BUGS & PEST CONTROL

How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles, Naturally

Finding unexpected damage on your clothing, curtains, carpet or furniture? You could have carpet beetles. Often confused with bed bugs, carpet beetles don’t bite, sting, or spread disease, but they can cause a lot of damage—and fast. Infamous for their voracious appetite, these fast-breeding pests will eat just about anything made of natural fibers, including you and your pets’ bedding, rugs, furniture, leather items, furs, feathers, and flooring. Here are several non-toxic tips to kill and repel carpet beetles naturally, and to protect your home from carpet beetle damage.

Sometimes black but usually patterned with white, yellow, brown or orange coloring, carpet beetles are oval in shape and very small (1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long). Apart from the beetles themselves, there are several symptoms of a carpet beetle infestation. Here’s what to look for:

Holes and lines of damage on rugs, clothing, bedding, furniture, taxidermy, etc, is the most obvious and common sign of carpet beetles.
Light brown pieces of shed skin (these look like small bug shells). Check for these skins underneath rugs, within blankets, inside the folds of clothing and furniture, and on flooring where dust and hair tend to collect
Carpet beetle larvae, which are typically longer than adults and covered in hair.
Fecal pellets, which are about the size of a grain of salt.
Again, also look for adult carpet beetles, which are normally found on walls near sources of light and window sills.

Whether you already have carpet beetles or worried you might soon, prevention should be your top priority. Here are the best practices for preventing carpet beetles.

Cleanliness and organization are absolutely vital—this cannot be stressed enough. Carpet beetles eat everything from textiles and poorly stored food to dust bunnies, cobwebs, birds and wasps nests.
Vacuum your home at least once a week. For ongoing carpet beetle infestations, go with daily.
Launder dirty clothing and bedding at least once every two weeks. Used laundry items attract carpet beetles.
Before bringing any plants into your home, check them for carpet beetles.
Thoroughly wash and then seal all out-of-season clothing, blankets, and fabrics in airtight containers. For infested fabrics, wash and launder them on high heat.
Ensure all doors, windows, and other possible entry points are properly sealed. Install new screens, door seals, and use caulk as needed.
When possible, choose synthetic fabrics over natural ones, especially for rugs, furniture, and carpeting—carpet beetles are only attracted to organic materials.
Carpet beetles can enter our homes by hitching a ride on our pets. Apply a pet-safe bug repellent, like Cedarcide Original, to your cat or dog every few days just in case.

Now that you know how to spot and prevent carpet beetles, here’s what you need to do to get rid of them:

Glue traps are useful against carpet beetles in two ways. Firstly, they can help you identify and gauge the seriousness of a carpet beetle infestation. Secondly, they serve as a non-toxic approach to decreasing carpet beetle populations in your home.

Made with hormones designed to attract carpet beetles, these glue traps should be placed in the areas of your home where you’re seeing the most carpet beetle activity (damage and actual beetles). Check the traps every other day or so and replenish as needed. Carpet beetle glue traps can be purchased at pest control supply stores and online.

As mentioned in the prevention section above, cleanliness is arguably the most important factor in carpet beetle control. Carpet beetles can survive on a wide array of natural items—including hair, lint, dust, rugs, carpets, clothing, food residue, plant debris, dead animals and their nests, and more. Daily cleaning is necessary to remove these potential sources of food from your home.

For best results, pay special attention to areas where dust and other debris tend to accumulate in your home, such as baseboards, under tables and cabinets, and other nooks & crannies.

Apart from contributing to cleanliness, daily vacuuming can help remove carpet beetle eggs, larvae, and adults from your home. In addition to flooring, make sure to vacuum all rugs and upholstered furniture as needed. For heavily infested spaces, vacuuming twice a day might be even better. Just be sure to discard the bag in an outside trash can or thoroughly clean it after each use.

