuals are clearly visible in the photo. Their size in adulthood is up to 1.5 mm. Signs that pests have appeared are small, light-colored dots on the leaves of the flower. If they are detected, you need to isolate the flower pot from other plants. After this, you need to treat gloxinia with insecticides such as Intavir, Fitoferm, Aktara, Actellik or Karate. To completely destroy thrips, you need to carry out triple treatments at intervals of 7 days. You can take photos to track the dynamics of treatment. Otherwise, the leaves turn black and fall off.

Conclusion on the topic

Gloxinia, thanks to its abundant and very beautiful flowering, is very popular among gardeners.

This plant of artificial origin came to us from South America. Requires a special approach. It needs to be fed in time, dried leaves removed, and soil supplements added. Caring for it is quite difficult. If it is violated, the plant may stop blooming. We must not forget about adding fertilizers to the soil for gloxinia. The leaves of a plant dry in normal condition only when it goes into retirement. It usually happens immediately after flowering.

During dormancy, the tubers of the plant can be placed in the refrigerator. But they require special control and care, otherwise gloxinia will not germinate from frozen tubers. With the most careful observation, gloxinia does not wake up. It’s better to just put the flower in a dark, cool place. The plant sleeps for 3-4 months. Then small leaves appear on the tuber, the flower stretches out, and buds appear. During this period, special attention should be paid to caring for it. Otherwise, you may not wait until the flowering period. The beautiful buds of this plant can be seen in numerous photos in specialty stores and magazines.

Gloxinia is a representative of the Gesneriaceae family and came to us from the distant forests of America. This is a perennial subshrub with beautiful decorative leaves, which also blooms very beautifully with velvet bells. The leaves themselves are also covered with a small pile, are oval or elongated, and have small teeth along the edges.

Usually gloxinia has even leaves, but sometimes gardeners are faced with a problem such as a change in the shape of the leaf plate. Externally, the plant remains healthy, the leaves retain their color, but the edges begin to curl under the bottom of the leaf, resembling an inverted spoon. Sometimes the lower leaves literally lie on the windowsill and seem to be trying to crawl under the pot.

The reasons why the leaves turn inward can be very diverse, because the flower is very sensitive to the slightest changes. Most often, this phenomenon occurs as a result of:

violations of conditions of detention and care;
when damaged by pests.

Errors in care

Gloxinia leaves curl if:

The room is too hot or cold. The optimal temperature for growing a forest beauty should be between 18-22 degrees Celsius. If the room is cold in winter and hot in summer, the leaves will react first. It is important to choose a place for the plant where it would be comfortable all year round or, depending on the season, move the pot to a more suitable room (warm or cool).
The air in the room is too dry. By its nature, gloxinia simply loves high air humidity. In a dry room, the leaves do not have enough nutrition and they curl up. It is especially important to monitor humidity in hot summers, as well as in winter (when the heating is on). At this time, it is recommended to place a container of water near the gloxinia, and also spray it periodically.
The flower was caught in a draft. Ventilation of the room is a necessary condition when growing gloxinia, provided that drafts are avoided.
The plant is on a south-facing windowsill. Direct sunlight is harmful to gloxinia, so in the summer it needs to be rearranged or the window shaded.
Gloxinia was flooded. Excess moisture negatively affects the appearance of the flower, and in the case of constant overflow, it can lead not only to curling of the leaves, but also to rotting of the plant.

Unfortunately, it will not be possible to return the leaves to their previous shape, but provided that all care rules are followed, over time gloxinia will grow new, beautiful leaves, and the old ones can be cut off.

Presence of pests

Gloxinia leaves curl if thrips or mites have settled on them. In this case, it is necessary to urgently take action and treat the plant with insecticides (Aktara, Karbofos), otherwise it may die.

