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Like many other plants, bonsai also gets many diseases and infections due to bugs. The main reason bonsai attracts insects can be the soil conditions around it. As insects and bugs are most likely to attract toward the moist soil, they can badly cause damage to bonsai trees if the soil conditions are moist due to over-water.
Aphids are a species of bugs that produce a sugary material called honeydew, ants carry eggs of aphids from one plant to other for better vegetative growth so that they can produce honeydew.
This process can also cause infection and attracts more bugs to the bonsai tree. In addition to this, bonsai trees that remain indoors are most prone to attract bugs as the soil requires relatively more time to dry out completely.
Do bonsai trees attract spiders?
Most commonly, spiders are the pests that are attracted to bonsai trees.
Spiders have mouthparts that they used to eat off the cell and tissue content of bonsai trees. This can lead to causing damages to the bonsai tree structure and also affects its functionality.
The content in between leaf membranes of Bonsai trees is also sucked out by spiders.
As a result, yellow or white areas will be seen on leaf surface and foliage, causing the leaves to die and fall.
Do bonsai trees attract flies?
Flies are most commonly attracted to plants or trees that are placed indoors or in wet places. This is the reason why bonsai trees that are indoor are mostly attracted by flies.
As indoor bonsai trees are exposed to less direct sunlight, they tend to attract more flies and many other pests.
Flies are also attracted towards the waxy material which is mostly found in the sap of plants and is one of the most common things when it comes to bonsai.
Whiteflies on bonsai tree
Plants that have been growing at home are the first preference of whiteflies. Sometimes they also attack plants that are under roofs or breezeways.
Whiteflies attack the cell content and suck the sap in between membranes of leaves of bonsai trees and create a sappy material called honeydew.
As a result of the production of this honeydew, many ants are also attracted which will cause more harm. It most often results in a fungal infestation in the bonsai tree.
Black flies on bonsai tree
We usually hear that black flies are not harmful to plants but it is different in the case of bonsai trees. Black flies attack both the sap and inner wood of bonsai trees and are widely found under or around the new stems and leaves.
So, while watering bonsai, remove as many black flies as you can because if they stay longer, they can cause major damages to your plant. They produce a type of dew called “black sooty mold” which attracts many other bugs. Black flies can reproduce and grow fast so they can take over any small plant like a bonsai tree in a matter of weeks.
How to get rid of bugs on bonsai trees?
- Chemicals and toxic substances can be used for getting rid of heavy infestation. Before applying, make sure that the products are safe for bonsai.
- Insecticidal soap is considered one of the most effective ways to get rid of bugs from bonsai trees as it will only affect the harmful bugs.
- Some garden stores have fungus and natural predators that are the best choice if you want to remove insects and bugs from your bonsai trees by using a natural method.
How to get rid of mealybugs on bonsai?
Plants or trees which are in a greenhouse, indoors, or have more nitrogen content are widely attacked by mealybugs. So in order to get rid of them, the use of fertilizer should be checked properly. Also, bonsai trees that are infected by mealybugs shouldn’t be over-watered as it will make the condition worse.
- Natural predators can be used such as Cryptolaemus Montrouzieri is a natural predator that is available online and used against almost all species of mealybugs.
- Mealybugs can also be removed by using predators whose larval stage resembles mealybugs’ larvae but once they get to the stage of adult beetles they are the best predators for mealybugs. They can eat colonies of mealybugs within a few days. So they are the best choice to buy if you want to get rid of mealybugs in bulks.
How to get rid of whiteflies on bonsai trees?
- As whiteflies are attracted to moist soil conditions, bonsai trees that are indoors should be kept dry.
- Spread sand layers over moist soil.
- Bonsai trees should be watered once a week while spraying leaves every other day.
- Some stores and garden centers have fungus to get rid of these bugs by destroying insects’ cuticles.
- Insecticidal soap is another effective way to remove whiteflies as it only destroys insects without a hard skeleton, resulting in no harm to good bug plants.
Bonsai tree bug spray
Bugs sprays are effective but it is recommended not to use them a lot as such sprays, not only damage bad bugs but good bugs as well that are beneficial for plants.
Apart from this, spraying too often will cause moist conditions and thus the situation will become worse.
If you still need to use it, only use it when you see any major infection on plants. In case you are witnessing a great increase in bugs, it should be used once a week regularly.
It is also recommended to clean plants regularly so that no bugs will remain there for a long time to cause infection.
How to keep protecting bonsai trees from bugs?
If you want your bonsai to be healthy and free of host infection, first and foremost you should take great care of your bonsai plant’s hygiene. A clean space will keep your plants healthy and following the below-mentioned tips and tricks may also help you a lot.
- In case of infection, firstly try a natural method to get rid of them, and if it doesn’t work then go for other methods.
- If any plant gets infected, isolate it from other healthy plants before it spreads the infection to them.
- In order to keep protecting bonsai from bugs and insects, soil conditions such as pH level, nutrient concentration, and moist condition of soil should be checked regularly and maintained in balance.
- You shouldn’t over or under-fertilize your plants as it can also cause insects infection.
If after taking all of the above measurements, there still grows infection then go for natural predators and additional fungus against host insects. You can also use insecticidal soap to keep your plants healthy and protect them from bugs and insects.