There are several ways to deal with infested items like clothing, furniture, rugs, and flooring:

You can simply wash and dry them on warm temperatures (or dry clean).
If rugs or clothing are heavily infested and damaged, you might want to consider throwing them away.
You can freeze infested items in a freezer for 72 hours to kill eggs, larvae, and adult carpet beetles.

The bottom line: If you have items suspected of infestation, you need to take at least one of the above actions.

Many companies offer products or services that use harsh chemicals to help consumers get rid of their carpet beetles. While these toxic insecticides often work, they also expose your family and pets to highly dangerous poisons. The truth is, you can get the same results with safer, naturally-sourced pest control products.

After choosing a family-safe, pet-safe pest control product, you’ll want to apply it strategically. Pay special attention to areas that collect dust and lint, under furniture, around doors and windows, as well closets, and around the edges of carpeting. For larger infestations where eggs and larvae are hidden all throughout the home, fogging may be necessary. Repeat applications as needed.

A naturally occurring non-toxic pesticide, diatomaceous earth works by dehydrating insects that come into contact with it. Dust food-grade DE throughout trouble areas like window sills, rugs, carpeting, closets, along baseboards, etc. Once you get your carpet beetle issue under control, DE can be easily removed with your vacuum cleaner. Although it’s chemical-free, we suggest wearing a mask when applying because it is a powder.

Steam is deadly for carpet beetles, their eggs, and larvae. Steaming flooring, rugs, curtains, upholstered furniture, and other vulnerable spaces and items is a quick and efficient way to control carpet beetles. You can do this on your own with a personal steamer or go with a professional. Repeat weekly as needed.

Limiting their food source can greatly improve a carpet beetle infestation. To start, store and seal all out-of-season clothing, bedding, and other natural textiles (again, carpet beetles are not attracted to synthetic materials). Make sure to deep clean all items before storing them away, and also to clean all other fabrics in affected areas as outlined above.

Cleanliness is a big part of removing the carpet beetles’ food source, too. Again, carpet beetles are known to eat lint, dust, pet hair, and other dead bugs—basically all the most common ingredients of household dirt and grime. Keeping your home free of these food sources will have a big impact on your carpet beetle struggles.

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How to Get Rid of Scorpions: 3 Steps

Can you imagine a scorpion crawling into your bed at night? What about slipping on a pair of shoes only to find a scorpion hiding down inside? This might sound like the stuff of nightmares, but if you’re living in the Southwest, it’s just part of your day-to-day.

Although they’re usually no more harmful than a wasp or spider bite, scorpion stings can be life threatening to our children, pets, and elderly. The bark scorpion, for example, which lives throughout Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Mexico, is the most venomous scorpion in North America. In just the last few decades, over a 1,000 people and pets have died from their excruciating sting.

Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about any of that, because you’re about to learn how to keep scorpions away from your lawn and out of your home, without resorting to poisonous pesticides! Here are 3 steps to kill and repel scorpions:

Scorpions only enter our lawns and homes if they offer shelter, food, or water. Removing these attractants is the first step to controlling scorpions

REMOVE THEIR SHELTER

Scorpions need dark, cool places to hide in order to escape sunlight, as they’re sensitive to heat and prone to dehydration. Limiting these potential hiding spots comes down to cleanliness and and clutter—and can substantially decrease scorpion populations.

Firstly, lawn maintenance is key. Keeping grass and shrubbery well-trimmed and off your home (scorpions use vegetation as bridges into houses) is essential. Removing outdoor clutter like unused lawn equipment and organic debris, such as wood piles and brush, is equally important.

For best results, you’ll need to maintain a clean and clutter-free home, too. Cleanliness matters because grime and food debris attracts bugs, which are the primary food source for scorpions. Clutter—like piles of magazines, clothing, newspapers, and scattered boxes—matters because scorpions will use these areas to hide and thrive inside your home.

REMOVE THEIR FOOD

Again, scorpions eat other bugs. In other words, if you want to repel scorpions, you’ll need to get rid of any bugs living in your lawn and home.