Video about proper care of gloxinia

Surely, you have more than once admired the incredible elegance of a small
indoor flower named Sinningia, or, as it is more often called, Gloxinia. Many flower growers have dared to have this sissy and do a good job of caring for and maintaining this interesting and multifaceted flower. But still, more often than not, among novice gardeners, gloxinia begins to act up, develops poorly, sometimes drops buds, does not bloom, and even dies completely. Why is this happening? Let's try to figure it out.

Late blight

This is a very serious fungal disease. The reason may be stagnation of water in the trays, too dense soil, crowded plantings, contaminated soil, air humidity above 80%, low temperature during the growing season, and others. It usually spreads through contaminated tools, contaminated soil, planting material or dirty water.

Late blight

Brown spots appear on the leaves, surrounded by a pale green rim. Mold appears on the inside of the leaf in humid weather. Dark brown stripes appear on the petioles and stems. The plant stops developing, the leaves wither, become covered with brown, weeping spots, and the root collar begins to rot. If the disease is detected in time, you can try to treat gloxinia with preparations containing copper, for example, Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate. If this does not help, the flower will have to be destroyed, it is better to burn it.

Fusarium

With high air humidity and lack of water and nutrients
substances in the soil, the flower may develop another disease - fusarium. This is a fungal disease that penetrates a weakened plant through contaminated soil. Gloxinia leaves wither, curl, and turn brown. To save your favorite plant, remove it from the pot, carefully clean it from the soil, and treat it with fungicides such as Topaz or Fundazol. Then replant in fresh, healthy soil.

Fusarium

Gray rot

If the stem of gloxinia begins to turn black, flowers and leaves appear
gray bloom and brown spots, most likely the plant has become sick with gray rot. The disease was caused by constant waterlogging of the soil. Dig up a bush and inspect it. If it is possible to remove the affected areas of the tuber and above-ground parts, do so. Treat the remaining healthy part of the plant with Topaz or Fundazol fungicide and replant it in new healthy soil.

Gray rot

If gloxinia is severely affected by the disease, it must be destroyed.

Powdery mildew

If the room temperature is low and, at the same time, high
air and soil humidity, then most likely a white coating similar to flour will appear on the gloxinia. New buds and leaves will grow deformed and diseased. This is a clear sign of a disease such as powdery mildew. Treat your plant with the necessary fungicides such as Topaz or Fundazol and, most importantly, provide the gloxinia with normal care in terms of temperature conditions and proper watering. Read more about proper care of gloxinia at home. .

Root rot

If a gloxinia's stem begins to darken and rot at the base, and the roots turn brown, it most likely has contracted a disease called root rot. Perhaps you watered it with cold water too often. The flower will die.

Chlorosis

If gloxinia is watered with hard chlorinated tap water, it may be affected by a disease such as chlorosis. Try to water the flower with warm and settled water. Soften it with a drop of lemon juice or table vinegar. Sometimes the cause of chlorosis lies in the low acidity of the soil, then it is better to replace it with a new one, and everything will return to normal.

rust mushroom

If bubbles of different colors appear on the inner surface of the gloxinia leaves, and the upper surface of the leaves is covered with yellow spots, your gloxinia has contracted a disease such as rust fungi. The reason is poor care, namely, keeping the plant in a musty, damp and cold room during the growing season. Remove all leaves and shoots damaged by rust and provide proper care for the flower. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to pollinate the plant with colloidal sulfur.

Anthracnose

If brown spots appear on the leaves of the gloxinia, which gradually creep onto the shoots and stem of the flower, the gloxinia most likely has anthracnose. This disease is treated at an early stage with copper oxychloride or oxychrome.

Anthracnose

The disease was provoked by high air humidity and a lack of phosphorus and potassium in the soil. Typically, mechanically damaged specimens become infected. Diseased parts of the plant with brown spots should be removed, the plant should be sprayed with fungicide 2-3 times every two weeks. Feed with monopotassium phosphate. If the infection is very strong, rotting and destruction of the bush has begun - it is better to get rid of the flower completely. Treat neighboring plants with the same product for prevention.

