How I Clean My Houseplants & Deal With Plant Pests
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- Опубліковано 11 лис 2021
- Cleaning my plants & pest management are definitely the most time consuming part of my indoor plant hobby, so here's how I do it! Thanks for watching!
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I love how calm you are. I see mealy bugs and it feels like the end of the world to me 😆😅 “burn it with fire… all is lost!”
This is a good one for people( like me) who have no idea what these pests really look like and actually see how it is done to get rid of them. Good idea! Thank you 🙂
Yes, would like to see a part two on thrips and spider mites! (I think I have spider mites but there's never any webbing...)
I do this a bit differently than Nick these days. I used to use this method, but the scale always came back. Recently I read about a different technique on Reddit and I really like it.
I use only 70% alcohol, no water, and a drop of detergent. I put this mixture in a spray bottle and spray down everything - leaves, petioles, stems, soil surface - until it’s dripping. Then let the plant air dry, no rinsing. I do this 1-2 times a week until there are no signs of infestation. It’s less labor intensive, IME, and I have found it to be more effective. No harm to the leaves - I have even used this technique on delicate ferns.
I have done this too.. I don’t have any “special” or delicate plants. Seems to be ok
Where do you get 70% alcohol from? The pharmacy? I saw a bottle of it marketed as sanitiser and it was expensive af
@@nicolebrown6382 rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol from drugstores or grocery store is at least 70% alcohol and it's only about $1.
What detergent do you use and have you tried this on Hoyas?
I use 100% alcohol spray, you don't need detergent. Ferns take it no problem but be careful with ficuses, the alcohol works great for spider mites too, but it will damage the leaves. Monstera and hoya are also ok with the alcohol, philodendron seems to be relative ok as long as there are no baby leaves.
TRY soft paint brushes or make up brushes! It’ll change the game!!
I use old makeup brushes or super soft paint brushes. And i rinse my brush between plants but swirl my brush in the solution between leafs. The brush can get in the petioles and Hoya baby leafs etc.
I used to use sponges paper towels etc but I prefer painting on the solution w a brush and I won’t go back.
Such a great tip, I’m actually weirdly excited to try this
@@LMEL756 thanks! I brush along the veins of the leaf and use a denser brush for scale. But it swipes of mealys and thrips and mites easy
I'm an artist and this makes me so uncomfortable haha... NOT THE BRUSHES!! XD
@@nicolebrown6382 I’m an artist too! And it hurt my soul throwing away my brushes so I found a way to repurpose less than desirable or old brushes. 😊
@@ekamarie6632 haha nice well that works and much better for the environment! I use my new brushes for fine details and old brushes for dry scumbling/glazing which tears the bristles out haha. I do use the back of the old brushes for poking around in the soil though :P and the macrame hangers are good for storing my brushes when they're drying after a deep clean. (found a spider nest in my cactus and had to repot today... it HURT ;_;)
Great video! It's reassuring to see that it is ''normal'' and not necessarily alarming to have plants with pest at some point. How do you clean velvety leaves (for example Velvet Calathea)?
I like to use a soft makeup brush or toothbrush to get dirt off and then rinse them off. Just make sure to dry them really well so that the water doesn’t do too much damage, and I would try to make sure that the water is room temperature. Velvety leaves don’t like cold or hot water from what I have noticed when cleaning mine. Hope I helped a bit!
@@emmy8009 thank you!
I searched yt for "how to clean houseplants" but what I realllly wanted to know was "how does Nick Pileggi clean his house plants because I will do whatever he tells me to do." Thanks for sharing your tips and recommendations!! You are such a lovely resource for us plant people!! ❤️❤️❤️
I loved this video especially because it normalizes pests. Scale annihilated my sago palm despite my efforts to treat it with neem oil Solution. So I just chopped up all its fronds and cleaned up any dead bits of the plant and within two months, I was rewarded with beautiful new growth. I was actually amazed at how quickly the plant bounced back. It healed me of my fear of pests.
