The likelihood of pests nesting and spreading on the beds and plant tables in the greenhouse is relatively low if regular and particularly careful checks of the plant population are carried out. Otherwise, use beneficial insects instead of chemicals to combat them.
Snails can cause a lot of damage in the greenhouse
Pests play just as inglorious a role in your greenhouse as they do in outdoor crops. With ideal climate and soil conditions, they often find a better habitat under glass than outside and can multiply particularly quickly and thus cause major damage, for example to vegetable beds. A small number of aphids is not a devastating danger, but the earlier a possible infestation is noticed, the faster the plague is eliminated. Therefore, it can only be strongly recommended that all plants regularly and thoroughly from top to bottom and to check for suspicious spots down to the leaves.
Recognize the most important pests
Many of the unwanted invaders not only like to eat the young plants in particular, but also spread pathogens that can spread almost rapidly to the rest of the plant population. Here is a brief overview of the most dangerous representatives:
| pest species | identifying features | Endangered Plants |
|---|---|---|
| ants | distribute aphids and settle in the ground in large groups; to infest the roots; | all tub and pot plants as well as the entire rearing on the basic beds; |
| scale insects | round, often light brown incrustations and sticky excretions (honeydew); | citrus, palm and container plants; wintering indoor plants; |
| caterpillars | extensive pitting especially on leaves; deposition of larvae; | all cabbages, bulbous plants, infestations of vines and ornamental plants; |
| snails | extensive feeding sites, preferably on leaves; | all types of vegetables, flowers and direct sowing; |
| miner flies | Mainly affecting the leaves with numerous puncture sites; | vegetables, especially tomatoes and cucumbers, and flowers and ornamental plants; |
| spider mites | lightening and mottling of the leaves; initially small dots that grow into cobwebs; | Beans, cucumbers and other vegetables and ornamental plants such as ivy or hibiscus; |
| white bow tie | Leaves sticky at first and later get dark coatings; Eggs and larvae below leaves; | many ornamental plants such as poinsettias and fuchsias, as well as vegetables (tomatoes and cucumbers); |
Repel greenhouse pests with beneficial insects
This is more of a preventive measure of crop protection in the greenhouse. On this topic we have prepared a special post that shows many approaches to this very popular way of natural pest control. The beneficial insects leave whole during the growing season purposefully lure them into the home garden and find about the greenhouse vents often even find their way to their biological enemies on their own. If this method does not work, beneficial insects specially bred for such applications are available from the relevant garden specialist shops, which only have to be exposed in order to then eliminate the right greenhouse pests.
tips
Even if you often seem to get faster success in combating your greenhouse pests if chemical warfare agents are used to combat the insect invasion: Avoid using them if possible. Not only for the sake of the environment, but also so that the remaining plant population is not attacked by insecticides and possibly destroyed.