Ornamental asparagus is a robust houseplant. But care mistakes and pests can weaken the plant. Then help is needed quickly.
Most of the supposed diseases of ornamental asparagus (Asparagus densiflorus) can be traced back to care mistakes that are easy to remedy. This means that if you act quickly and fix the care mistakes, the plant will recover quite quickly. This is precisely why the ornamental asparagus is particularly suitable for beginners who have not yet gained a lot of experience in dealing with plants.
However, the plant often does not show any care mistakes and yet it looks different than usual. Then it can be that spider mites or scale insects spread on the plant. Then it is important to act quickly to save the plant.
Avoid common care mistakes
» Discoloration of the leaves
If the false leaves of the ornamental asparagus turn yellow and gradually begin to fall off, there is a high probability that it is due to drought or a lack of nutrients. How to fix it:
- Water more ornamental asparagus in the future
- Transplant ornamental asparagus into nutrient-rich substrate
- Provide ornamental asparagus regularly with commercially available green plant fertilizer
» shoots without leaves
If your ornamental asparagus forms overly long shoots without leaves, the plant is too dark. Just move the ornamental asparagus to a brighter spot and the growth of these light shoots will stop.
Detecting and controlling spider mites
Infestation with spider mites is relatively common in ornamental asparagus. The presence of the spider mites can be recognized by the fine, white webs. The pests themselves are between half a millimeter and one millimeter long, have eight legs and can be greenish, orange or brownish in colour. The eyes can be seen as red dots under a strong magnifying glass.
Spider mites need a warm, dry environment to thrive. Choose a slightly cooler location for your ornamental asparagus and spray the false leaves regularly with water. If the infestation is severe, proceed as follows:
- Put decorative asparagus in the shower tray
- Rinse gently from all sides
- dripping wetCover plant with plastic bag
- Close the plastic bag with string and leave the ornamental asparagus in the bag for a day
- Repeat the process at intervals of several days, if necessary
Detecting and controlling scale insects
Scab bugs leave sticky excrements. The substance is colorless or whitish transparent. Examine your ornamental asparagus thoroughly if you notice such a coating on the plant or in the immediate vicinity. You can recognize the animals by their curved back shells, which are usually green or brown in color. Scale insects should be fought quickly because of their strong willingness to reproduce. If left untreated, the leaves will stunted in a relatively short time.
You can choose from ladybugs, lacewings, gall midges and parasitic wasps as biological allies against scale insects. However, their use only makes sense in closed rooms. In the garden, the beneficial insects find too much other food. Individual scale insects in the early stages of infestation can be collected with tweezers. For chemical control, there are systemic agents that are first absorbed by the plant and then by the scale insects.