Thanks as always for teaching us!
I'm recently unemployed so I'm making this a project!
And I always love a Muffin cameo 😻
Thank you for normalizing the daily presence of pests. I've been so sad since my thrip infestation started and it's been an ongoing battle ever since. I've grown to accept it's just a part of plant parenting but most people don't talk about it like you do!
You're not alone! I've been dealing with thrips all year 😔 I was adamant on using natural options like neem oil but it wasn't working. The only thing that has worked for me is a product called Doktor Doom. I know not everyone likes using chemicals but hey, it's been effective so far. Crossing my fingers they don't come back.
Edit: I should add that I also use Diatomaceous Earth in the soil and that's been working well!
I had thrips as well, battled, but I won! They r hardest to rid because they lay their eggs in the tissue of the plant, they scrape it out then lay their eggs inside that rip... That's why they r so hard to get rid of! The eggs r protected from sprays. I have a closet full of organic pesticides, and Neem doesn't touch THRIPS! They don't do a thing to them! I had to result to bio advance systemic pesticide spray. U spray on foliage and it absorbs into the plant and kills eggs inside the leaves as well as every bug that bites into the plant. And it kills them insanely fast. I found dead bugs in my shelf's and leaves! I beat them after one spray to each plant. It didn't damage a single plant. I used on almost every species. It's called bio advance 3 in 1 pesticide, miteacide,and fungicide. Deals with all 3 issues in one little bottle. They also sell granuals to mix into the soil. It was amazing! Killed every pest and haven't had a single pest since then. It lasts only a few weeks but it's time enough that if eggs do hatch, as soon as they feed they die. So no time to reproduce. I also used it on a bush outside in my landscape that was INFESTED with spider mites AND aphids at the same time. I tried everything to kill them, nothing did a debt. Almost killed that established bush! Got the bio advance systemic, that plant bounced back and has been amazing since! I will never go back to nasty, stinky Neem or anything"organic" again. Life is easier now. I don't stress bout pests. And most pesticides r not dangerous once it dries, so I sprayed outside, let dry, then brought inside. I have a cat and two dogs. All were perfectly fine around my plants. AMAZING STUFF!! I do know ppl don't wanna use chemicals, but I am not losing thousands of dollars worth of plants! When I can rid them in one spray that cost 7$! Lol. Oh and alcohol doesn't kill thrips. Neither did insecticide soap, I tested it on a q tip then scooped a live thrip and it didn't even both the nasty thing! Walked all over it, so then I dabbed it on the thrips, it was stuck for a second, then moved right out of it. Thrips r VERY amune to alot of organics or safe ways we usually use .... BioAdvance 3 in 1 is all I'll ever use for now on!
A thing i learned from doing security work: bugs are living with us no matter what. We just don't necessarily realize/recognize it because we rarely see them.
So, if you're going to have some bugs around no matter what, might as well have plants and just realize that cleaning the plants is the same type of pest control as cleaning a kitchen/pantry/bathroom/etc
i bought beneficial bugs to deal with the thrips I had on my philodendrons, and it worked great! I live between a forest and a field so bugs are unavoidable either way, might as well have the friendly ones here:) I still clean my plants of course but I can relax knowing the little beetles are eating everything that's eating my plants >:)
@@jenniferhorton3145 how often do you spray this on your plants? Or do you just spray when you notice pests? I just bought this today cause I too noticed that the alcohol/soap spray I made did NOTHING. Im gonna retreat again next week, but wondering how often others treat.
I've only recently become a plant parent in the last year (I love and keep both house plants and outdoor plants) and i am sooo glad I found your channel! Not only is getting to see all your beautiful plants so much fun but I love when you share your little nuggets of knowledge with us! Thank you!
ugh I had been avoiding doing anything about the weird sticky substances on my calethea - how wrong I was. Now I know what I'll be doing when I get home today!! Thanks for the recipe and tips 👍
Thanks for the video.