To kill and repel outdoor bugs, apply family and pet-safe PCO Choice to your yard monthly from February to November. To kill bugs inside your home, give them a quick spray with non-toxic Cedarcide Original. To repel indoor bugs, apply Cedarcide Original to common insect trouble spots and entryways, such as door frames, window sills, baseboards, countertops, etc.

REMOVE MOISTURE

As mentioned earlier, scorpions are vulnerable to dehydration. Deny them water by checking both inside and outside for sources of unnecessary moisture, like standing water, leaky plumbing, A/C units, hoses, faucets, etc. Removing or repairing these items will help considerably.

Surprising fact: scorpions can sneak into almost any opening the size of a credit card. No wonder they’re so good at finding ways into our homes! Locating and sealing potential entry points is crucial if you’re ready to stop seeing scorpions inside.

Start by doing a slow and thorough check both inside and outside for possible entryways like cracks, crevices, holes, etc. Look closely at windows, doorways, baseboards, fixtures, outlets, foundations, basements, and attics. You might want to consider installing seals at the bottom of doors and garages, too. It might sound tedious, but if you’re struggling with scorpions, it could mean the difference between a scorpion-free home and enduring an extremely painful sting or the loss of your pet.

If—or more likely when—you find any such openings, promptly seal them with caulk or another appropriate sealant.

Unfortunately, if you’ve seen a scorpion inside or outside your home, chances are there are dozens more hidden throughout your property.

TREAT YOUR LAWN

Now that your lawn is decluttered and free of debris, it’s time to spray it for scorpions. Start by spraying both your front and back yards, as well as all shrubbery, with PCO Choice to kill and help repel scorpions. Repeat this process again in two weeks, and then proceed to monthly applications after that. If you’ve yet to see a scorpion and this is just for prevention, you can move on to monthly applications right from the start. For best results, we suggest monthly applications all year long.

Because PCO Choice is plant-based and family-safe, no downtime is necessary. You, your family, and pets can enjoy your lawn right after application!

Want added protection? We suggest spreading Cedar Granules throughout your lawn, too.

TREAT YOUR HOME

Traditional indoor bug sprays can fill your home with long-lasting poisons that could seriously harm the health of you, your family, and pets. In fact, these products usually do more harm than good, as you’re usually better off having the scorpions in your house than toxic chemicals. For killing and preventing scorpions indoors, we suggest plant-based Cedarcide Original, which can be safely sprayed all throughout your home.

To kill any scorpions you find inside, give them a quick spray with family-safe Cedarcide Original. To help prevent them from coming back, also spray known entry points and hiding spots weekly. Repeat as needed.

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How to Get Rid of Ants with Cedarcide: 3 Simple Steps

Cedarcide blog post image, How to Get Rid of Ants with Cedarcide

Ants are the worst. They build dangerous mounds in our lawns that can harm our children and pets. They form annoying little lines in our kitchens, and depending on the ant, their stings can really pack a punch.

Thankfully, getting rid of ants with Cedarcide is simple—and best of all, it doesn’t involve exposing your family or pets to poisonous pesticides.

Here’s how you can keep ants away from your lawn, home, and family with 3 simple steps:

If you see ants or ant piles in your lawn, it’s only a matter of time before they find a way inside your home. Thankfully, if you get rid of the ants in your yard, you’ll often stop seeing them inside, too.

Here’s How to Do It:
Spray your entire lawn and all shrubbery with PCO Choice monthly to both kill and repel ants in all life stages. For warmer regions, this should be done every month unless the temperature drops below freezing for more than a few weeks. If you live in an area known for cold winters, start spraying monthly in late February and then taper off in November as winter sets in.

No downtime required! PCO Choice is made without harsh chemicals and is family and pet safe, meaning you can safely revisit your lawn right after application.

For extra ant prevention, spread Cedar Granules throughout your yard, especially along your home’s foundation and the areas with the most ant traffic.

