Content
- Pests rarely occur on the Areca palm
- Which pests occur?
- Combat spider mites
- What can you do against thrips?
- Tips
Pests mainly attack weakened areca palms
Pests rarely occur on the Areca palm
Like all palms, the Areca palm is very robust and is rarely attacked by pests. In any case, pests only appear if the care of the palm is not right. How to identify pests and what to do about them.
Previous article What to do if the Areca palm gets brown leaves?Which pests occur?
Two pests can cause the Areca palm: spider mites and thrips. A healthy palm can cope with these pests quite well.
Only if the plant is already weakened, the pest infestation can cause the palm loses its fronds or completely received. Thrips show growth disorders.
When pests occur, you must immediately quarantine the palm tree. If it is close to other plants, there is a risk that unwanted visitors will spread everywhere.
Combat spider mites
The appearance of spider mites can be recognized by the fine nets that can be seen on the fronds. Mainly they are located on the leaf axils and the leaf margins. They are particularly clear when you spray the Areca palm with water.
Shower the palm well with the shower, from above and from below. Then you should carefully wipe the leaves with towels. You can achieve good results by combating the cloths with alcohol beforehand.
What can you do against thrips?
You can recognize thrips by the traces of suction left by the one to three millimeter pests on the leaves. Sometimes there are also small elevations that are brown or almost black.
Shower the areca palm. You should repeat this process several times. Cover the earth so that the pests can not crawl there. In case of heavy infestation the installation of blue plates helps. These panels attract the thrips so they do not settle on the palm.
Thrips like to dry. Spray the Areca palm regularly with rainwater to prevent the occurrence of these pests from the outset.
Tips
Spider mites on the non-toxic Areca palm can be controlled naturally by using lacewings or predatory mites. These biological fighters you get in the garden shop or on the Internet.