Pest control in succulents is a little more complex than in other plants because these plants are a bit more delicate than regular plants. Their succulent leaves are pretty soft, and traditional pest control methods might further destroy the plant. Some pest control methods are better for succulents than others, and we shall look at them shortly. Meanwhile, let’s discuss the pests we are to control.
Pests Affecting Succulents
Succulents cut across the plant kingdom. Some are non-toxic, while others, such as euphorbias, are toxic. The toxicity makes euphorbias resistant to some the pests such as deer, rodents, and other animals. However, all succulents are vulnerable to more minor problems of the insect variety. Aphids and mealybugs scale is the most common, but spider mites and fungus gnats may also affect your succulents.
Protecting your Succulents
Prevention is the best pest control method for your succulents. If you can get the pests to stay away from your plant, your plants will be healthier and your work easier. The following are some preventive measures you can take.
- Keep the plants healthy: Strong and healthy succulents may be able to repel pests naturally. If, on the other hand, pests attack a healthy plant, they won’t affect it too badly since it will be able to withstand the onslaught. As recommended, you can ensure the plant’s fit by feeding with well-balanced fertilizer for succulents. Also, ensure the soil is rich enough and well-drained to keep root rot at bay.
- Prune the plant: Dead leaves are one of the bugs’ favorite hiding places—they lodge and breed there, especially when there is moisture. You can protect your plat from their attacks by cutting off the dead leaves. Cutting off these dead leaves reduces the air from flowing freely through the plant, making the conditions unfavorable for bugs.
- Keep the plant dry: When watering your succulents, always direct the water directly to the soil. Having water on the leaves makes them susceptible to mealybugs and scale. The succulent’s vulnerability is even more significant to bugs due to humidity being even more remarkable when the plant’s leaf structure is such that the leaves are allowed water to lodge. An excellent example of this situation is Graptopetalums which typically form rosettes. Water-filled rosettes encourage the bugs to make a home on the plant.
- Don’t reuse affected medium: Don’t compost infected leaves because there may be survivors or effs that find their way back to the plant when you feed the plant with compost. Also, don’t use soil from affected plants to repot your succulents.
- Use systemic pesticides: Unlike their contact counterparts, systemic pesticides get into the plant and poison it against the bugs so that they don’t survive or reproduce when they attack the plant. Pure Neem Oil is made from the neem plant. Therefore, it is entirely natural and not harmful to humans. It repels all the bugs from the inside as a systemic pesticide.
Ridding the Plant of Pests
Organic Pesticides
Prevention might fail, for one reason or the other, so that your plant gets infested. The following best approach is to cure the infestation using organic means. The following are some organic solutions besides neem oil.
- Hot pepper spray: Hot pepper is quite irritating when it gets on your skin and eyes, and it has the same effects on the bugs infesting your succulents. Spray it directly on the affected parts being careful to protect your skin and eyes.
- Garlic spray: A concentrated garlic spray can have the same effects on the bugs as pepper spray. You can manufacture the garlic spray by crushing garlic cloves and putting them in hot water. Put just a little hot water so that the end product is concentrated enough to destroy the pests. Remove the garlic residue, put the pesticide in a sprayer, and spray away on the infected parts of the plant.
- Biological control: Sometimes, your plant can be vulnerable to attacks by snails and slugs. One of the easiest ways of getting rid of them is by introducing domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc. They feed on slugs, quickly getting rid of them. This protection method works best when the succulents are outdoors.
You can control the pests in your succulents by introducing predatory insects. It would help if you were careful when doing this because the survival of the predators will depend on there being a constant supply of pests. To keep them alive, you would need to introduce just a few to control the flow of pests but not finish them, yet the goal should be to remove the pests altogether.
Please note that you should spray a small part of the plant before spraying the whole plant when using pepper and garlic sprays. Succulents are delicate, and they may react negatively to the bouquet. What you find after spraying one leaf will either give you the green light or keep you from using it on the rest of the plant.
Chemical Pesticides
Chemical pesticides should be the last option due to their effect on the environment. They are harmful to people and the environment. It would help if you permanently moved the succulent outdoors before spraying it with the pesticide for safety.
Please read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully before diluting the pesticide and ensure you follow them to the letter. Some of the pesticides include acephate, dinotefuran, dimethoate, and pyrethroids.
These contact chemicals’ remedy is usually short-lived, unlike systemic pesticides. The duration of the results means that you need to keep spraying from time to time. Please read the manufacturer’s instructions so that you don’t spray it more often than recommended. Also, ensure you spray all the plants surrounding the succulent whose infestation is unmistakable. The bugs might have moved on to neighboring plants, and leaving them there means it is just a matter of time before they re-infest the plant.
Other Cures
There are some common home remedies to get rid of pests in your succulents. The following are some of them.
- Soap and water: You can get rid of bugs in your succulents by mixing liquid dish-washing soap with water and spraying the plant with the mixture. Some soaps are explicitly made for pest control, and they also work well in this situation. Only ensure you are not using a detergent because detergents are harmful to the plant.
- Alcohol rub: if you find that the infestation is localized, you can dip a cotton swab in alcohol and use it to rub the infected part of the plant. This method works best when the infestation of scales, mealybugs, or aphids is still localized, and you can therefore get rid of it quickly. You can use ethanol or a familiar spirit or any other form of alcohol with at least 70% concentration. Pests like snails can come in droves if you are trying to get rid of bugs in a plant susceptible to slug and snail infestation using beer.
- Water spray: You can get rid of the bugs by spraying infested areas with high-pressure water. The water hits the bugs and dislodges them from the succulent. It would help if you were careful with this method because a wet plant is more susceptible to bugs than a dry one.
Snails and Slugs
Some succulents, especially those with broad leaves such as Euphorbia lambii, are a favorite of snails and slugs. Slugs enjoy eating succulents, but the small leaves usually prove problematic outdoors since they can’t protect them from exposure. You can get a severe slug infestation when the leaves are big enough. To many people, these pests, slimy, disgusting appearance is a good enough reason to get rid of them. However, besides their appearance, snails can destroy flowers and spread parasitic warms such as schistosomiasis, which are harmful to you and your pets.
You can get rid of the slugs by using beer as bait. The yeast in beer is irresistible to slugs, and if you place some anywhere in your garden, the slugs will drown in it. You will need to trap them continually. This way until you get rid of all of them. The other option is to introduce predators. Virtually all domestic birds are predators of slugs. If you bring in chicken, geese, ducks, or turkey, they will get rid of the slugs.
Practices
Some practices enable you to stay on top of your succulent’s health as far as pest control is concerned. Follow them, and you will keep the plants free from pests.
- Examine the Succulent Regularly
It would help if you always looked for bugs in your succulents. Aphids cause tiny dark specks on the plant, so you should know you have an infestation if you see such marks. The aphids mostly grow on the underside of the plant’s leaves.
To check for mealybugs, see if the succulent leaves and stem have tiny lumps that appear like cotton balls. Scales are white, and they appear as the name suggests so that you will notice them on observation.
- Isolate the Affected Succulents
If you grow the plants indoors and not in a permanent garden, the step is possible. Take the infested plant and quarantine it to prevent the bugs from spreading to the rest of the plants.
- Treat the Infestation
Treat the infested succulent with any methods we discussed earlier that appear most appropriate for the situation.
Final Thought
The best answer to whether we need to protect our succulents from pests is yes. Succulents are susceptible to pest attacks, and prevention is the best way to keep them healthy. Using systemic pesticides and employing physical barriers for protection are ways to protect them. Using organic control methods is preferable to using chemicals.