Multiple ant mounds in your lawn? Commonly seeing ants inside?
For larger ant problems, spray your yard with PCO Choice twice, two weeks apart, and then move on to monthly applications after that. For bigger ant problems, we strongly advise spreading Cedar Granules throughout your yard, along your home’s foundation, and wherever you’re most commonly experiencing ants.

For stubborn ant piles, stir up the mound with a stick and saturate it with PCO Choice using your house-end sprayer. Exercise caution during this process to prevent bites and stings.

The next time you reach for a can of bug spray to kill ants inside your home, take a moment to consider the possible consequences. Traditional indoor bug sprays can fill your home with toxic chemicals, resulting in serious health complications for your family and pets—but not Cedarcide.

Family-safe Cedarcide Original is a non-toxic insecticide for use indoors, as well as directly on people and pets. Whenever you spot ants inside—like in your cabinets, on flooring, or countertops—simply spray them with Cedarcide Original.

To prevent them from coming back, spray high ant traffic areas weekly with Cedarcide Original. If you can figure out how they’re getting into your home, we strongly suggest spraying those entry points weekly, too.

The following tips will help prevent ants from returning to your lawn and home.

Ants enter our yards for food, water, and shelter. By trimming overgrown shrubbery, removing sources of water, and limiting clutter, you can substantially decrease the number of ants in your lawn
Ants move indoors in search of food and water. Keeping your home clean and free of food debris, especially flooring and your kitchen, will make your home less attractive to ants. Consider storing all food in sealed containers, too.
If you’re currently struggling with ants, consider taking the trash out daily.
Looking both outside and inside your home, check for potential ant entry points. Seal any you find with caulk or another sealant to make it harder for ants to move indoors.

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How to Prevent Bugs in Your Garden: 5 Easy Tips

Tired of seeing hungry bugs ruin your garden year after year? Well, don’t worry, because that’s not going to happen again. Not to you. Not this year. A few simple tips is all that stands between you and a garden free of costly pest damage—and we’re going to show you how to get it done. Read on for 5 easy tips for preventing destructive bugs in your garden.

While it’s tempting to cram as many plants as possible into your garden, doing so can have serious pest ramifications. Without proper circulation and space, your garden becomes even more inviting to hungry insects, as you’re now providing them with shelter, too. This also encourages garden pests to breed and live within your garden rather than simply visiting your plants from time to time to feed.

It can be a headache, especially on the weekends, but watering in the morning is a sure-fire way to decrease garden bug problems. The reasoning is simple, bugs tend to feed in the evening and drier plants are less appetizing to pests than damp ones. Plus, since your plants will have access to plenty of moisture before the day heats up, they’ll be healthier and therefore less prone to disease and pest infestation in general.

Birds, toads, and frogs are ravenous insect-eaters. You can limit your own garden bug populations by inviting these friendly allies into your yard.

Placing a small bowl of water and a toad house near your garden should attract a hungry amphibian or two (just be aware that the water might also invite mosquitoes, so keep close watch). Birds usually don’t need much of an incentive if there are already bugs around. However, if there are no natural shelters like small trees, you might need to add a birdhouse, too.

Having beneficial insects—like praying mantises, ground beetles, and ladybugs—living in your garden will dramatically decrease the number of destructive garden pests you experience.

To attract these allies, try offering a diversity of plant life of various heights that bloom at different times throughout the year. Having trees, shrubs, and turf is also essential, as they offer beneficial insects space to overwinter, allowing them to return year after year. Many beneficial insects feed on pollen and nectar, so you’ll need something that supplies those resources as well, like plants in the aster and carrot families. Other common plants that attract beneficial insects are thyme, oregano, sunflowers, and daisies.

Overripe veggies and fallen fruit are some of the biggest attractants of destructive garden pests. Firstly, they’re an easy source of food. Secondly, overly heavy fruits and veggies can make a plant less healthy, and therefore more prone to bug infestation and disease.

Keeping a close eye and picking any over-sized fruits and veggies you see before they can fall is one of the simplest and most impactful approaches to naturally control common garden pests.

