Plagues and treatment for succulents

Today we will talk about the treatment for succulents something quite important to maintain a healthy appearance and be protected from the various conditions, we will try to use as much natural products, sometimes it is necessary to resort to another type of products, but with good prevention is preventable.

For prevention can be used potassium soap, works as repellent and as insecticide /fungicide, in addition to having other benefits for plants, just one application once a month diluted with water and using a spray, you can find them in any store specialized in plants products.

We also advise preventive use every 6 months, usually at the entrance to winter and at the entrance to the spring of copper sulfate, this fungicide by our experience is ideal to fight fungi that appear more often in cacti, but also in succulents.

The mixture is very simple just a shallow teaspoon of copper sulfate (2 grams) per liter of water, to this mixture can add a shallow spoon of neutral PH soap without smell (we use a liquid soap of baby) so that it is a protective film in the plants, after mixing well just make the application with a spray.

One of the most recurrent pests is mealy bugs, there are several variants, treatment can be done by prevention with application of potassium soap, can also use blue soap diluted in water and with a cotton swab apply in the most affected parts of the plant.

Another method that can also be used is also to spray directly the infected parts with 70% alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, usually these methods will be sufficient but in rare cases you may need to resort to an insecticide.

Another pest that is quite common and sometimes more complicated to remove completely is the red spider, the form of treatment similar to that of the conchonilha, it is usually necessary to resort to an insecticide that can be given interspersed-mind with potassium soap since this weakens the insect skeleton.

The whitefly is also a recurrent problem, it is common the appearance of this insect when ventilation and conditions of plants are not the best, treatment with potassium soap and proper ventilation of the site are usually sufficient and in general is not the most problematic pests.

There are numerous other pests but as can be seen, here our main ally is potassium soap, in 80% of cases is sufficient and we can thus avoid the use of more harmful chemicals, it is also important to be careful with the correct ventilation of plants and their watering, excess moisture can contribute to the appearance of fungi and bacteria , giving rise to rot that will have to be removed.

In the end the most important is always prevention, just once or twice a month and you will see that it will be much rarer the appearance of these plagues!