#beneficialinsects #plantcare #planttips

I’m not staying stop what you’re doing BUT I highly recommend you give beneficial insects a go. Ever since I started using them last summer for my plant collection I cannot say enough good things. They have helped me cut down on plant care & I stopped wasting so much time and extra money on products I don’t need. I have a pretty large collection of plants and I get an occasional spider mite outbreak (philos) if I went too long in between rounds of mites.

⚠️ if you’re currently using pesticides, you must wait a few weeks before using beneficial insects or they can harm them.

Fungus gnats & other pests:
Nematodes (I like SF) will hunt down the larvae in the soil. They are microscopic worms 🪱 that you can’t see. They eat fungus gnat larvae and also thrips larvae. I haven’t had thrips since last summer (when I first looked into beneficials). I don’t get many pests and if I do it’s usually spider mites which is where the mites come into play. I’m making a video on nematodes soon! For spider mites I hose the plant off with water. That’s it. Sometimes I use Castile soap. I use beneficial mites on my plants that are active for about 3-6 weeks and they attack different pests. Some varieties do better with certain pests. You won’t ever see me dumping hydrogen peroxide in my soil, using fancy leaf cleaners or neem oil and all of the extreme measures. I no longer use azamax for mites which I used for SO long.

You can use lacewings for thrips, mealies etc and also ladybugs but be careful if you have cats ladybugs are toxic if they eat them ⚠️ I have not tried these yet but will be trying lacewings if I get an outbreak.

Moisture meters or bamboo skewers can help. I used them when I first got into plants but I find them to be inaccurate most of the time and I wouldn’t solely rely on them. Once you get to know your plants, substrate and environment it gets easier to know when your plants are thirsty. The pot usually feels light, the soil looks and feels dry and plant leaves can curl in. It’s why I also recommend making your own soil mix 👌🏼

Let me know your thoughts below 👇