Posted in BUGS & PEST CONTROL, LAWN & GARDEN and tagged beneficial insects, birdhouse, bloom, bug infestation, bugs in your garden, bugs ruin your garden, carrot, common plants that attract beneficial insects, decrease garden bug problems, destructive garden pests, diasies, diversity of plant life, fruits and veggies, garden, garden bug problems, Garden pests, ground beetles, heavy fruits, how to prevent bugs in your garden, hungry insects, insect-eaters, naturally control common garden pests, oregano, over-sized fruits, over-sized fruits and veggies, overly heavy fruits, overripe veggies, overwinter, pest infestation, pests, plant, plant life, plants, pollen, prevent bugs in your garden, prone to bug infestation, prone to bug infestation and disease, sunflowers, thyme, toad house, trees, turf, watering in the morning, your garden

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Cedarcide blog post image, The Most Destructive Garden Pests and How to Get Rid of them Naturally

The Most Destructive Garden Pests & How to Get Rid of them Naturally

Common garden pests can transform your beautiful, productive garden into a wasteland in only a matter of days. If you’re not mindful of garden bugs, all your hard work, research, and time can go down the drain quickly. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Here are the most destructive garden pests and hot to control them naturally:

Small bite marks or jagged holes in your flowers and veggies in early spring? Slime trails? Sounds like you might have slugs or snails.

NATURAL SNAIL & SLUG CONTROL

Make your own snail & slug trap by filling an empty tuna can with beer (yes, they love beer, too) and burying it in your garden, flush with the soil, wherever you’re struggling with slugs or snails. Discard it in the morning and replace as needed.

A natural slug and snail pesticide can be easily made by mixing salt and water in a spray bottle. Go out in the late evening and spray any individuals you spot in or near your garden. As a precaution, rinse your plants with water the following day.

One last tip: Always aim to water your garden in the morning. This way the plants and soil will be drier, and therefore less appetising to slugs and snails, in the evening when both pests prefer to feed.

Caterpillar problems aren’t always easy to identify, but if you notice leaves chewed on the edges and caterpillar waste, which looks like small pepper granules (usually found on leaves), you could have one already.

NATURAL CATERPILLAR CONTROL

Planting oregano and thyme is said to repel caterpillars and help keep populations to a minimum.

Handpicking caterpillars might sound gross but it’s an effective way of getting a serious caterpillar issue under control. Wearing gloves, venture out in the early evening and remove any caterpillars you see on your vegetation. Then, simply drop them in a container of soap water and discard as needed.

Earwig damage (jagged, chomped leaves) is easily confused with other insect infestations, which makes seeing actual earwigs your best bet for making a proper diagnosis.

NATURAL EARWIG CONTROL

You can make your own earwig trap with repurposed newspaper—and it’s super easy. Just moisten a few sheets of newspaper, roll them into a tube, and place them near earwig trouble areas in your garden during the evening.

While they look super scary—large, threatening-looking pinchers included—earwigs rarely cause problems for people. But just in case, wear gloves when collecting the newspapers the following morning. Then, dispose of them in such a way that the critters can’t escape and return to your lawn or garden.

Yellowing misshapen leaves covered with sticky residues are a telltale sign of aphids. Clusters of small green, yellow, white, or black bugs on the underside of leaves and near plant stems is the most obvious symptom.

NATURAL APHID CONTROL

Strong bursts of water are often enough to remove aphids from your garden plants. The next time you’re doing your morning watering, just up the pressure a little bit and you should see a reduction in your aphid population almost immediately.

For larger aphid problems, applying insecticidal soap or a non-toxic, plant-safe insecticide to affected plants every few days should get the issue under control.

Signs of Japanese beetles are fairly obvious. First, you’ll almost certainly spot them flying around as soon as they become an issue. Second, you’ll notice brown, skeletonized leaves throughout your garden.

