As a grower, you will come across many unwanted situations in your garden and grow room. One of these is fungi and pest infestation. As much as you dislike dealing with an infestation, you will have to face it at some point in time.

You can implement strategies to reduce the likelihood of an infestation, but it is highly unlikely that you can completely eliminate this risk. Excess humidity or non-ideal temperatures can act as breeding grounds for pests and diseases and taking steps to prevent them can be highly effective measures.

When things are going out of control, you can check out Groindoor.com’s collection of fungicides, pesticides, neem oil, and traps to prevent bug infestations and breakout of diseases.

How to keep bugs away from your plants?

Keeping a keen eye on the environmental conditions in your grow room is the best possible measure you can take. Your plants will be prone to infestations if the humidity and temperature are on the higher end. Installing and using air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and fans can help you keep things under control.

Identifying pests on plants

The first step towards solving an infestation is identifying the pest that is destroying your plants. These are some common pests that you will find in your garden or grow room and a brief description of how you can identify them.

• Aphids – Bugs that can be found in three colors: gray, green or black. They are commonly found on plants near the stem and cause yellow leaves by sucking the juice out of them.
• Spider mites – These are arachnids with oval bodies and high destruction capacity. They puncture leaves by biting them off leaving them to die if immediate measures are not taken. They are commonly found underneath the leaves and breed incredibly quickly making early detection a necessity.
• Fungus gnats – These insects feed on the plant’s roots halting growth altogether. You can identify them by their black color, clear wings, and lanky legs.
• Whiteflies – Whiteflies cause damage similar to that of spider mites leaving the leaves with white spots. They look like small white moths and can even cause mold-related issues.

Getting rid of pests

Eradication happens to be the simplest part of pest control. The real difficulty is identification. You can ease through the identification process using a hanging trap. Once you are sure there is an infestation that you need to deal with, your best bet against the problem is a pesticide or insecticide. Growers do not prefer using them due to health concerns; luckily, at Groindoor.com, we carry organic insecticides as well as OMRI listed pesticides.

Our article on controlling garden pests can also be of help!

How to protect plants from pests naturally?

You can control pests naturally by ensuring the environment is fully sealed off and that temperature and humidity do not exceed the ideal range. This can be done using a grow tent, as it makes it impossible for pests to enter your environment. In case you still find pests, you can simply use sulfur burners and evaporators to ensure the pests do not come near your plants.

A great natural alternative to pesticides is neem oil. It is not very harsh on the foliage and is an ideal solution for small pest-related problems. Our guide on how to use neem oil will help you in understanding the science behind using neem oil. You can couple neem oil with insecticidal soaps which is also a natural remedy for pest infestations. Read our guide on how to use insecticidal soaps to learn more.

Common diseases in plants

These are some of the most common diseases in plants:

• Powdery mildew (PM) – This is a result of a fungal infection appearing as a white powdery residue and leaves the plants pale yellow and, in most cases, it causes a fuzzy white abrasion on the underside of the leaves. It also stunts plant growth. Are your plants infected? Check out our guide on preventing and treating powdery mildew.
• Mold – It starts off as small spots on the leaves turning into a fuzzy, gray abrasion ultimately becoming brown and mushy. One sign of mold is that it looks like wet baking soda on the leaves. It causes leaves to dry off and appear bleached and tattered.
• Root rot – Water excess and soil-borne pathogen cause this problem. It leads to stunting plant growth, mushy roots and wilting in leaves.
• Bud rot – Bud rot causes molds in the buds. The timing of the disease makes it specially frustrating since it infects plants right before harvest.

How to prevent plant diseases?

As with all plant-related problems, disease prevention is better than cure. Controlling the moisture in the environment can protect plants from mold and fungi, which thrive in excess moisture. Dehumidifiers can be life savers if you want to prevent mold and mildew.

Using fungicides to get rid of pests

If all preventative measures fail, you can still use a fungicide to eradicate diseases from your foliage. Use the fungicide with a garden sprayer if it does not come with a spray bottle. You can find organic and OMRI listed fungicides at Groindoor.com.

If you would like to speak to one of our experienced growers, give us a call today at 866-GRO-INDR