Which pest sprays ACTUALLY work? | Houseplant Pest Control

[@MarisaAndChew]

Lol you know you love the pets when they manage to spread spider mites and they still have a home 🤣

[@hammyandguineakids]

You always have thorough explanation for any plant related thing. Whenever I need to learn anything or I face houseplant issues, i search for your channel

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Awe, thank you so much!💚💚💚

[@joshuahereth5094]

Put a skirt on top of the soil . Plastic bad or something..not a 💧 drop ..lol 😂 it works....

[@cindywannamaker5299]

Me too! I'm learning so much from Drea!!!

[@fm00092]

Regarding End All: The pyrethrins break down quickly once released into the environment, especially in sunlight. This leads to a rapid degradation of the pyrethrins before they can actively work on the pest you're trying to eliminate. PBO has environmental concerns about its persistence and potential impact on non-targeted organisms. Applying too much can exceed the surface tension limit of the leaves leading to more runoff of the solution. Essentially the runoff causes the total application be less than just spraying it as directed. A too low of concentrations of pyrethrins may cause not enough solution to be applied to work 100%. Pyrethrins can be toxic to fish and invertebrates if they are introduced into an aquatic environment. It can also end up affecting beneficial insects who themselves are beneficial to pest control. PBO can also end up targeting non-targeted species. It can impact ecological balance. Sensitive plants can end up with phytotoxic effects such as leaf burn or yellowing in excess concentrations. It can also affect the pH. Sub-lethal doses of pyrethrins can allow some pests to survive and reproduce and can lead to resistance.

[@scottgalbreath5707]

I switch on and off between insecticidal soap and dawn dish soap. I know, I know, people may cringe about using dish soap but it is quite effective. Not something I'd recommend doing on a regular basis but again it's cheap and it works. A spray bottle, warm water and the soap added and diluted.

[@lj0002468]

Hi Drea and viewers, I was interested about why "EndALL" can't be sprayed to drip (especially because in Amazon it says "a spray that dissolves harmlessly/rapidly into the soil"). When I called the "Safer" company a call center representative said that the spray is more effective when on the foliage rather than in the soil. So, according to the company, it's more efficient to spray only enough to stay on the plant but it should not damage the roots if you spray too much. Thanks for the helpful content Drea!

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Thanks for making the call and sharing this info💚

[@lindaschad9734]

That's what I figured, that it kills pests on the leaves so if it drips off, it can't do its job. Thanks for checking!

[@bread-studio]

I dilute neem oil with Castle soap and water. I find it very useful for pest control.

[@MarisaAndChew]

I haven't found either but the garden stuff is finally out in the stores so I'm going to pick up whichever I can find! With the calathea and alocasia wanting higher moisture it's not as easy to just let the plants dry out fully and kill that way, which was part of my method before!

[@MarisaAndChew]

My grandma used to have a greenhouse, she's been passed since 2003... But her treatment for plants including bringing them in for the winter was to put them in a trash bag, spray with home and Garden raid, close the bag over night and then open up... Not sure I would feel comfortable doing that on my alocasia or calathea but I think Gramma basically fogging the bugs out was simplest...

[@AlohaPlantLife]

😮 OMG, I would be terrified to try that, lol.

[@MarisaAndChew]

@@AlohaPlantLife it's funny how much things have changed! I imagine that plants back then were far more hardy as we didn't have the tissue culture and such in the market... I have one plant that in ready to kill as it was patient 0... So it may get the bag just to see as it's doing badly regardless. It's a Ming Aralia and has been banished 🤣

[@livingthedream923]

This was so well researched and explained. Thank you very much.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

You're very welcome!💚

[@RedWolfRedWolfRedWolf]

FYI on Spinosad. Spinosad affects the nervous system of insects that eat or touch it. It causes their muscles to flex uncontrollably. This leads to paralysis and ultimately their death, typically within 1-2 days

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I went back and checked my notes and all of the scientific papers I read on it stated that it has to be ingested. However, I did a little more digging into other scientific papers this morning and I did find some that said that while it is most effective when ingested, on SOME insects it can have a lesser effect through contact. However, most of the insects cited where ones that you don’t really see inside the home, but are more likely to see in an outside garden such as grasshoppers. One did cite thrips though so guess it’s a good thing thrips is the first thing I tried this product on.

[@SMARTWHITEKCAT]

Redwolf, What is the product consisting Spinosad? Thank you for the answer in advance!