NATURAL JAPANESE BEETLE CONTROL

When it comes to repelling and killing Japanese beetles naturally, we got you covered. Check out our article on 9 Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles Without Harsh Chemicals

Posted in BUGS & PEST CONTROL, LAWN & GARDEN and tagged caterpillar issue, caterpillar problems, caterpillars, earwig, earwig damage, earwigs, flowers, garden, garden bugs, Garden pests, get rid of japanese beetles without harsh chemicals, handpicking caterpillars, insect infestations, natural caterpillar control, natural slug and snail pesticide, natural snail, oregano, planting oregano and thyme, repel caterpillars, slime trails, slug control, slug trap, slugs and snails, slugs or snails, snail pesticide, snails, The most destructive Garden Pests, thyme, water your garden

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Houseplant Pest Prevention: 5 Tips

If you’re a plant parent, sooner or later you’re going to come across a creepy-crawly or two—or, more likely, a few dozen. After all, when you bring a piece of nature indoors, usually nature brings a few friends along with her. While there’s no real way to completely prevent this from happening, by taking a few simple precautions you can greatly reduce the number of houseplant bugs you encounter. Chances are, you’ll save a few plant lives, too.

Here are 5 houseplant pest prevention tips:

Not only is this the most obvious tip to prevent houseplant pests, it’s also arguably the most effective. Before taking any new plant babies home, do a careful and thorough inspection. Look closely for webbing, odd leaf discolorations, sickly looking stems, as well as actual insects, too. Take your time and pay close attention, pest symptoms can be subtle and quite small.

If you happen to notice anything out of the ordinary while plant shopping, let an employee know. This will allow the shop to isolate the plant, treat it for bugs, and will help prevent other shoppers from taking home an infested houseplant.

To prevent potential bug problems from spreading, it’s a good rule of thumb to isolate new plants from your current collection for around 30-60 days. This will give you ample time to carefully observe your new plant baby for signs of illness or infestation before introducing it to the rest of your plant family.

Whether it’s a new addition from your local nursery or an old one you’re reusing, planters should always be deep cleaned before each use. This will significantly decrease the likelihood of cross-contamination for not only pests but also fungi and harmful bacteria.

To clean pots, fill your kitchen sink with a mixture of water, natural dish soap, and ¼ cup vinegar. Scrub for several minutes, dry, and you’re ready to re-pot!

It might seem obvious: but always use fresh, sterile soil. Using soil that’s been left outside unsealed or previously used soil is just asking for trouble. Eggs, bacteria, fungi, and various harmful insects are all known pitfalls.

While doing your weekly waterings, make a habit of also closely inspecting each of your plant babies and giving them a quick clean. Large-leaved plants like Alocasias and Monsteras will especially benefit from weekly washes, as dust and other debris can quickly accumulate on their big leaves, which can interfere with photosynthesis.

Take this time to look for signs of houseplant bugs, such as sickly leaves and stems, webbing, or sticky residues. If you spot anything, immediately isolate the plant and consider lightly spraying it 1-2 a week with a non-toxic, plant-safe insecticide.

To clean your houseplant’s leaves, simply spritz it with water and wipe it dry with a microfiber cloth.

Posted in BUGS & PEST CONTROL, LAWN & GARDEN, NATURAL LIFESTYLE and tagged Alocasia, alocasias, bug problems, clean planters, clean your houseplant, houseplant, houseplant bugs, houseplant pest, houseplant pest prevention, houseplant pest prevention tips, houseplants, infested houseplant, large-leaved plants, local nursery, Monstera, monsteras, pest prevention, pest prevention tips, pest symptoms, plant babies, plant parent, plant shopping, pots, prevent potential bug problems, quarantine new plants, sickly leaves, signs of houseplant bugs, sterile soil, waterings

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How to Get Rid of Bugs in Houseplants

Houseplants are so, so cool—houseplant bugs so aren’t. Whether you currently have houseplants or planning to beautify your home with some soon, you’re going to face bugs at some point or another. It’s just part of being a plant parent. In fact, there’s a good chance bugs are slowly killing one or more of your plants at this very moment, and you just simply haven’t noticed yet.