9. If red or brown spots with
brown rims, she may have suffered from ascochyta blight. This happens when the ambient air humidity in the room is high. Remove any leaves that show signs of disease and burn them. Treat the infected plant with copper sulfate or similar preparations. Eliminate the cause of the disease and repeat the gloxinia treatment in a week.

Phyllosticosis

If dark brown spots appear on the leaves of gloxinia,
which turn into tears during leaf growth - most likely your gloxinia has phyllostictosis. As with previous diseases, treatment is carried out with copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride.

Determine the cause of your problem, correct the mistakes and help your pet become a healthy and beautifully blooming indoor flower. We are sure that you will succeed!

Gloxinia pests

Sometimes gloxinia grown at home is attacked by insect pests such as spider mites, cyclamen mites, thrips, scale insects, whiteflies, and mealybugs. Let us introduce you to them in more detail.

The presence of a cyclamen mite on indoor gloxinia can be detected by deformed, thickened leaves, which seem to be covered with a layer of dust and curl down at the edges, along a twisted stem, by suddenly withered buds, deformed petals and dried tips of young shoots. You will not see the pests themselves with the naked eye. The plant must be treated with acaricides against ticks.

This pest is the most frequent visitor to gloxinias. Insects feed on the sap and nectar of the plant. They settle in flower buds or live on leaves. You can tell that a flower is infested with thrips by the small, light-colored dots on the flower leaves. Thrips leave characteristic silvery marks on the upper side of the leaf. Light spots appear in the form of streaks and stripes, which eventually merge into a single brown spot. The leaves fade, their edges curl up, the flowers fall off, and gloxinia stops growing.

The diseased plant must be isolated from the rest and treated with insecticides such as Karate, Actellik, Aktara or Fitoverm. It is better to disinfect the old location of the flower pot and treat neighboring plants for prevention. Remove the top layer of soil from the pot, or better yet, replace it with completely healthy soil. To completely get rid of the pest, the treatment needs to be carried out a couple more times at intervals of a week.

If sticky spots - honeydew - appear on the leaves of gloxinia, it means that an uninvited guest has appeared on the flower - a scale insect. It spreads throughout the plant: on the stem, on the leaves, in the buds. It feeds on plant sap, depriving it of microelements. Gloxinia leaves turn yellow, dry out, and young shoots stop growing. If urgent measures are not taken, the plant may die.

Whitefly

Mealybug

Conclusion

Growing healthy, beautiful gloxinia is not easy, but it is possible. You need to know some rules for caring for it, the secrets of keeping it in comfortable conditions, know the techniques and methods of protecting it from insect pests and diseases, as well as water it on time and correctly, adjust lighting and temperature conditions, prevent diseases - and then you are in complete At least enjoy contemplating the beauty of your favorite flowering plant.

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Pests and diseases of gloxinia

Pests and diseases of flowers Have you noticed a white coating on the surface of the soil in a flower pot? Don't be alarmed, this is not a disease or traces of pests. These are just deposits of lime from water and mineral salts from fertilizers that gradually accumulate. Too large deposits of lime and salts indicate that the plant has not been replanted for a long time. It is also better to use boiled water for irrigation in areas where tap water has a high lime content. Some are even afraid to use mineral supplements because of this plaque. The ideal solution for getting rid of whitish deposits in flower pots is to water with lime-free water and use granular fertilizer. And still, no matter how hard you try to protect the soil from lime or mineral salts, this plaque will still appear to a greater or lesser extent. Instead of being afraid to use liquid fertilizers, which are so necessary for plants, you can mask the whitish coating that forms over time by covering the surface of the earthen mixture with expanded clay or beautiful river or sea pebbles until the next replanting. Before replanting, all pebbles must be removed from the surface of the earth, washed thoroughly with detergent, dried, and only then used again. It can be made even simpler: if an unsightly crust appears on the surface of the earthen mixture, simply scrape off the top layer of earth from the pot and add a layer of fresh earthen mixture. This operation can be performed periodically when a white plaque appears, approximately every 3-4 months. It’s pleasant for you and good for the plant. But in plants that cannot tolerate lime, such as azalea, gardenia, and hydrangea, white deposits in the pot should be carefully avoided. This leads to leaf chlorosis, bud drop, and leaf drop.

