Pests
Aphids
Quick answer
How do I get rid of aphids on indoor plants?
Aphids are soft, pear-shaped insects, usually green or black, clustering on new shoots and flower buds. Rinse them off with a strong spray of water, then treat with insecticidal soap every 5–7 days until no new ones appear — they reproduce fast, but they're one of the easiest pests to clear.
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Indoors, aphids usually arrive on a new plant, a bunch of flowers, or a plant that spent the summer outside. Females give birth to live young without mating, so numbers explode within days.
How to tell
- Clusters of small (1–3 mm), soft, pear-shaped insects on shoot tips, flower buds and the undersides of young leaves; green, black, yellow or pink.
- Curled, twisted or puckered new leaves.
- Sticky honeydew on leaves below, and white cast skins that look like dandruff.
How to get rid of them
- Isolate the plant.
- Rinse them off in the shower or sink with a firm spray of lukewarm water, or wipe them off by hand.
- Spray with insecticidal soap, covering shoot tips and leaf undersides.
- Repeat every 5–7 days until no new aphids appear, usually two to three rounds.
- Pinch off badly distorted shoot tips; the plant regrows from below.
How to prevent them
Check new plants and cut flowers before bringing them in, inspect plants coming back from a summer outdoors, and go easy on high-nitrogen fertiliser, which produces the soft, fast growth aphids like best.
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Follow the label on any spray or treatment, test it on one leaf first, and keep pets away from treated plants until they're dry.