Beneficial Insects For Effortless Houseplant Pest Management

Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When I visited the Seattle Spheres and saw the famous green wall with its 40,000 plants, I was mesmerized. But what really caught my eye were these strange little plastic baggies hanging off some stems. I wondered if they were hurting the plants at first. But then I looked closer, I realized those bags were filled with insects. Beneficial insects, to be exact. And they were there to manage pests naturally.

So if you’re like me and have struggled with pests like spider mites, thrips, or mealybugs on your plants, this episode with Jamie Stanton from DMV Beneficials should show you how beneficial insects work in deterring pests naturally.

GET THE FREE HOUSEPLANT PEST CONTROL DOWNLOAD HERE

In this episode, we learn:

[02:34] Download my new houseplant pest guide for free!
[03:37] Meet Jamie from DMV Beneficials
[06:59] What is a “beneficial insect” and what makes it beneficial?
[09:59] Why not just use pesticides?
[12:01] How do these beneficial predators work with your houseplants?
[13:42] What are the risks of releasing beneficial insects in your home?
[14:38] Can beneficial insects sting us?
[15:19] Never worry about water restriction ever again by picking up a copy of "The Water Smart Garden" by Noelle Johnson
[16:32] Discover high-quality organic gardening products with Espoma Organic
[18:22] Stay away from these beneficial insects!
[20:42] How to get started
[28:10] Can we see the mites we release?
[29:35] Beneficial insect against scales
[29:46] Effective thrips management
[33:44] Can you use beneficials in tandem with pesticides?
[34:51] Top houseplant pests that give the most headaches
[41:31] How does sustainability play into beneficials?
[48:19] Where to find DMV Beneficials near you

Mentioned in our conversation:

GET THE FREE HOUSEPLANT PEST CONTROL DOWNLOAD HERE

Learn how to use beneficial insects to protect your houseplants,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Follow Jamie

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Follow DMV Beneficials

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Espoma Organic

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Quarto: The Water-Smart Garden by Noelle Johnson

Grab a copy of The Water-Smart Garden by Noelle Johnson at your favorite local bookstore, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, quarto.com, or amazon.com to get inspired and take action on your garden.

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When I went to the Seattle Spheres and I got to see the famous green wall that was filled with
0:04.8	40,000 plants indoors, I was puzzled to see these slim, like, plastic-looking baggies that were
0:11.4	hanging off of various plant stems. And when I went in for a closer look, I realized that these
0:16.2	unassuming bags were actually filled with beneficial insects and played a crucial part in the pest management
0:22.3	of such a large plant installation. I also got asked to step away from the plants by a docent
0:28.4	because I was looking at the bags too closely. But more importantly, beneficial insects have
0:33.3	been used on commercial house plant growing for decades, meaning insects that eat the common
0:38.5	house plant pests that we know and loathe, but only recently has the brilliant use of
0:44.3	beneficiaries started being used as a common houseplant hobbyist practice. Now you might be thinking,
0:50.1	Maria, you're telling me that you want me to bring bugs into my home to eat the bugs on my house plant?
0:55.2	Why, yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you.
0:57.3	But really, that's what today's guest, who is a expert on this matter, is going to share with you should you choose this adventure in your plant parent journey.
1:06.2	Get ready.
1:17.8	Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more
1:22.6	joy in our lives by doing so.
1:25.0	I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady, author of Growing
1:29.0	Joy, The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness, Speaker, Podcaster, and most importantly,
1:33.9	your new best plant friend. On Growing Joy with Plants, you'll find conversations about house plant
1:38.5	care, gardening tutorials, and wellness through the lens of plants.
1:42.5	Plant care is self-care on growing joy.
1:51.6	Hi, plant friends. Maria here.
1:54.2	If you're new here, I'm Maria.
	...

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