Warning : these are practical tips that I have collected on several gardening sites, which I have not yet tested. I myself am not a botanist.
Generally, black soap is recommended. Insecticides are not necessarily more effective and they can damage or stress your plants. Above all, they are not recommended at all indoors ... And synthetic chemical pesticides are even banned in individuals since 2019. Try as much as possible to treat naturally. The best is really to always have black soap nearby, and you can even spray it from time to time as a prevention on plants more sensitive to pests (like Calathea, Philodendron or Monstera, but this already depends on their environment. )
Liquid black soap should be 5 tablespoons diluted in 1L of water.
Other natural alternatives: rapeseed oil or nettle manure oil, every day, twice a day.
-If a light white down appears, with a cottony appearance, that the leaves fade and become discolored / or that viscous white spots appear: It is surely an attack of mealybugs ! Remove as many individuals as possible by hand and then use a cotton ball soaked in alcohol or, at best, black soap. Repeat every 2-3 days until the insects have completely disappeared.
-If no new growth appears, and the plant looks weak and turns yellow, it may be a spider mite attack due to too dry an atmosphere. Check under the leaves and in the potting soil; they are difficult to spot because they are really very small, but to see them you can shake a leave over a white sheet; you will see little red dots falling... You can simply drench (soak the pot for 15 minutes in water and spray the leaves; you can remove the bulk of the spiders with a cotton ball soaked in water, and empty part of the potting soil) or treat with black soap. It will be necessary to renew every 2-3 days until the total disappearance of the insects. Then mist more regularly to prevent it from happening again: spider mite attacks occur if there is a lack of humidity. They multiply faster when they start to get a little warmer.
-Phytophthora is a disease caused by several fungi, which intervene when the substrate is too wet. It is characterized by sudden wilting of the plant. Use black soap again! Otherwise you can use sage infusion, or essential oils of rosemary or clove, to apply to the leaves with a sponge for example, or by spraying.
-Edema : this disease causes blisters to form on the surface of the leaves. In this case, reduce watering and humidity.
-Trips, small black insects that attack when the air is dry and too hot. We then see the formation of silver / orange / brown spots on the outer part of the leaves. Isolate the plant, remove as many individuals as possible by hand, soap the stems and leaves above and below with black soap. Repeat every 2 days until the insects have completely disappeared. You can also repot or do a surfacing to get rid of the larvae in the potting soil. Afterwards, keep the surface of the substrate and the leaves moist, to prevent thrips from returning. If black soap alone doesn't work, you can make a mixture of black soap and neem oil. Or with nettle manure and tea tree essential oil. Trips in video :
-Aphids: these are small green winged insects. The youngest are often black. You have to remove as much as possible by hand, then clean the leaves with black soap.
-Midges : midges will be attracted to moist soil. They will lay their eggs in the substrate. As a prevention you can mulch the surface, put clay balls or sand. Once the midges are there, you can change the 5cm surface of the potting soil or let it dry. Once dry the midges will no longer go towards it (because it will no longer be optimal for laying) and the larvae will die. Then, you can dilute 30g of black soap in 1L of water and spray the plant and the soil to kill / ward off any remaining midges.
Also I need to do research about :
- powdery mildew
- different fungal diseases
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