I love when we can use products we already have in the home.
I would love a part two to this video talking about pests in soil as well as care tips on how to store soil not in use etc
I was thinking: I hope I am NOT crazy when cleaning my plant, leaf by leaf, since i didn't know how other people clean their plants. So - THANK YOU for this validating video - I'm not nuts, after all, as to how I clean the leaves!
However, I did NOT know, to put a little alchohol in the cleaning water!! I will do that from now on!
Me too! I go out on my balcony because my mix has neem oil which is smelly and I'm always paranoid people on the street will see me cleaning each leaf individually like a nut XD
.. I've been cleaning my plants leaf by leaf, by hand, my whole life.. Everybody around mee always shakes their head saying I'm completely lost, but.. I like doing it and even though I spend a weekend doing that, to mee it is like my time off.. There's nothing in the world but mee and my plants, one leaf at the time.. Sometimes I am surprised of how many leafs a plant can hold.. I use a mix of neem oil, Japanese peppermint, dish washing soap, boiled cooled water in a spray, and a cloth only to use for that.. I spray a bit on the cloth and then I clean the leafs 🤗🌞
Thank you for showing this kind of video. It really helps to identify these buggers and what the process is like. It's a good reminder that plants are not just for beauty and sprucing but truly need different levels of care being living things and all.
This video really helped me not to freak out. This will be my first winter! I already have some mealy bugs. Thank you and greetings from Germany
I use only rubbing alcohol on those suckers. I guess you might want to dilute it on something fragile, but I just want to make sure the stupid things are dead
Thank you for this viewing angle on cleaning your plants. I do it exactly the same way: with paper towel and a spray bottle, one leaf at a time. I worked in a lab where we used 70% ethanol to disinfect everything except for surgical procedures: we could not exceed 60% ethanol as that was the concentration at which cellular damage occurred. I was accidentally used the 70% by accident once, and crossed my fingers that it would go unnoticed, but the person who checked my sample told me my cell walls were busted and to do better. Bugger! ;P
Hi, Nick. I live in far NE Philly. I find the city water here is not good for my plants. I let bottles of water sit out for 24 hours and use it to water plants. I noticed my plants like it better. I use distilled water on my prayer plants and it reduced the brown crispy leaves. I clean my plants the same way. I love to watch your videos and you've taught me so much. Thank you 😊
Love your videos! Thank you for taking the time to make them for us.
Can you please do more of these videos? I can't tell you how comforting it is to see your approach to pests. I always go into panic-mode when I see a single pest and it's so helpful to see the way that you just calmly tackle the problem and clean off the plant, haha. I need to channel this level of calm and wipe down my plants.
Hi Nick! This was very helpful and there are a lot of good comments below, too. This is such a great community for more tips, etc. Those plants are worth saving! I'm glad you showed not only the pests, but how you get rid of them, too! Thank you so much for sharing!
I think manually cleaning every leaf is definitely the best way to eradicate pests. No matter what products you use (I use neem oil and peppermint castille soap), you can actually just use water (I've done this before), as long as you're manually cleaning every leaf that's the main thing and the most effective way of pest control.
I find it easier and more effective to put the mixture in a spray bottle, spray tops and bottoms of the leaves, plus the stems down to soil, let it sit, then wipe leaves top and bottom. That way pests hiding on stems or crevices aren't missed. I also am sure to spray leaf bottoms and stems with water to remove residue.
Another knowledge gained. Thanks Nick!
All Those Plants Are Definitely Worth Fighting For!!!
Hey love! Have you ever thought of using a soft toothbrush for your cleaning? Its really good at getting into those leaves corners or hard to reach area of the plant. Thanks for this video! I share 50% of your video on my regional plant group ^^
Great idea, thank you!
Thanks so much for showing this so up close!
