Houseplants, like garden or garden plants, are attacked by pests. For them it is very dangerous. Parasites suck out plant juices, damage the root system, which leads to the death of the flower. The problem is not always immediately noticeable. Therefore, it is worthwhile to conduct regular inspections of your greens, so that at the first sign of infection, start fighting worms. Let’s figure out how to do it right.
How to get rid of small worms in flowers
Varieties of parasites
Fighting techniques
Prevention measures
Who can settle in a flower pot
There are a lot of pests in indoor flowers. Some of them settle in an earth coma. When the hostess notices small whitish worms in the pan or near the stem, the plant must be saved immediately. But first you need to determine what kind of parasite you have to fight. These can be larvae of any insects or adults. Let’s list the possible options.
Nematodes
Primary roundworms. In total, there are almost a million of their species, but only plant nematodes settle in flower pots. These are very small whitish worms. They feed on plant debris or living greens.
Varieties of plant nematodes
- Free. They can live on different parts of the plant organism, moving from one place to another. The whole bush is affected.
- Free cyst formation. They settle in the roots, while destroying their shell. They form root cysts or reservoirs with fertilized eggs.
- Gallic. They live on root shoots. They deposit secretions on them, which provoke the formation of galls or thickenings. Individuals live inside them. Ripe eggs break the shell of the thickening, it bursts, the larvae spread in the soil.
One of the signs of infection with nematodes is the appearance of rounded swellings on the root processes. In addition, small areas of yellow appear on the leaves. Subsequently, they darken, become brown or black. The leaves are deformed and reduced in size, the stems are bent.
Enchitreya
Small, up to 10 mm long, translucent worms. They settle on the roots, do not rise to the surface. Therefore, it is difficult to notice the presence of enchitrea, if only by chance during the transplantation process. In nature, they feed on decaying organic matter. But in a limited space, which is a flower pot, root shoots are eaten. If the number of the colony is large, the infected bush quickly dies.
It is possible to suspect the presence of enchitrea by indirect signs. The leaves begin to turn yellow, wither and fall off. The flower slows down growth, noticeably lags behind in development from healthy neighbors.
Noticing this, you need to carefully remove it from the ground, as when transplanting. In infected specimens, the roots are covered with enchytres. Mechanical removal of them is useless, it is necessary to look for an effective means of how to get rid of white worms in the ground.
springtails
They are also called podura or springtails. Very small arthropods. The largest specimens reach 5 mm. Their feature is a jumping fork located at the bottom of the body. With its help, they are able to move quickly. Podura feed on decaying organic matter, if it is not there, they switch to young shoots and roots.
The degree of damage caused depends on the size of the colony. If it is small, indoor flowers are not in danger. But as soon as the number of pests increases, the greens die.
Spotting the springtail is difficult. Most often, tiny white worms are found in the flower tray after watering, where they are washed with water.
Otherwise, there are no specific signs of damage. The bush turns yellow, its growth slows down.
sciarids
They are mushroom mosquitoes or flower midges. Adult specimens do not pose any danger to the greens. But the larvae living in the soil mixture destroy the root system. The plant slows down in growth, turns yellow and dies.
Infection can be suspected by the appearance of adult sciarids. These are small winged insects that circle around flower pots.
Their larvae are miniature white worms with a black head. The length of an individual is from 3 to 5 mm. Adult sciarids, getting into favorable conditions, and this is warm and waterlogged soil, multiply rapidly. Therefore, when the first midges appear, you must immediately begin to fight them. At best, they have not yet had time to lay eggs, then it will not be difficult to deal with them.
How to get rid of worms
Regardless of which of the pests settled in home flowers, they all live in the soil. Simply removing them from the ground is hardly possible. Transplanting into a new soil mixture will help only if the infection has occurred recently and the colony has not had time to grow. It is done like this. The roots extracted from the soil are carefully examined. All infected or damaged areas are removed, sections are disinfected.
All adult specimens of parasites are removed or washed off the root processes. Larvae and eggs cannot be removed in this way. Therefore, immediately after transplantation, the soil mixture is treated with an insecticide solution. It must be understood that this technique will be effective only if the number of insects is small. In other cases, chemicals or folk remedies will help. It is better to start with non-toxic methods. If they do not help, they move on to stronger means. We offer effective ways to get rid of worms in flower pots.
Insecticides
Various types of insecticidal preparations are used for the fight. We offer a list of the most effective.
Insecticides
- «Intavir». Nerve poison. Causes the death of parasites within 24 hours. The eggs are not damaged.
- «Carbation». Sterilizes soil, protects flowers during budding and flowering. Used once. Fumigator type drug.
- «Confidor». It penetrates into plant tissues and remains in them for a long time. Worms are insensitive to it, destroying only insects.
- Fitoverm. Paralyzes the nervous system of worms and insects. Double application is recommended.
- «Agravertin». Effective against all types of parasites, non-toxic to humans. In hot weather, its effect is enhanced.
Before getting rid of worms with insecticides, you must carefully read the manufacturer’s instructions. The drugs are toxic, so you must strictly follow the dosage and safety rules. Otherwise, you can get poisoned.
Folk remedies
These preparations are not toxic and are not dangerous for people and pets. But their effectiveness is lower than that of insecticides. Perhaps they will not help in the fight against a large colony, but at the initial stage or as a prophylactic agent, they are quite effective. We offer a list of methods on how to get rid of white worms in flowers.
Non-toxic techniques
- Prepare an aqueous solution of soap. It is best to take household, made according to GOST, with a high fat content. Soap shavings are diluted with water, the infected bush is sprayed with the resulting solution. The treatment is repeated several times.
- Dissolve 5 g of tobacco leaves ground into dust in a liter of pure water. Let the drug brew for 24 hours. Copiously spray the infected bush and the ground in a pot. Thus, process the bush every 6-7 days for a month and a half.
- Dissolve potassium permanganate crystals in water so that a pale pink liquid is obtained. Water the flower bush with it. Repeat the treatment several times.
- Put garlic cloves or citrus peels on the ground inside the pot. You can treat the soil with a strong-smelling oil, such as anise or rosemary.
Some flower growers are sure that sulfur from matches will help get rid of parasites. It is scraped off and sprinkled with powder on the soil, or matches are simply stuck near the stem with their heads down.
Prevention measures
In all recommendations on how to get rid of worms in a pot, the need for preventive measures is emphasized. It is much easier to prevent a problem than to remove parasites later. We have put together a list of simple but effective activities.
Preventive actions
- It is impossible to overmoisten the soil mixture, thereby creating favorable conditions for the development of worms. Watering should be regular, but not excessive.
- Do not use organic supplements such as meat juice, milk or tea leaves. It is better to use preparations based on humus or mineral fertilizers.
- Flower bushes bought or brought from somewhere can be infected. For one and a half to two weeks they must be placed in «quarantine». That is, put at a distance from other greens. Bouquets of cut flowers, especially purchased ones, are placed at a distance from house plants.
- The soil for transplantation must be processed: calcined, spilled with boiling water or insecticide.
- Regular inspection of all home greenery.
The appearance of miniature whitish worms indicates that pests have settled in indoor flowers. We urgently need to start fighting them. Otherwise, the eye-pleasing indoor flower garden may die.
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