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Sometimes aphids appear on the leaves of indoor plants. Most often, aphids appear on indoor plants in late winter and spring. In summer, aphids can also invade those plants that you bring into the garden. Aphids are small green, black or gray, rather mobile insects that stick to young and tender shoots of plants, weakening young plants by constantly sucking the juice out of them. The aphid leaves behind a sticky substance on the affected stems and leaves, very similar to the discharge from whiteflies and scale insects. This sticky coating prevents plants from breathing and becomes fertile ground for the development of fungal diseases. Most often, aphids settle on the tops of young shoots, on young leaves and on flower buds. Aphids need to be fought because they multiply quickly and easily move to neighboring plants and can be a carrier of the curl virus. In the garden, garden ants are the carriers of aphids. They specifically spread aphids to plants and feed on the sweet secretions of the aphids. And while it is still possible to somehow cope with green aphids, it is very difficult to fight black aphids. If you find aphids, wash them off with strong water pressure, thoroughly watering the stems and leaves on both sides. A solution of washing powder or fairy detergent, or rather foam, will also help get rid of aphids. Apply foam to the shoot, it will stop the air supply and the aphids will suffocate. You can treat the plant with an insecticide. The treatment should be repeated every week until the aphids disappear. At home, you can use insecticidal candles to combat aphids. If the plant is severely damaged, it is better to cut off the affected parts of the plant and burn them. To combat aphids, you can use folk remedies: pollination with tobacco, spraying with soap solutions with wormwood and garlic. If aphids have attacked plants in the garden, then in addition to the fight against aphids, the fight against garden ants is added. Agronomic practices can also be used in the garden. Next to plants or trees that are heavily affected by aphids, such as plums, you can plant several calendula, marigold, nasturtium or tomato plants. Of course, you won’t have to expect a harvest from tomatoes, but it will help you get rid of aphids.

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Plants look depressed. If you look closely, you can see small cobwebs under the leaves. This means that the plants have been attacked by spider mites, which are quite common in apartments. This is a very small tick. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, since the size of a spider mite is less than 1 millimeter. But the presence of spider mites can be detected by the thin webs between the leaves. Mites suck the sap from plants, leaving tiny puncture-like spots on the inside of leaves. These spots become discolored, and the leaves sometimes take on a silvery tint, just like thrips, or simply turn yellow and fall off; in addition, spider mites can be carriers of the leaf curl virus. If a plant with buds has been attacked by spider mites, then you may not wait for flowering. Flower buds fall off without opening or become ugly. A massive spider mite attack can lead to the rapid death of the plant. Almost indoor plants are susceptible to spider mite attacks. Spider mites appear when the room is dry and hot. This can be either in summer or winter. To successfully combat spider mites, you first need to increase air humidity by spraying the plant with warm water daily. Don't forget to spray the leaves from the underside. The best means of prevention against spider mites is maintaining high humidity in the room. Spray the leaves of indoor plants more often. An acaricide based on dicofol, contained in many systemic aerosols, is used against spider mites. Insecticides “Aktellik” and “Fitoverm” are effective in the fight against spider mites. Plants need to be treated against spider mites 3-4 times with an interval of 8-10 days. As soon as you see small cobwebs under the leaves, treat the plant. Spray and place the pot with the plant in a large plastic bag. This way you isolate the plant, the contact of the plant with the insecticide will be higher, and there will be no evaporation in the room. The air humidity in the bag is higher, which will lead to the death of spider mites. This method is also good in combating other pests of indoor plants and significantly reduces the number of treatments.