[@RedWolfRedWolfRedWolf]

@@SMARTWHITEKCAT captain jacks deadbug. 👍

[@SMARTWHITEKCAT]

@@RedWolfRedWolfRedWolf thank you!

[@Max-so1jp]

Tobi is like "look at me .. I'm adorable. Don't study her. I didn't spread anything but love" 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for letting us know how the insecticides work. Appreciated.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

😂

[@eviefriend3976]

Toby is like mama don’t blame me I too beautiful!😻

[@JupiterN624]

All good to know!!! Also… I have three 🐈🐈‍⬛🐈 And they all love to rub against the plants… good to know!!

[@msscamp100]

I suspect the reason it says to not spray to run off is because this product can be used both indoors and outdoors, and will stick to dirt without degrading for a very long time - somewhere around 86 days according to what I just read. If used to the point of run off outside, the potential exists for wind, rain, watering to wash it into bodies of water where it will likely poison fish. Fish are very sensitive to pyrethrins.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Makes sense!

[@raygv1]

Put a little dish soap or a couple drops of insecticidal soap in your captain jacks as a wetting agent or surfactant. I think the reason you’re having issues with the insecticidal soap is cuz you’re not supposed to leave it on. It’s like a plant wash. Insecticidal soap is just Castile soap with a couple bug killing things in it I believe.

[@katlynbarry1644]

This really helped me! Thank you so much

[@storyspinner3080]

Love the sweet cat.

[@msscamp100]

I am doing my best to not use any kind of commercial pesticide/herbicide or anything else. I prefer the organic method. Push comes to shove, I will mix up a batch of nicotine spray and use that. Having said that, I don't like Safer products, and I will not buy them. I've done research on several of them, and there is just something about that company that is off putting to me. Thank you for this video.

[@haleraiser2299]

LOVE your thorough explanations thank you for this! Question, when using the last two in combination with each other how many weeks apart do you use and how long?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I sprayed one week with one and then a week later with the other💚

[@haleraiser2299]

@@AlohaPlantLife so only once for each treatment that's all?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

@@haleraiser2299 once per week every week alternating which spray you use for as many weeks as it takes for the bugs to all be gone💚

[@haleraiser2299]

@@AlohaPlantLife great thanks again!

[@sabrinav]

It would be helpful if you could explain which bug you tried which product on. For me, End all only worked on scale a little bit as spinosad worked on thrips, sawfly, etc. and sulfur worked on spider mites.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I haven’t tried them all on all pests so that’s why I only mentioned the ones that I did💚

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Also, what sulfur product have you found works best for you?

[@jimc6694]

I am trying Capt Jacks now...even though it does say for OUTDOOR use

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Wait…. It says for outdoor use only now??? It definitely did not previously say that.

[@mkolodziej112079]

Right on!!!!! TY exactly the info i needed 😋

[@AlohaPlantLife]

You’re welcome!

[@user-qi3ti6om4l]

Great video!

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Thanks!💚

[@Littlewulff]

Have you tried diatomaceous earth? Alone or in combination with other stuff? What did you think?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I have not tried it

[@jamesrob8552]

Systemics are the best!

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Which are your preferred ones?

[@sunnymoondog]

Would the Endall run-off hurt animals if they lick a surface it dripped on? Safety reason?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

That definitely makes sense considering it’s not pet safe when wet.

[@joangriffin2837]

I HAve white fly infestation on my confederate rose bush out side which is quite large with this work for outside I water spayed it with heavy spray and trim off the black leaves can I now spray with the cold pressed and the DR wood castile soap mixtureof neem oil

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Yes you can use it outside too but I would recommend doing it in the evening especially if the plant gets any direct sun because oil and direct sun can cause issues for the plant.

[@vickiandKi]

What ingredients in the Safer End all were you concerned with being unsafe? The main ingredients seem benign enough. Pyrethrin is a common insecticide used for cats and dogs. I do not believe they are safe for our pets, I prefer DE. Pyrethrins are technically generally safe for dogs, but not cats or fish.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I couldn’t tell you, because Safer didn’t tell me in any of the information on their website. As I stated in the video, just reading all of their warnings and everything they have on their website it suggests that there are things in it that are harmful to people and they flat out state that it is harmful to pets. Thankfully Toby doesn’t ever mess with my plants.

[@vickiandKi]

@@AlohaPlantLife I am sorry, somehow I must have blanked out a bit when you went over that part 😬 ADD can do that to a person! 🤪

[@_Brohan]

i see those little paws on the left

[@bassman7256]

Does this work on pickle worms?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

I've never had that pest so not certain

[@annmarieschrage-glaviano5281]

What about dish soap diluted...

