No Need to Worry About Flower and Plant Pests, Simple Tips Help You Solve Them
Chrysanthemum
Many people like to grow some flowers and plants indoors, which both greens the environment and cultivates a sense of refinement. But flowers and plants are not only somewhat delicate to grow, they are also very easily "favored" by small insects, which makes people annoyed and quite helpless. Next, let me introduce several common pests of flowers and plants and their control methods.
Chrysanthemums easily attract aphids
Aphids are mostly green and black, good at flying, with tubular cornicles, shaped like fleas. They rather like flowers such as chrysanthemums, redbud, roses, and Chinese roses. They often gather in clusters on the tender shoots, flowers, and undersides of leaves of flowers, sucking sap and causing leaves to shrivel, affecting flowering. Generally, the pest damage begins to become more obvious in mid-April.
Countermeasures: When scattered aphids appear, brush them off with a writing brush dipped in water, and promptly dispose of the brushed-off aphids to prevent spreading. You can also soak 40 grams of tobacco powder in 1 kg of water for 48 hours, then filter to obtain the stock solution; when using, dilute with 1 kg of water, add 2-3 grams of washing powder or a little soap liquid, stir well, and spray the plants. If using physical methods, you can use cardboard or plastic boards coated with yellow color and glue to trap and kill aphids; or use reflective silvery-white tin foil to drive the aphids away.
Jasmine: Beware of red spider mites
Red spider mites are obovate, with flat backs and bellies, and come in red, dark red, orange-red, and other colors. Orchids, jasmine, kumquats, and others are more likely to attract red spider mites. They often hide on the undersides of leaves and on flower buds of flowers, causing leaves to lose green color and wither, flower buds to shrink, and in severe cases the plant will wither and die. Generally, the pest damage is more serious in June and July.
Countermeasures: Soak orange peel in 10 times its amount of water for a day and a night, filter, and spray the plants once a day for 3 consecutive days. In addition, you can light one mosquito coil and place it in the flower pot, then tie a plastic bag tightly around the pot; after 1 hour of fumigation, both eggs and adults can be killed. This is a good method that is both economical and quick-acting.
Chinese roses: Keep away from yellow stinging moths
The larvae of the yellow stinging moth have a yellow-brown head and a yellow-green thorax, with a pair of spines on each side of the dorsal line of each segment. They are mostly seen on camellias, redbud, Chinese roses, and Malus spectabilis, and often eat all the leaves of flowers.
Countermeasures: The yellow stinging moth rather likes light and has strong phototaxis, so you can place a lamp beside the flowers to trap and kill them.
In addition, for the brown, rather pointed small insects that often "attack" plants such as Anthurium and cyclamen, and the mosquito-like flies that are fond of poinsettias and pansies, you can spray them in the early stage with garlic juice, chili water, Sichuan pepper water, and the like.
(The author is a professor at Nanping Agricultural School, Fujian Province)
Simple tips help your flowers and plants solve pest problems
Chrysanthemum
China Landscape Web, November 4 news: Many people like to grow some flowers and plants indoors, which both greens the environment and cultivates a sense of refinement. But flowers and plants are not only somewhat delicate to grow, they are also very easily "favored" by small insects, which makes people annoyed and quite helpless. Next, let me introduce several common pests of flowers and plants and their control methods.
Chrysanthemums easily attract aphids
Aphids are mostly green and black, good at flying, with tubular cornicles, shaped like fleas. They rather like flowers such as chrysanthemums, redbud, roses, and Chinese roses. They often gather in clusters on the tender shoots, flowers, and undersides of leaves of flowers, sucking sap and causing leaves to shrivel, affecting flowering. Generally, the pest damage begins to become more obvious in mid-April.
Countermeasures: When scattered aphids appear, brush them off with a writing brush dipped in water, and promptly dispose of the brushed-off aphids to prevent spreading. You can also soak 40 grams of tobacco powder in 1 kg of water for 48 hours, then filter to obtain the stock solution; when using, dilute with 1 kg of water, add 2-3 grams of washing powder or a little soap liquid, stir well, and spray the plants. If using physical methods, you can use cardboard or plastic boards coated with yellow color and glue to trap and kill aphids; or use reflective silvery-white tin foil to drive the aphids away.
