Keeping your beautiful garden free from pests is nearly impossible, but they can be prevented from attacking the plants. The insect pests can be divided into three broad categories:
1. Chewing insects
2. Sucking insects
3. Boring, mining, and soil insects
Few plants easily attract pests while others are fairly resilient. The good thing is that you can recognize different types of pests that physically damage your plants. They feed on plants and secrete a sticky deposit. So, when you're trying to protect your precious plants from attacks and infestations, one of the first things to do is stay vigilant. The faster you spot it the sooner you can eliminate the pests to avoid any full-blown infestations.
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So, here is a list of different types of plant pests that can attack your plants:
• 10 Types of Pests That Attack Plants
1. Caterpillar
Caterpillars are some of the most common types of pests that attack plants. They are generally famished and attack the buds, stems, and leaves of plants. Their continuous presence will weaken the plant, slowly leading to death. Caterpillars are leaf-feeding larvae of butterflies and moths that damage the plants by chewing its leaves and stems. You can prevent your plants from handpicking them individually and dropping them in soapy water.
But watch out because some of these green pests on plants blend in so seamlessly that you may not even be able to spot them unless you look carefully enough!
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2. Capsid Bugs
Capsid Bugs are different types of pests that you may not even see that often but will really want to look out for. They commonly attack young leaves, and newly smooth plant shoots (stems). These bugs can quickly spoil the overall look of the plant that can be prevented by spraying pesticide. They give the leaves a distorted appearance and come in a variety of species. They suck the sap and leave a toxic behind.
3. Chafers
Chafers are essentially beetles that eat roots of grasses or plants. They widely feed on foliage plants, quickly damaging their looks and health. Rose chafers are often seen more than the others and are quick to find and feed on flowers, fruits, and other produce. These types of pests also lay eggs very quickly, often leading to bigger and more uncontrollable infestations.
4. Earwigs
Unfortunately, plants and pests like Earwigs go together too often. There are many species of these pests that look odd and have forceps and pincers bulging from their abdomen. Scary thought, isn't it? They are neither poisonous nor spread diseases but they are bad for the overall health of the plant in general. Some of them only eat plant material, and some eat decaying vegetation, and few of the species are predaceous.
5. Ants
Didn't expect these types of pests to be commonly seen on plants? Unfortunately for your garden plants, they are. Ants feed on the honeydew secreted by aphids and farm the aphids that make planting difficult for growers. They burrow the roots that further destroy the plants. So, essentially, it means there are two different types of pests that come together to ruin your garden!
Keeping a constant eye on your garden plants sounds like a good idea right now, doesn't it?
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6. Aphids
Several plants are more susceptible to aphids than others. These pests are often known as plant lice. These soft body insects that attack plants of three different types - greenfly, blackfly, and whitefly. Due to the use of fertilizers that increase soft sappy growth, aphids are attracted where they may spread viral disease. So, remember to always use organic fertilizers only to avoid this and fertilizer burn in the long run.
7. Eelworms
Eelworms attack a large variety of plants preventing them to flower. Infected plants should be burnt in a container, and then the container should be sterilized. They enter the leaves, stems and roots of plants and often attack in humid condition.
8. Slugs & Snails
These are those types of pests more commonly found in most of the gardens, feeding on all living plants. To get rid of them, you can handpick them or surround the plants with broken egg shells or grit. This creates an inhospitable environment for them as they cannot slither over the broken pieces to get to your plants.
9. Vine weevil
They eat leaves of plants and give holes or eaten appearance. These insects are very fast in eating the leaves. Maintaining a good hygiene and removing plant debris will reduce Vine Weevil attack.
10. Whitefly
These plant bugs secrete honeydew on leaves, stems and fruits due to which sooty, grey colored molds appear. If they attack severely, plants may get weaker and weaker, leading to stunted growth over time.
The most important thing to remember is that you must always keep an eye on all your plants, especially the ones that have a tendency to attract all types of pests. Plants and pests are not a great combination, as you may know by now, because these pests can ruin them without second thought. So, stay vigilant and keep your plants safe!
