Pest control methods for home gardening

  For most households with small indoor spaces, such as balconies, it's not advisable to use highly toxic pesticides to control pests. Using laundry detergent, tobacco liquid, leek liquid, or chili liquid instead is not only cumbersome (requiring the materials to be crushed, soaked, and filtered), but also slow-acting, requiring two or three sprays a day. Furthermore, the alkaline nature of the laundry detergent can damage acid-loving plants like azaleas, orchids, milan, and pearl orchids. How can you safely and quickly kill pests? Try the following methods:  

    1. Use mosquito coils. Light a mosquito coil and hang it on the plant with insects, then cover the plant and pot with plastic film. After 1 hour, all aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies will be eliminated. This method is especially suitable for kumquats, which are susceptible to spider mite infestations.  

    2. Spray the plants with a 400-500 times dilution of eucalyptus oil and water . Eucalyptus oil has a strong penetrating effect, so it is effective against various pests, especially against pests that are generally unresponsive to insecticides, such as the green scale insect.  

    3. Flowers with tuberous roots (such as peonies and dahlias), bulbous plants (such as lilies and lycoris), and plants with fleshy roots are often susceptible to nematode infestations that are difficult to detect. Simply crush mothballs (camphor balls) and place them in the potting soil, and the underground pests will be unable to survive.

 Pest and disease control: Pay attention to indoor ventilation. In winter, poor indoor ventilation often leads to powdery mildew, sooty mold, aphids, and spider mites in some flowers. For diseases, spray with 0.1 % carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl solution; for pests, spray with 0.2 % dimethoate or other insecticides. When spraying pesticides, it's best to move the flowerpots outdoors, or bury insecticide tablets in the soil. In addition, ensure good indoor ventilation. Throughout the winter, open windows for ventilation at midday on sunny days to reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases and promote healthy plant growth.