I love your videos about pests! You are so calm about them. When I got my first pests ( californian thrips ) I felt paniced and overwhelmd and at some point I was ready to give up. Glad I didn't! Eventually I got rid of them and have had black thrips, scale, mealybugs and spider mites after them. When I see a bug on my plant and it's not californian thrip I just thank the gods 😄 After cal thrips nothing scares me anymore 😄 bugs are not the end of the world.
1 part Rubbing alcohol, soap and 6 part water 👍🏽 Thanks, Nick! ☀️🌟💚
Thank you Nick, I needed the inspiration and step by step - how to.
I’m just here to tell you that you’re one of the bright lights of my life (is that weird to say? Because, strangers haha) but anytime I’m feeling in a funk, I binge your videos. So thank you. Also, use how ever many damn paper towels you want. You do you. Love you ❤️
My favorite youtuber!!! I enjoy your videos because I learn so much!
My plants are so thankful for all your tips, i swear.
That was intense. Great video!
I do the same! I just use Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap because that adds a little extra to the cleaning, love your videos as always!!
I enjoyed watching you rub your leaves, it was very therapeutic. GREAT VIDEO AGAIN!
This is such good timing because one of my most favorite plants (a VERY large hoya carnosa) unfortunately is dealing with a mealybug infestation right now! I basically sprayed off most of them early last week with a showerhead, but there are a couple still around. Going to use this recipe tomorrow!
Great video and tips!!! Beautiful kitty! I have a black cat too and he is a wonderful cat. I named him Freddie in honor of Freddie Mercury's love of cats 💕
Thank you so much for showing us what these pests look like and how you clean them and take care of them. I find it difficult to find these videos. If possible can you show different pests and how you care for them. Much appreciated! :)
Super helpful! Thank you 🙌🏽
Thank you for doing this video!! I feel like there are only a few YT videos that show the pests on the actual plant in front of them and how they remove them. Thank you for showing and sharing this! Xoxo from Seattle
Thank you so much for this video! I've been dealing with a mealybug infestation using neem oil and dish soap but they still come back! Definitely gonna try this one!
awesome video!
Thank you, Nick!
Great job!! 😀💚
Very informative. I saw several things I haven't taken care of very well in the past. Don't think I've had scale but probably have and neglected it to death. Thanks so much
Do you ever worry that the hard water in the shower might damage the leaves? (specifically calathea)
Love your stuff sir. Keep it up.
Oh my goodness, just like your mealybug problem, I've been dealing with a thrips problem ever since a plant brought some in. No idea which plant it may have been, but now it's part of my regular routine to clean the leaves when I can for these guys. They breed way too quick too so it's tough! Whenever I find a leaf that's been harboring a group of them, I'm like "die die die!" as I wipe them off decimating them lmao. I should add some isopropanol to my soap solution that I've used! Maybe that will be a little extra kick to those thrips.
Shoutout to Ms Meyers soap too, I use that soap for my plants too! (The hand soap version tho)
The most helpful plant pest video! Please do a follow up on the fern and Hoya even if it’s just an Instagram post. I would love to see more of these.
thank you for making a video but past so find it really really even hearing other people or dealing with the same issues as me!!
Love this Video
Very Helpful Thank You!
Great video, thank you for sharing.
Thanks Nick for this video too I haven't had to deal with any bugs yet. But if I do in the future I'll know what to do
After watching your video, went to check on some plants and found a spider mites on my hibiscus bonsai 😣 it was but suspicious, but I kind of forgot to check - actually take plant out and look careful... Thanks for the inspiration! It’s really a job a hate - cleaning the leaves...
I'm so sad. I got rid of a much loved swiss cheese plant that took me months to find because I cleaned it several times and it kept getting the milly bugs. I really thought that once you get rid of them they weren't suppose to come back. I did do a small cutting from it and the newer one is growing, but I loved waking up each morning and admiring that plant. Also recently, I got rid of two other plants for the same reason. You taught me alot today.
