If you have a hydroponic garden you may be at risk from a variety of pests at certain times of the year. Without some help and advice from professionals, pests may take over your garden and ruin your crops. Fungus gnats are one of the most common pests found in hydroponic gardens and if they are not terminated quickly they can go on to destroy all of your plants.
These gnats can come in through an open window or you may bring them in from outside on your clothing. They will lay eggs on your plants and when the larvae hatch they will cause havoc amongst your crop. Let’s have a look at a few ways to get rid of these and other pests:
- Make sure that all of your windows are covered with mesh screens. You can also get screens to cover doors and other openings. It is important that you choose a fine enough mesh to ensure that small mites and gnats cannot enter.
- Make sure that you keep your hydroponic garden clean and tidy. Throw away any old plants and rubbish that might harbour pests. Don’t leave piles of rubbish in your garden for lengthy periods of time.
- Contact a local pest control expert and get them to make regular visits to your garden. They will be able to evaluate your situation and develop a maintenance schedule that should keep pests at bay.
- Ensure that your hydroponic system is well maintained and doesn’t allow water to stand for long periods of time. Keeping your system reasonably dry will deter many types of fungus from growing and this will help to keep out the dreaded fungus gnats.
Spider mites are another type of pest that will damage your crop and may even kill your plants. They can cause a lot of trouble in indoor gardens that are dry and warm. By looking under the leaves of your plants, you will be able to check if you have a spider mite infestation. There are a couple of different types of spider mite, the first type is red with small black spots and the second type is small and plain black. They are quite easy to spot if you lift up the leaves on your plants. Spider mites lay thousands of eggs so it is easy to see how an infestation can get out of hand.
One of the first things you should do if you find spider mites on your plants is to isolate the pest-ridden plants immediately. This can help to stop the mites from spreading to other plants. There are a number of treatments available for treating infestations of spider mites, your pest control expert will be able to offer you some advice on what to use.
Preventing the spider mites from infesting your plants is of course the best option. By keeping your hydroponic garden clean, you will reduce the chances of pests becoming a problem. You might want to set yourself a schedule to check your plants on a regular basis; this preventative maintenance could help you to avoid an infestation that may destroy all of your plants.
