Understanding The Basics of Managing Pests in Small Greenhouses

A Cross Country hobby greenhouse

A greenhouse offers the perfect kick-start to a fruitful and rewarding gardening journey.

It helps minimize plant growth risks and allows gardeners to create a more suitable gardening environment. Greenhouses make heating, cooling, moisture controlling, and planting tasks easier and less complicated. And you always have the option to accessorize a greenhouse with advanced tools for better performance and plant health.

But the risk of pests and mites affecting your plants always lurks around. You must learn about the most common and effective pest management techniques to mitigate this risk. Pests are a nuisance, and can destroy all kinds of plants if left undealt.

Mulberry Greenhouses is here with yet another useful guide to pest management in small greenhouses. Continue reading to learn more.

A snail eating a leaf

Know Your Greenhouse Plants’ Enemies

Greenhouse gardeners don’t have to worry about all kinds of pests and insects that can affect their plants. The specie entirely depends on what you’re growing in a particular season. For example, greenhouse flies have various strains. White, silver, and winged white flies can attack your plants in different seasons.

Reports show that a chemical that kills whitefly doesn’t work for silver fly prevention. Therefore, proper pest identification is the key to effective pest management.

An infected Aloe Vera plant

Sanitation and Hygiene

Your plants need a sanitary and clean environment to grow and thrive. Smaller greenhouses are easier to maintain and clean but more vulnerable to moisture issues. Pests love humid spaces. They tend to reproduce in dark corners and slowly seep into the soil or plants.

Sanitation is the ultimate booster for any greenhouse’s performance. You can maximize the bang for your buck by implementing proper cleaning and disinfecting techniques. Ensure your greenhouse is well-lit, swept, and free of weeds that can attract pests.

Thrip Prevention

Rats, mice, and other insects can access your small greenhouse through holes and drainage systems. Planting shrubs and narrow-bladed greens across the walls is a great way to prevent these troublemakers from entering your greenhouse. Avoid all sorts of perennials and broadleaf vegetation around your greenhouse.

A rat infecting greenhouse plants

Thrips also survive in colder climates and months after the season is over. They attach to weeds and trash for an easier transition to the next season’s crops. Invest in a good quality greenhouse heater or thermostat to prevent thrip infections.

Greenhouse Pest Control

Here are a few tips to keep your greenhouse pest-free:

  • Pour some olive oil onto a plate to ward off aphids, fruit flies, and vinegar flies
  • Use sticky cards near more vulnerable plants to prevent pests and replace these cards weekly
  • Use insecticidal soaps to kill pests like bugs, flies, mealybugs, and thrips
  • When spraying an insecticide on your plants, don’t forget the under-leaf area
  • Treat greenhouse plants weekly to get rid of an ongoing infestation
  • Try using natural insecticides such as neem oil before opting for a chemical-based pest management medicine
  • Use gloved hands to pick caterpillars and slugs, as they’re easier to spot and eliminate. Put them in a bowl of soapy water and discard them later

 

Quality Greenhouse Kits and Greenhouse Accessories for Sale

Mulberry Greenhouses prioritizes customer satisfaction and product quality. We’re a leading greenhouse kit, and greenhouse accessories distributor offering reliable products are reasonable prices. You can count on us for original branded greenhouses and high-performance greenhouse fans, heaters, vents, louvers, pollinators, and more.

We offer Solexx, Cross Country, Monticello greenhouse for sale, Riga greenhouse for sale, Lumen & Forge, Janssens, and many other greenhouse brands under one roof.

Contact us for more details, and browse our products to find what you’re looking for!

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