Jasmine: Beware of red spider mites
Red spider mites are obovate, with flat backs and bellies, and come in red, dark red, orange-red, and other colors. Orchids, jasmine, kumquats, and others are more likely to attract red spider mites. They often hide on the undersides of leaves and on flower buds of flowers, causing leaves to lose green color and wither, flower buds to shrink, and in severe cases the plant will wither and die. Generally, the pest damage is more serious in June and July.
Countermeasures: Soak orange peel in 10 times its amount of water for a day and a night, filter, and spray the plants once a day for 3 consecutive days. In addition, you can light one mosquito coil and place it in the flower pot, then tie a plastic bag tightly around the pot; after 1 hour of fumigation, both eggs and adults can be killed. This is a good method that is both economical and quick-acting.
Chinese roses: Keep away from yellow stinging moths
The larvae of the yellow stinging moth have a yellow-brown head and a yellow-green thorax, with a pair of spines on each side of the dorsal line of each segment. They are mostly seen on camellias, redbud, Chinese roses, and Malus spectabilis, and often eat all the leaves of flowers.
Countermeasures: The yellow stinging moth rather likes light and has strong phototaxis, so you can place a lamp beside the flowers to trap and kill them.
In addition, for the brown, rather pointed small insects that often "attack" plants such as Anthurium and cyclamen, and the mosquito-like flies that are fond of poinsettias and pansies, you can spray them in the early stage with garlic juice, chili water, Sichuan pepper water, and the like.
(The author is a professor at Nanping Agricultural School, Fujian Province)
Pruning flowers and plants is very necessary; in the hot summer, help your flowers and plants lighten their load too
Whenever the weather turns hot, we all want to cut off thick hair to feel cooler. Sometimes, the various branches and leaves on flowers and plants also make them "uncomfortable." Some plants do not look very good, especially when they are poorly grown and appear half-dead, and when they have suffered severe pest and disease damage, proper pruning is very necessary. Today, the editor will talk with everyone about how to prune some common flowers and plants.
Spider plant
Some friends have spider plants at home that grow too luxuriantly, and the leaves hang too long and need pruning. When pruning, cut off the outer dead branches and yellow leaves, and also cut off the scorched parts at the leaf tips. To make the hanging leaves of the spider plant look more natural, do not cut straight across; cut at a slant, and preferably make one slanted cut on each side. Usually, whenever you see yellow leaves, you can prune them at any time. Once a year in March, you can repot it, cutting off old roots, rotten roots, and excess fibrous roots.
Pothos
For hanging pothos without a moss pole, prune using the potting soil as the standard. Generally, cut off the branches and leaves 20 cm from the potting soil, and after new leaves of equal length grow out, cut off the old leaves at the bottom. Pruning should ensure that all branches and leaves are renewed. Potted pothos generally has a moss pole again; when the stems and vines of the pothos have climbed all over the moss pole and grown about 20 cm beyond it, it is time to prune. When pruning, note that you should cut it in half: first cut off about 40 cm of the stems and leaves of half the pothos, and after this part grows new leaves, then cut the other half.
Money tree
If the branches and leaves of a money tree turn yellow and wither, but the root system is still intact, you can also prune it to let it be reborn. Use scissors to cut off all the branches of the money tree; you may appropriately leave the nodes on the branches to promote the plant's regrowth.
Asparagus fern
Asparagus fern grows very fast. To make the whole asparagus fern grow well and look beautiful, you also need to cut off overly dense, withered and yellow branches and leaves, and delicate weak stems, so as to facilitate ventilation and light penetration, promote growth, and make it more ornamental. If raised from a young seedling, once the tender green branches have grown to a certain height, you can remove the top, making the plant short and sturdy and promoting branching. When an adult asparagus fern enters the growing season, the leaves at the tips of the branches may grow unsatisfactorily because of differences in the care environment; when the tip leaves are missing at this time, you can shorten the main branches. Pay attention to the lateral buds on the branches and do not cut them off casually.