- Fungus gnats often come into the house with the potting soil
- Control different types of lice
- Thrips are usually found on the underside of leaves
The reasons for yellow spots and other signs of damage on the dragon tree are not always due to care errors or an unsuitable location. The often tiny pests sometimes cause problems for the plants when they are not even clearly visible to the naked eye.
Lice are best cleaned off with a soft soap solution
Fungus gnats often come into the house with the potting soil
The so-called fungus gnats are relatively annoying in your own living space, but they don't do anything to the indoor plants themselves. The danger for plants like the dragon tree comes from the larvae of these mosquitoes. The female fungus gnats like to lay their eggs in the moist plant substrate. The easy way to prevent a fungus gnat infestation is to switch to hydroponics when caring for your dragon tree.
Control different types of lice
Lice species such as scale or mealybugs can spread easily under the following conditions:
- dry heating air
- very warm temperatures
- undisturbed propagation without wiping the leaves or repotting
A lice infestation can be unsightly not only because of the yellow spots on the leaves, but also when the white threads of the mealybugs cover the leaves. In addition to chemical control agents, mechanical methods such as scrubbing with a soft sponge in combination with a soft soap or paraffin oil solution promise good results in fighting back.
Thrips are usually found on the underside of leaves
The black-brown thrips are about 1 to 3 mm long and should actually be easier to recognize with their brown-black coloring than mealybugs, for example. The common thing about these pests, however, is that they often sit unnoticed on the underside of the leaf and can thus cause the dragon tree to slowly die off unnoticed. In addition to the usual agents from the spray agent shelf, mechanical removal of the infestation also helps against thrips.
tips
To combat thrips and various types of lice, it is recommended to cover the dragon tree with an airtight plastic bag for about three days after showering the leaves and place it in a less sunny place. This is said to be helpful in combating residual lice on the leaf axils and other hard-to-reach places.