Because there are no natural predators indoors, houseplant pests multiply very quickly. One day your plant’s thriving, the next it’s wilting under the weight of a dozen hungry insects. Before you lose a loved one—like the stunning Monstera lighting up your living room, or that new Alocasia your friends can’t stop talking about—school yourself on the common houseplant bugs below. Here is How to Get Rid of Bugs in Houseplants:

Usually green but sometimes white, yellow or even black, aphids are soft bodied insects that reproduce at an alarming rate. A few individuals can become a colony that overwhelms your plant seemingly overnight. As they feed on your houseplant’s sap, robbing it of vital nutrients, aphids weaken both stems and leaves, causing stunted growth and eventually the death of your plant.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Aphids can often be spotted in clusters on stems and the underside of leaves. If you’re dealing with green aphids, they’re not always the easiest to see, so take notice if your plant’s leaves suddenly become sticky with an unknown residue. This substance, called honeydew, is essentially just aphid poo. Gross, right!?

WHAT TO DO:
A few strong blasts of water is usually enough to remove aphids from your houseplant, though it can take several rounds to get rid of them all. Repeat as needed if you notice they’ve returned. And of course, exercise caution to not damage your precious plant in the process. Non-toxic, plant-safe pesticides and insecticidal soap also work great against aphids.

Fungus gnats are tiny black flies that can inhabit houseplants. While annoying, the adults aren’t much to worry about, but the larvae can do serious damage as they feed on root systems in addition to other organic matter in plant soil. Fungus gnats are mostly a threat to younger plants, but if a population gets large enough, they can certainly harm your mature houseplants, too.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Fungus gnats aren’t hard to identify: if you see small black flying bugs surrounding your houseplant, you almost certainly have fungus gnats.

WHAT TO DO:
First thing: avoid overwatering. Overly moist soil is a huge attractant for fungus gnats. Placing dryer sheets around affected plants, can also help considerably. Similarly, installing flypaper around the plant can do wonders for shrinking a fungus gnat population. To kill eggs and larvae in your soil, lightly spray it weekly with a non-toxic, plant-safe insecticide.

These white, fluffy insects are among the most difficult houseplant pests to get rid of. As they suck the sap from your plant’s stems, they slowly but inevitably cause fatal dehydration to your plant baby.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Mealybug infestations are quite easy to spot. These durable bugs are usually found bunched up on stem joints and look almost exactly like tiny cotton balls. Plants infested with mealybugs will appear somewhat dehydrated, no matter how often you water them.

WHAT TO DO:
If you catch them early, mealybugs can often be controlled with plant-safe insecticides, by removing infested stems, or by rubbing individuals with cotton swabs soaked in rubbing alcohol. They can also sometimes be removed by a strong jet of water in the shower. However, more developed mealybug problems are, sadly, usually terminal, requiring you to toss infested plants in order to save your other plant babies from infestation.

Like mealybugs, scales are small insects that suck sap from your plant’s stems, slowly killing them via dehydration. Also like mealybugs, they can be extremely difficult to treat, in large part due to their hard shell which effectively shields them against predators and traditional pesticides.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Small oval-shaped insects, ranging from tan to brown, typically found on the underside of leaves and around stem joints.

WHAT TO DO:
While they can be prevented by regularly applying non-toxic, plant-safe insecticides to your houseplant, once a scale issue has taken hold, it’s usually too late for pesticides to do much good. At that point, your best bet is to try removing them with a soft brush or something with a fine edge like a credit card.

Bordering on microscopic, spider mites are red arachnids that get their name from the telltale webbing they leave on the plants they inhabit.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Apart from their webbing and the damage they cause, spider mites can be all but impossible to notice. If your houseplant has spider mites, you’ll probably notice a loss of leaf color, as well as yellow or brown markings throughout.

