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Step 1
Detect the symptoms of an unhealthy or potentially dying houseplant. This can be the presence of tiny white or brown shells on leaves and stems, waxy white insects on leaves, stick honeydew, barely visible dots, fine webbing or wilting leaves.
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Step 2
Spray the plant with water at close range. You can use a regular, plastic spray bottle, so long as the pressure is strong enough to give them leaves a good cleaning with being too abrasive.
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Step 3
Spray again with a water solution, but this time add two tablespoons of dishwashing soap to approximately one gallon of water.
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Step 4
Dab the leaves with rubbing alcohol when there is the presence of insects and spray clean again with water.
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Step 5
Thoroughly clean an exposed root system with water, and then water the plant with the called-for amount.
Comments
skyla747 said
on 7/12/2007 my palm plant leaves are turning brown and underneath the pot coming out of the drain hole are yellow bubbly things and a mushroom. all of my small palm plants are growing yellow-green coating on the top of the soil. Help?
Anonymous said
on 2/1/2006 You see a group of small black or brown flying insects around the plant. This indicates an infestation of fungus gnats in your soil. If the flying insects are white, then you have white fly.
To treat: Mix a tablespoon of bleach with a gallon of water. Use this mixture to water you plant for the next six weeks. The bleach will sterilize the soil and kill the gnats and the eggs that they lay, and will not harm the plant.