These 7 Pests Will Ruin Your Houseplants

Summary: Houseplants are easy ways to add life to a home, but a pest infestation can ruin them. This blog discusses the 7 most common houseplant pests on the East Coast. They are: scale insects, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, fungus gnats, whiteflies, and thrips. Green Pest Services delivers reliable pest solutions in every season.

Nothing brightens up a home like a couple (dozen) houseplants! They add life and color to any room, especially when the sun doesn’t want to leave its gloomy cloud cover. Houseplants are also pretty easy to care for, compared to some of the fragile flowers and seedlings we grow outside. However, even houseplants aren’t immune to the biggest threat a plant can face: pest invasions.

If garden pests manage to reach your indoor plants, they need to be stopped ASAP. Let’s talk about the 7 worst houseplant pests and the best ways to protect your indoor plants from these hungry invaders.

Scale Insects

This is the most common, ruthless houseplant pest around. They target the stems and leaves of each plant, leaving behind spots of honeydew (sticky waste) as they feed. They’re about half an inch long and look like brown or white blemishes on the plant. Scale eggs hatch under the mother, then slowly crawl away. Once they find a suitable spot, they create a hard covering to protect their soft bodies.

Scale insects drink sap from the plant tissue. Since they’re guarded by their shells, these pests don’t have to worry about predators or pesticides, unlike other garden pests. The longer that scale insects feed, the more sap the plant loses. This stunts the plant’s growth and yellows its leaves. Scale insects reproduce year-round, so an infested houseplant won’t get any relief.

Mealybugs

These pests may look like cotton-covered bugs, but they’re a formidable houseplant pest. Mealybugs slowly crawl from leaf to leaf and can move onto a different plant if it’s close. The bugs are a quarter of an inch long and conceal themselves in their signature white, waxy coating. Females lay 600 eggs in this cotton secretion, so these infestations grow rapidly.

Like scale insects, mealybugs drink sap from houseplants. The plant’s growth is stunted when mealybugs continuously feed. The leaves also wilt and turn yellow, which is a clear sign of an infestation. Since these bugs reproduce so quickly, it’s crucial to eliminate them ASAP. If you see fuzzy blobs crawling on a houseplant, it’s mealybugs!

Aphids

No list about plant pests would be complete without our old friend, the aphid. These pests are notorious for taking over any garden they invade. Aphids are usually green and 1/8 of an inch long. There’s a new generation of adult aphids every 2 to 3 weeks, so these infestations need to be solved sooner rather than later.

Aphids prefer new growth, so they target weaker plants that don’t usually recover from an invasion. They stay near the roots or on the underside of leaves while they suck sap straight from the plant’s veins. A wilted or stunted plant is often the result of an aphid invasion. They also leave honeydew spots, which can attract black sooty mold that further ruins the plant.

Spider Mites

Spider mites are more mites than spiders, but they do make silk webs! It’s hard to see these pests with the naked eye, and they usually just look like dark specks. The thin webbing is the main giveaway of their presence since you can see it stretched across leaves. Spider mites use these webs to move across a plant and spread their damage to other spots.

These pests feed underneath the foliage, making it even more difficult to find an infestation before they really hurt the plant. As spider mites drink the sap, the plant’s leaves gradually look yellow and stippled. Infestations grow quickly since spider mites create one generation per week. If you think your plant has spider mites, look for thin webs and stippled leaves.

Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats are one of the more unnoticeable pests since they typically stay near the soil. These pests are 1/8 of an inch long and like the light, so they may gather on nearby windows in the warmer seasons. But fungus gnats are poor fliers, which limits them to the plants in their immediate area. Larvae are more destructive than adults, but you don’t want either one on your houseplants.

Fungus gnat larvae eat plant roots and decaying plant matter. Younger plants are susceptible to these invasions and have a harder time bouncing back. Older, stronger plants may just look unhealthy, but they’ll gradually become weaker the longer that fungus gnats feed. These pests prefer overwatered soil, so an easy way to prevent them is to give your houseplants the proper amount of water (more on this later).

