What ails your houseplants may be easier to diagnose and cure than you think. This guide will help you determine whether your potted plants are suffering from insects, disease, or other problems and suggests ways to nurse your plant back to health. These simple solutions will turn caring for your houseplants into a joy rather than a frustrating chore.

Insects
Aphids
Symptoms

• Clusters of tiny, soft, sticky dots, especially dense on young, tender growth. 
• Insects may be brown, green, red, or black. 
• The plant may feel sticky and may have shiny spots on leaves.

Solutions

• Wash plants under a strong stream of water, rubbing the insects off with your hands.
  
• Avoid overwatering and overfertilizing, which encourage the insects.

Mealybugs
Symptoms

• Clusters of white, cottony-looking insects, most often found on undersides of leaves or where leaves meet stems.

Solutions

• Touch sites of infestation with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol.
• Plants under stress are most susceptible, so maintain their health and vigor.

Scale Insects
Symptoms

• Small waxy dots or disks clinging tightly to leaves.
• Insects may be brown, black, gray, white, or red.
• Leaves are discolored and sticky.

Solutions

• Wash entire plant with warm, soapy water and a soft cloth. For spiny plants such as cacti, use a skewer wrapped with a cloth soaked in warm, soapy water.
• Isolate infested plant until scales have died and dropped off.

Spider Mites
Symptoms

• Unhealthy-looking leaves stippled with tiny yellow or brown spots.
• Light webbing appears over leaves and stems as infestation becomes well established.
• The mites are tiny, but their brown fecal pellets can be seen, especially on undersides of leaves.

Solutions

• Isolate infested plants immediately, and wash hands well after handling.
• Spray plants with insecticidal soap, covering thoroughly.
• Increase humidity by misting frequently as spider mites thrive in dry conditions.