I really want to thank you for this video. You showed me how to ID mealy bugs and right after I found them on two of my Hoyas, one being one of my fav plants. The other plant wasn't growing and the mealy bugs might have been the cause. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I am totally going to try this with my Chinese Evergreen. I've washed it with dish soap and I've periodically spray it with Neem Oil and cant get the Mealy Bugs under controll. And were talking a free years now. Thanks for the suggestion. 😊
Much appreciated video. Thanks
I think I'm the only person that enjoys cleaning my leaves. 🤣 I get a comfy spot and turn on plant videos and clean my leaves and relax!
Thank you Nick
Spinosad is very effective against thrips also.
My trio star gets the whites residue on the tips of the leaf, it's from the water leaking thru the tips of the leaves. Same with the agleonema. All those leafy plants drip water a few days after they r freshly watered thru the tips of every leaf, and I believe the residue is from fertilizer or minerals in the water. But it's nothing to fear! Just access water that drips from tips of leaves and it leaves a mineral water residue dried on the leaf tips. :) Cleaning my plant leaves is by far my worst favorite task for taking care of my plants! Totally time consuming and alot of picky work! I always keep q tips near me while I clean leaves to get mealies in tight spots. :) Love ur videos!
I get this on my pothos!
Very relaxing video, thank you! I appreciate the fact that using paper towels to clean plants is ok. I use q-tips too! Do you use this solution for leaves that are more fuzzy like episcia or peperomia incana? I am afraid to get water on them because I notice the leaves become discolored.
thanks for making me realize how terrible and neglectful of a plant parent I am... 😆 Also, I have a tree o star just like yours and never knew the name of it! So thank you so much, I always learn so much from you.
Stromanthe triostar 🙂
I like to use a makeup brush, because it gets in the crevices. Have you ever tried it? Just wondering? 😊.
I 💕 love 💕 my Triostar Stromanthe too!! It's by far my favorite and largest plant.. I fuss over it quite a bit, lol, each leave on my plant is about 10- 12 inches long .. I hope the get bigger💗
Thanks for sharing this Nick! As you said, most people think its about watering but theres so much more to it 🌿 I might have totally missed it, but what do you use as fertilizer?
Once I got the mag lite app free I could see things on my plants you don’t want too , I literally jumped back when I saw a spider mite crawling across the screen , it really helps ! And then theirs the soul ugh
I use systemics now and diatomaceous earth which I had never heard of . Tfs
I recently had to rid some scale off my monstera. Never really knew what scale looked like and I almost missed it bc they are kind of hard to identify, compare to the fuzzy white mealy bugs. I’m dreading having to clean my moms desert rose. Always gets mealys and they multiply so quick on her plant
I wonder if something like a mascara application brush would work on the desert rose? I think they’re called spools or something and you can buy them separately. Maybe they would be able to get in between the spines of the cacti
You're waaay too calm about mealy bugs. I got some on two Aglaonema and it was a nightmare to clean them... I thought I had them all gone and I found more. Great tips to check your plants. If you can take the time for your 300+ babies I can with my 200ish.
Weird question, but where did you get that sponge holder at your kitchen sink? I really like it!
I think with your collection, adding predatory mites might be a good addition to your plant family. They will do most of the cleaning for you and eventually, just dusting and light showering will be required
Does the alcohol get the bugs drunk before they meet their maker? ;) Love your videos. You include all relevant info and none of the annoying small talk that's as interesting as watching paint dry. Thank you, Nick. 😀
I just ordered PureCrop 1 and I have to say this stuff is amazing!!! I had an attack of spider mites on 95% of my plants. Now I’m down to less than 1%. I do need to start a cleaning regiment of cleaning my plants weekly though. Do you clean a few plants per day? Or…? I just started watching your channel, so I’ll go through and see if you do mention your routine also.
for people tht are scared of tap water put you sprayer on the line option not the mist and spary the pest away
Nick, that two-tone grey tile on the floor of your shower is awesome! Did you put it in, and can you tell us where to get it and what brand/color it is? Thanks. Great video.