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Whiteflies on indoor flowers are a fairly common occurrence. It is also unclear where they come from, but they have preferences, for example, royal pelargonium, small-leaved carmona, ctenantha, aglaonema, clerodendrum. Whiteflies also greatly harm vegetables in greenhouses, for exampleAre there white midges on indoor plants that immediately fly up as soon as you touch the leaves with your hand? This is whiteer, radish, cabbage. If in summer indoor plants stand on an open veranda or in the garden, then whiteflies will not take long to appear either. Whiteflies multiply quickly, feeding on plant sap and weakening them. The plants look depressed, do not bloom, and the leaves wither. Whiteflies leave behind sticky dew, very similar to the secretions of aphids and scale insects, which serves as fertile ground for the development of fungal diseases. If you notice these white midges, touch the leaves: they will feel a little sticky or sticky to the touch. Whiteflies usually sit on the underside of leaves where they lay their eggs. Do not delay the fight against whiteflies if you suddenly find them, because it is quite difficult to fight whiteflies. During spraying, they fly away, hide, and then, as the smell of the insecticide disappears, they sit on the leaves again. A calathea leaf that has been damaged by whiteflies: when held up to the light, numerous punctures and bites are visible. The whiteflies were noticed in time and neutralized, but the decorative appearance of the leaves managed to suffer, and this is the reverse side of the leaf after the whitefly attack. Black dots are visible, they are very sticky to the touch and serve as fertile ground for the development of fungal diseases. These leaves can be washed with a damp cloth with soap or shampoo. If the leaves are tender, then it is better to remove them. Therefore, you need to treat not only one plant on which whiteflies were found, but also neighboring plants, and also wash window frames and glass to remove all escape routes for whiteflies. If a plant is particularly badly affected, then after treating it with an insecticide, cover the plant with a large plastic bag. Let the plant stand like this for two hours. Contact of pests with the insecticide will be longer, and you will not have to breathe the insecticide vapors. It is good to carry out such treatments in the bathroom.

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OFTEN you can notice white winding stripes on the leaves of plants, and there are so many of these stripes that the leaves lose their decorative effect. This is how miner flies manifest themselves. Miner flies lay their eggs on plant leaves. When do fly larvae hatch?ers, they gnaw long winding passages inside the leaves, feeding on the sap of the leaves. In themselves, such passages in the leaves are not dangerous, but they spoil the appearance of the plant and interfere with the process of photosynthesis, destroying the chlorophyll in the leaves. On the leaves of garden plants, such winding passages on the leaves can be mistaken for traces of slugs. Miner flies are some types of flies that lay eggs on leaves, and their larvae gnaw long galleries in the leaf blade. Indoor plants can suffer from miner flies if they are taken out into the garden for the summer. Plants with dense, hard leaves without milky juice, such as chrysanthemum, pelargonium, chlorophytum, ivy, cineraria, are more often attacked by leaf miner flies. In the room, plants are quite rarely attacked by leaf miner flies, so for prevention it is enough to treat them with insecticides once a month. If you find traces of leaf miner larvae on the plant, remove the damaged leaves.