WHAT TO DO:
Especially early on, spider mites can be somewhat easily controlled simply by keeping your plant’s leaves and stems moist. A daily spritz with a spray bottle filled with water should be sufficient. For larger problems, spraying more often and applying a non-toxic, plant-safe miticide will do the trick. It’s also a good idea to isolate plants suspected of mite infestation from your other houseplants.

Small, white and almost always seen in clouds as opposed to individually, whiteflies occupy houseplants and gradually leach them of their moisture, resulting in sickly, distorted-looking leaves. They usually won’t outright kill your houseplant, but they’ll definitely make it look far less attractive.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
Are there dozens of small, white flies on or around your houseplant? If so, it looks like you picked up a whitefly problem. Plants infested with whiteflies often have leaves covered in waxy or sticky residues, and sometimes even darkish mold.

WHAT TO DO:
Getting rid of whiteflies is similar to getting rid of fungus gnats. Placing dryer sheets and flypaper immediately adjacent to infested plants will significantly reduce your whitefly population. To kill the rest, we suggest reaching for a non-toxic, plant-safe insecticide. Because adult whiteflies can leave a plant once it’s sprayed, it’s important to keep spraying the plant every few days or so until the issue is completely resolved.

Posted in BUGS & PEST CONTROL, LAWN & GARDEN, NATURAL LIFESTYLE and tagged adult whiteflies, affected plants, Alocasia, aphid poo, aphids, common houseplant bugs, dryer sheets, fluffy insects, flypaper, fungus gnats, honeydew, houseplant, houseplant has spider mites, houseplant pests, houseplants, houseplants sap, housplants, how to get rid of bugs in houseplants, infested stems, inhabit houseplants, insecticidal soap, kill eggs, kill eggs and larvae, kill your houseplant, larvae in your soil, leaf color, mature houseplants, mealybug infestations, mealybug problems, mealybugs, mite infestation, mites, moist soil, Monstera, non-toxic, non-toxic plant-safe pesticides, oval-shaped insects, overwatering, pesticides, plant, plant babies, plant baby, plant-safe insecticide, red arachnids, root systems, sap, scale, small black flying bugs, small insects that suck sap from your plants stems, spraying the plant, stem joints, tiny black flies, traditional pesticides, underside of leaves, white flies, white fluffy insects, whiteflies, whitefly, whitefly problem, yardsafe, yardsafe for houseplants, younger plants

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How to Get Ready for Flea & Tick Season: 3 Steps

The warm weather’s here and so are the fleas and ticks. Here are 3 tips to protect you, your pets, family, and your home from these troublesome pests.

1. Protect You & Your Pets

In addition to preventing harmful bites, regularly applying non-toxic repellents to you and your fur babies will keep fleas and ticks from hitching a ride into your yard and home.

2. Keep Fleas & Ticks Out of Your Yard

If there are fleas and ticks in your lawn, your family or pets are going to get bitten. Monthly pet-safe lawn treatments are essential to controlling unwanted bug populations.

3. Safeguard Your Home

Periodically treating pet bedding, kennels, and other pet spaces with a naturally sourced insecticide will help keep your home a flea and tick-free space.

Posted in BUGS & PEST CONTROL, CATS, DOGS, LAWN & GARDEN, PETS and tagged flea, flea & tick brush, flea & tick season, fleas, fleas & ticks, fleas and ticks, fleas and ticks in your lawn, harmful bites, how to get ready for flea & tick season, keep fleas & ticks out of your yard, non-toxic repellents, pet bedding, pet safe, pets, tick, tick-free, tick-free space, ticks, unwanted bug populations

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Cedarcide Blog Post Image, How to Keep Pests Away with Cedarcide Granules

5 Ways to Keep Pests Away With Cedar Granules

Our popular Cedar Granules are a 100% natural approach to protect your lawn, home, and family from harmful bugs. Here are 5 of our favorites:

Prevent Bugs from Entering Your Yard & Home

A layer of Cedar Granules spread along your home’s foundation and fence line creates a powerful defense against fleas, ants, mites, and other biting insects.