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Most dish soaps have other ingredients that can be harmful so it kind of just depends on the particular dish soap

[@annafink2245]

Neem oil destroyed my anthurium collection. Burned the crap out of the emergents.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

😢❤️‍🩹

[@BanjoCatfish]

Hi, thank you, just a friendly FYI that video pop-up link at the end to the home remedy instructional video actual goes to a different video I think, I had to go into your channel videos list and look for the remedy video. I did find it but this might throw off some people that watch this later so if KZbin lets you edit that link it would help others that watch this. I do intend to try your home remedy treatment. Any recommendation on how to treat the soil for mealy bugs with cacti?

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Thanks for letting me know. I checked and something is glitching with it. I reset it so hopefully it works now but I also notified KZbin about the glitch cause that was weird. I also feel like now I need to go check all my other videos and make sure they’re not also glitching…. Just so I’m clear on your question and how to answer it, are you dealing with root mealy bugs or leaf mealy bugs? They’re two different species. I’m guessing it’s regular mealy bugs and not root ones but wanted to double check first.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Also what kind of cacti are the little buggers attacking?

[@BanjoCatfish]

​@@AlohaPlantLife The short answer: I have the above ground ones but I want to treat for both just to be sure. Long answer: I know for sure I at least have the above ground mealy bugs cause I can see them on the cacti but I can't rule out the below ground ones since I haven't dug any of them up. I have a suspicion that I might have below ground ones also though because I have at least 2 cacti that have shrunk since I brought them in for the winter and they either have no real signs of mealy bugs above ground or they have only a few of them and I wouldn't think that that few above grounds ones would cause that much shrinking - also it's worth noting that I cut WAY back on watering when I brought them in for the winter cause I thought they would go into winter dormancy and needed less watering and so I first thought that the shrinking was from under watering. Now I think they might have below ground mealy bugs because I have my doubts that they are dormant because 1) it's not that cold where they are 2) some have been flowering and 3) some have been growing. As for what type of cacti they are on... well, I'm afraid it's possible they could be on all of them because they've appeared on several different plants across the space where I'm keeping them and all of my plants are huddled together in one place this winter inside, so the little guys look like they've been traveling. Here's a partial list including both confirmed sightings and suspected due to the plant shrinking: a melocactus, a couple of mammillarias including an old lady cactus and possibly a mammillaria spinosissima var. "rubrispina"), echinobivia hybrid "rainbow burst" (this one shrank a lot), and one very sick cereus peruvianus monstrose (I think they might have come in on this one). I want to treat all of them even the ones that seem fine and I am particularly concerned about whatever treatment I use hurting the following (some of my favorites): a jade plant, an opuntia quimilo, a notocactus uebelmannianus, and what I think might be an echinopsis subdenudata. Also I have some non-cacti such as a moon valley plant along with 2 rex begonias and a hibiscus (I can't remember for sure but my best guess is that it's a hibiscus, and it has mealy bugs on it). Thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it and if I can provide anymore detail please let me know.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

@@BanjoCatfish For the above surface ones, first thing I would do even before spraying them is take a q-tip, dip it into straight rubbing alcohol, and touch it to any bugs you can see above the surface which will kill them immediately. For soil ones, next time you need to water them you can try watering them with a mixture of two parts water and one part hydrogen peroxide which should kill off anything in the soil.

[@BanjoCatfish]

@@AlohaPlantLife thank you. I went to walmart and looked for eye droppers to fill with 70% alcohol but didn't find any, but I think I found something better - in the ear cleaning section they sell these syringes with a little screw on attachment that splits the stream into 3 tiny water jets, you're supposed to fill it with lukewarm water and use it to clean your ear out - BUT it works for my purposes too cause I can fill it with alcohol and either plunge it slowly so it drizzles out on top of where I want it or if there is a difficult to get to area I can angle it right and press the plunger harder so it comes out in a stream and I can hit that spot with one of the three streams. This might be helpful for you too. Thanks for your help.

[@Robbie..Ha-Navi]

you are very pleasant to watch

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Awe thank you💚

[@ZE308AC]

The best pesticides are using native plants to attract native insects to kills the bad bugs.

[@AlohaPlantLife]

While they would work great outdoors it’s not very effective indoors

[@peoepepepepepeoepepeprpepe6031]

😂🤣 good video but your face scare me a lot 😂🤣

[@AlohaPlantLife]

Your words scare me a lot

[@ot7stan207]

you have problems