If you suddenly find white flakes on your indoor plants that resemble lumps of cotton wool, this means that they have been attacked by a mealybug. Mealybugs, or often called hairy lice, are sucking insects that are clearly visible to the naked eye. Scale insects get their name because of their white, waxy secretions that resemble clumps of cotton wool. Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) are a close relative of scale insects and pseudoscale insects. Scale insects are very mobile and can move at almost any age. They have a soft body, devoid of wings, covered on top with a powdery white wax coating, sometimes with wax plates along the edge. It is this wax coating that reliably protects the insects and their larvae from the effects of any poisons. In indoor conditions, the appearance of a mealybug can also be provoked by cold drafts and waterlogging of the soil in a pot, as well as newly acquired plants or bouquets from greenhouses and stores. Scale insects can get into the room along with garden soil. Larvae and adult female scale insects move quite quickly around the plant, pierce the leaves and suck the juice, losing mobility. Before oviposition, many forms of scale insects leave the food plant and go into shelter. Scale insects greatly weaken the entire plant. Initially, the plant withers and is greatly retarded in growth. Do not allow scale insects to reproduce. The plant can die literally in a couple of weeks. In addition to the fact that mealybugs suck juice, they leave behind a sweet sticky secretion, honeydew, on which black mold, similar to soot, or sooty fungus quickly settles. To get rid of mealybugs, wipe the plant with a solution of alcohol, beer or soapy water. If there are few insects, you can collect them manually, but you will still have to process the plant. If there are a lot of scale insects, use an anti-scale insecticide based on imidacloprid, which does not contain paraffin, which is poorly tolerated by indoor plants. If the store does not have such a product, then you can use include phytoverm, actellik, phosphamide, metaphos, actara, mospilan. In addition to spraying with the same solution, spill the soil in the pot. Such treatments will have to be repeated after a week, possibly more than once. The plant on which the mealybug is found must be isolated and quarantined for two weeks. Unless the insects no longer appear, only then can the plant be returned to its place in the collection. To protect yourself and others from the harmful effects of the poison, as well as to enhance the effect on pests, place the treated plant along with the pot in a large plastic bag. Spray the entire plant, not just the affected leaves. Then tie the bag for 2 hours. If there were a lot of scale insects, then at the same time (the next day) you need to treat the plant against sooty fungus with a solution of copper sulfate and soap, Bordeaux mixture. Carefully inspect all indoor plants to see if there are any scale insects on neighboring plants. In order to prevent the presence of scale insects, it is recommended to spray indoor plants with phytoverm. This drug is not considered toxic to humans.

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Thrips are small insect pests no more than 1 mm long. The ideal temperature for the active life of thrips is +20+28 0C; when the air temperature drops below +10 0C, they completely lose their activity. Despite the fact that they have a pair of wings, thrips are inactive. Thrips larvae are almost the same size as adults, but are slightly lighter in color and do not have wings. Thrips pierce the cells of petals, buds, and leaves of plants and suck out the cell sap from them. Where thrips have already eaten, voids form in the leaves. This causes the surface of the leaves to become silvery and shiny. Later, sooty or other fungi penetrate into the puncture sites. Leaves affected by thrips no longer participate in photosynthesis and dry out after a while. Some species of thrips live on buds and flowers, sucking juice from the buds and petals of opened flowers. As a result, the buds take on an ugly shape, fall off without ever opening, and if they open, such a flower will no longer be decorative. In addition, thrips are carriers of some viral diseases, for example, tomato ring spot virus and curl virus. If the thrips attack was aimed at the already opened flowers of the plant, then the flower petals become covered with dirty yellow spots, scratches, dry out quickly, the flowers fade ahead of time, and the petals quickly fall off. Plants with white flowers are more susceptible to thrips. and thrips operate on the leaves, they can easily be confused with an attack by spider mites, because in both cases the leaves acquire a silvery tint. But thrips, unlike spider mites, do not stretch the web between the leaves. The first sign of the presence of thrips may be the presence of fallen pollen from the stamens on the petals of a flower or on the leaves of plants. True, pollen can fall off in hot weather, in strong winds, during transportation, or simply passed by and touched a flower. Taking a close look at the buds and flowers, you can notice yellow scratches or spots, the presence of which greatly reduces the decorative effect. To be sure that there are thrips on a plant, you need to pick a few flowers and shake them over clean white or black paper. Measures to combat thrips Maintain constantly high air humidity. This is ideal prevention and protection against thrips at any time of the year. In indoor conditions, if possible, it is better to isolate plants affected by thrips from healthy ones. Transfer plants very carefully: with a slight shaking, larvae and adults easily fall from flowers and leaves and can wait a long time to settle on the plants again. The place where the plants affected by thrips stood should be washed thoroughly. It is also advisable to remove the topmost layer of soil from affected plants in flower pots, as thrips larvae may be present there. At the time of treatment, it is very advisable to remove all flower stalks and affected leaves on the plants. Three to four treatments will be required at intervals of 7-10 days. When treating indoor plants against thrips, you can use a large plastic bag. Place the pot with the plant in it, sprinkle it and close the bag tightly for 2-3 hours. This method is also good in the fight against spider mites. The only way to get rid of thrips is to carry out a series of treatments with systemic insecticides, for example, Fitoverm, Actellik (the safest for use at home). In greenhouses, greenhouses or in open ground, you can use Vertimek, Agravertin, Iskra, Mospilan, Aktar, and solutions of these drugs can be used not only for spraying, but also for watering at the root. The combination of increased concentrations with a slight addition of anti-flea pet shampoo is quite effective. The new drug Spintor, which is an insecticide of natural origin, has proven itself highly effective in the fight against thrips. Spraying with Spintor is carried out strictly according to the instructions with an interval of 7-10 days

