Plants in boxes fall victim to various pests. How can you simply relieve them?
Having a box outside the window is a beauty. It will decorate your exterior and at the same time create the illusion of a small garden that will “caress your soul” every time it is ventilated. Few people know that irrigated boxes become the target of “little flies” – ladybugs. They are known to lay their larvae in wet soil, where they eat the roots, creating an ideal environment for various fungi. It is not surprising that the attacked plants then turn yellow, weaken and are close to destruction.
Winged pests
Getting rid of sadness is not easy. In general, it is recommended to limit watering, which in the case of summer heat is not exactly twice as appropriate. Dried plants are then weaker and less resistant to pests, which causes their gradual withering. The solution is not to transplant plants, which may contain the eggs of ladybugs and transfer them to the new substrate. Thus, the carousel of suffering will spin again…
Natural disposal
If you want to “drive out” the sad ones from the box, buy diatomaceous earth at the hobby market. It is a purely natural powder with sharp micro-particles that mechanically disrupt the larvae’s shell and prevent them from receiving water and nutrients. Thanks to this, this “young generation of sad people” will slowly but surely start to die…
Application in the evening
“Apply diatomaceous earth in the evening, when the surface is drier,” advises German expert Prof. Dr. Ralf-Udo Ehlers and adds that this time is also advantageous due to the greater activity of “adult” mourners. The procedure is simple: Apply a two-millimeter layer of soil to the surface and spread it carefully to cover all joints and corners. After that, do not water the plant from above for at least three days and irrigate the plants with a maximally adequate watering from below.
Combination with parasitic nematodes
If you want the effect of diatomaceous earth to be even more vigorous, combine it with parasitic nematodes. How to do it: Mix the nematodes in 3-5 liters of water and then let it stand for three minutes. Apply the solution to moist soil about four days after you have sprinkled the soil with diatomaceous earth. The nematodes will kill the surviving larvae,” he says, adding that you can use this “killer” combo repeatedly in the case of ladybugs.