Thank you for posting this! I use an old makeup brush to apply my pest management mixture. I keep the brush in the solution in between the leaves I clean. Hopefully keeping the brush in the mixture kills off residual pests on it. Now I'm wondering.
Thanks for the heads up on hoyas and mealy bugs-I’m bad about keeping my plants apart and I literally have my first shipment of Hoyas arriving in the mail today (they really aren’t found in my location so I had to order them in). I probably would have stuck them out with everything else and infected the whole house with them 😬😳
haha "I never had a mealy bug but one time I got a hoya with it and then they never left".. You're just like... oh f%#k!
Thanks! Do you ever change the soil and clean the pot?
Do you recommend using the systemic insecticide also? (in combo with the mixture) What about the pests/eggs in the soil? Would hydrogen peroxide be appropriate for this.. or?
Thank you, brilliant video , I was wondering about this recently .How do you dust delicate ferns etc.
What were those plants in your sink? They were so cute. Specifically the one in the corner that looks like a mini tree
Ohgod my kangroo ALSO has a scale that refuses to fully despite thorough cleaning. I put it outside for now, outside tends to help with scale cause beneficial insects
Brown scale serving plant pestilence yass slay
I really like the little bench thing you have in your shower with the shelf underneath it! Where did you get it? My dumb shower doesn’t have any storage in it, so I am always looking for ways to get my products up off the floor!
In the beginning you mentioned that you have been doing a full clean & check of all of your plants. How often do you do that? I am just now getting a handle on a really bad thrips infestation that I really wish I caught earlier.
Great video, wish I had watched it before going into town this morning to buy a spray (for ornamental plants) to deal with very sticky leaves on one plant. Havent seen rubbing alcohol but daresay I would find it at a chemist. (I am in New Zealand). Thanks for the information.
just use cheap vodka ;) ethanol will work as well or even better and vodka is already diluted to 40% so you can use similar proportions as Nick here (ethanol is stronger than isopropanol so it should be diluted more)
I use a paintbrush and get the stems really good too. I am a freak and probably clean my plants more than I should because bugs completely freak me out. Expecially because I keep quite a few plants in my kitchen where I cook and eat. Mealy bugs are so hard to get rid of, its ridiculous.
Ok, Nick, next vid, cleaning Hoya carnosa compacta!
17:16 the yassification of scale (colorized)
Nice video 👍👍👍🌷🌷🌷
Nice video 👍👍👍🌷🌷🌷
And if I might add, if you are dealing with multiples pest that like to hides in nooks and cranny in addition of the paper towel, it might help to use a kids toothbrush to yeet them away.
I got mealybugs from some orchids I adopted from a friend. I didn't quarantine them adequately, and you can guess the rest. Quarantine, *quarantine*, *QUARANTINE*.
Most of my plants are okay when I spray 70% alcohol directly in the nooks and crannies where they hide; kills 'em instantly. You should try it on a small part of your plant first, just in case.
I found aphids and scale on 2 plants. I just threw them out. Don’t want to deal with them or risk them infecting my other plants.
I’ve been searching for that glazed terracotta pot for ages online, do you know where you got it from? In love with it.
Hi Nick! I'm looking for a plant stand. Do you have any suggestions? I need BIG and sturdy!
Do you do a Neem Oil drench in the soil?? - and what about those roots on the kangaroo fern, did you treat those??
Hi Nick! How do you get rid of gnats?🙃
I appreciate your efforts! Ive got a question about my philodendron birkin.. can it get crown rot? I had NO pests u til i bought a hoya at my local nursery 😨 Im so terrified that my orchid collection will be infected so the hoya has been transplanted, washed with your solution and kept in another room..