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One day I noticed that my favorite pelargoniums began to wither. They neither grow nor disappear, the young leaves become smaller and smaller, the leaves quickly turn yellow and curl. I used various growth stimulants, sprayed against pests, and even spilled the soil in the pot with an insecticide solution. All this brought only temporary improvement. I couldn’t understand what was going on until I decided to transplant them right in the middle of winter. It turned out that there were earthworms in the pots. In the summer, I planted pelargoniums in open ground, and in the fall, fearing to disturb the root system, I transferred earthworms along with the earthen ball into the pot. At the beginning of autumn, my pelargoniums were still somehow holding on, but by mid-winter they had completely withered away. By the way, buying indoor plants even in a store does not provide a complete guarantee that there are no earthworms in the pot. One of the readers shared that she noticed an earthworm in the pot of a plant she had just purchased at the store. Although they write that earthworms do not cause any harm to indoor plants, I do not agree with this. If your indoor plant does not grow, looks depressed, leaves turn pale or curl for no apparent reason, then ordinary earthworms in a pot may be to blame. It would seem that earthworms loosen the soil near the roots, promoting soil aeration. But this is in open ground, where they feed on half-rotten plant debris. And in the confined space of a pot, earthworms disturb and eat up the roots of the plant, and indoor plants do not tolerate this well. When I transplanted my pelargoniums, I did not see any young white suction roots. Therefore, when watering, the water was not absorbed, but remained at the bottom of the pot. The soil at the bottom of the pot had already started to get wet, the drainage was not working. So my flowers withered away. Hence the conclusion: the presence of earthworms in a flower pot is extremely undesirable. Along with earthworms, enchytraeus may appear in the pot. Do not confuse earthworms with other pests (millipedes, cutworm larvae or cutworm worms) that feed on plant roots or gnaw the entire plant. How to get rid of earthworms in a flower pot? To check if there are still earthworms left, submerge the entire flower pot in a bowl of water until the water is above the soil level in the pot. As soon as the entire earthen ball gets wet, all the earthworms will crawl out of the pot and float to the surface. There is very little air in the water, the worms have nothing to breathe, they suffocate and float to the surface. After you collect all the worms, leave the pot in the bathroom for about two hours so that all the water drains out of the pot. There is no need to water this plant for a while; wait until the earthen ball dries out, and only then resume watering. You can also get rid of earthworms by digging up perennial plants for storage in the fall. Also, earthworms die quickly in very dry soil. The thing is, earthworms breathe over the entire surface of the body, which is covered with a moist mucous membrane - the skin. In dry soil, the skin of the worms quickly dries out, breathing stops, and the worm dies. If you are preparing your own earthen mixtures for indoor plants, then steam or calcine the garden soil before using Rare varieties of indoor flowers - I invite lovers of indoor flowers