Whiteflies

Ironically, whiteflies aren’t actually flies! They’re more closely related to aphids and scale insects (go figure), and look like tiny moths when they rest with their wings up. Whiteflies are 1/16 of an inch long and have white coloring that contrasts with their favorite plants. These pests also leave honeydew spots while they feed, so the threat of black sooty mold still stands.

As whiteflies drink the plant sap, the plant’s leaves become yellow and its growth gets stunted. Larvae drink from the plant’s tissue to efficiently drain it of sap. These pests can also spread plant diseases through their feeding, so you don’t want whiteflies living on your houseplants for long. The easiest way to tell if your plant pests are whiteflies is to shake the infested leaves; whiteflies take flight when they’re disturbed.

Thrips

Thrips aren’t the most common houseplant pests, but they pop up in enough places to grant them a spot on this list. These pests can be yellow, brown, or black in color. Their bodies are elongated and perfect for blending in with the soil. Thrips quickly leap from plant to plant and can be tough to catch as a result.

While thrips drink plant sap, they usually hide under the leaves. They also target new plants that are less likely to fight back against their destructive feeding. Thrips bring a lot of problems. They spread plant diseases, create silver streaks on leaves, and cause the plant to have distorted growth. Thrips multiply fast and are known to kill plants, so they need to be treated as soon as they’re spotted.

Protecting Your Plants

After hearing about these sneaky pests that gradually drain plants of their nutrients, you’re probably wondering how to protect your favorite houseplants. The key word here is “awareness.” When you keep a constant eye on your plants, you’ll be able to spot early pest problems before they get worse.

The most efficient ways to treat and/or prevent houseplant pests are:

• Wipe off bug-heavy leaves with a clean cloth or paper towel.

• Scrape off “adhesive” pests, like scale, with a nail file or ruler.

• Pick off larger pests, like slugs and earwigs, by hand (please wear utility gloves!).

• Spray infested plants with short bursts from the hose outside.

• Place small sticky traps near plants infested with flying insects.

• Prune infested stems and leaves, and make sure the pests don’t return.

• Spot-treat small pest issues with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol.

• Water each plant properly, being careful not to overwater or under-water.

• Give every plant the right amount of sunlight for its needs.

• Remove yellow or dead leaves as they appear.

• Inspect each new houseplant for any signs of pests before bringing it indoors.

Guard Your Greenery With Green!

Whether you have two houseplants or twenty, pest protection is essential for your home. At Green Pest Services, our licensed technicians solve all kinds of local pest problems with a combination of thorough inspections and targeted treatments. We don’t believe that pest control should be a one-size-fits-all process. Instead, we create a customized treatment plan for every customer.

When you want a pest-free home, Green is the one to call. Contact us today for a free quote on our reliable services and say goodbye to your springtime pest worries!

Citations

Blank, L.C. (2022, July 27). Managing houseplant pests. MGNV. Available at https://mgnv.org/houseplants/managing-houseplant-pests/ (Accessed on March 17, 2025).

Craig. (2024, February 10). The ultimate guide to identifying house plant pests: With pictures of pest and damaged plants. Highland Moss. Available at https://highlandmoss.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-identifying-house-plant-pests-with-pictures-of-pest-and-damaged-plants/?srsltid=AfmBOooqX0Dx6xE_vrsxCevgoULLNZp36CiXzCQWAY47udNMra4KoTCE (Accessed on March 17, 2025).

Oakes, S.R. (2017, September 11). How to identify common houseplant pests. Homestead Brooklyn. Available at https://homesteadbrooklyn.com/all/2017/1/17/common-insects-pests-on-houseplants (Accessed on March 17, 2025).

Pelczar, R. (2024, December 20). How to spot 6 common houseplant pests and get rid of them naturally. Better Homes & Gardens. Available at https://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplants/care/common-houseplant-pests/ (Accessed on March 17, 2025).

Santos, J. (Dr.) & DelPrince, J.M. (Dr.). (n.d.). Insect pests of houseplants. Mississippi State University Extension. Available at https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/publications/insect-pests-houseplants (Accessed on March 17, 2025).

Scott, J.M. & Williamson, J. (2021, September 10). Common houseplant insects & related pests. Clemson Cooperative Extension: Home & Garden Information Center. Available at https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/common-houseplant-insects-related-pests/ (Accessed on March 17, 2025).