In tropical climates or with the arrival of the warm months in humid environments, it is very common for mosquitoes to appear in our gardens and terraces, and even on indoor plants. They can be common mosquitoes or, more commonly, so-called substrate flies or ground mosquitoes.
This pest can negatively affect the health of the plant, in addition to being an annoying inconvenience that can fill the garden or home with these small insects. If you want to learn how to eliminate mosquitoes in plants , join us in this article in which we talk about various remedies to achieve it.
Why do mosquitoes come out on plants
The mosquitoes plants appear virtually always for the same reason: excess moisture . If you water your plants too often or you favor the creation of an environment that is too humid in the substrate with things such as placing a layer of stones on its surface or the use of dishes under the pots to which you do not remove the excess water immediately, It is likely that it will not take long to see gnats and mosquitoes around the plants.
It is not always a plague of the plant itself, but on many occasions insects simply inhabit this moisture-saturated substrate, which they need to complete their life cycle. The soil mosquito spends about two weeks in its larval phase, during which time it feeds on fungi, decaying matter, and the root hairs of the plant’s roots. This weakens it, logically, but it can cause something much more dangerous, and that is that the wounds left are often an entry point for fungal infections in the plants that can kill them.
After this period, it remains pupated for 4 to 6 days, and then becomes an adult, in which it takes the form of a small, clumsy fluttering mosquito, which lives for about ten days. Each female can lay up to 300 eggs in the substrate, which will hatch in about 6 days, giving rise to the start of the cycle again with the larvae. The eggs of these mosquitoes have an elongated shape, like a spearhead, and can be found grouped in moistened parts of the substrate or in crevices.
If there really is a lot of moisture more species of these insects, with small mosquitoes land, as may appear tiger mosquitoes olos giant mosquitoes . These, surely, will not affect the plant much, but several species of these insects do bite people and other animals that may be in the house.
How to remove mosquitoes on plants
Usually, the egg and larval phase of this pest go unnoticed, and we only detect them when we see the adults flitting around the plant or moving through the substrate. However, do not rush and use the insecticide: this can kill the plant and it is always better to avoid the use of highly processed or very strong chemicals. The best thing will always be to resort to home remedies to eliminate mosquitoes from plants , which are ecological, cheaper and are not harmful to our crops.
- The first of the mosquito remedies does not even require any ingredient: just stop watering the plant. If mosquitoes have appeared, it will almost certainly be due to excess humidity. If the plant is drought resistant, allow the substrate to dry out completely and once it does, let it dry for a few more days before watering it again: this will kill many of the eggs and larvae.
- If the affected plant does not withstand drought but does with moisture, you can do the opposite. Soak the pot in water for half a day to try to eliminate the larvae, then remove it and let it drain and dry well before watering again.
- If none of these remedies kill the plague, you can make your own natural or homemade insecticide.
We recommend you make an insecticide with nicotine , which does not affect the plants and also goes away in a very short time.
- Use tobacco or regular cigars, keep only the inside of the cigar and crush them fine or mash them with a mortar, adding a little water.
- Boil the crushed tobacco leaves or the crushed extract from the contents of ordinary cigarettes until the smell is very strong.
- Let the tobacco insecticide cool and place it in a sprayer.
- Apply the nicotinated liquid directly on the base and substrate of the affected plant and in less than 72 hours you should notice a drastic decrease in the plague.
How to prevent mosquitoes on plants
How to repel mosquitoes from plants? As always with plant pests and diseases, preventing them from settling on our plants is usually much more costly than solving the problem. In the case of mosquitoes, prevention is very simple and involves avoiding excess humidity .
Most plants, in fact, do not tolerate too humid substrates well, so this will usually be good news for them even if there is no threat of mosquitoes. Do not water more than necessary, remove the excess water from the dishes after watering a few minutes after it and remove the decorative stone covers on the surface of the substrate that favor the accumulation of moisture.
Also, you can use mosquito repellent for plants . These are usually made from citronella or other aromatic herbs, which keep a wide variety of pests away. Another option is that among your pots or groups of plants in the garden you include some Plants to repel mosquitoes .
