"Common plant pests include mealybugs, scale, spider mites, fungus gnats, thrips, and slugs," says Erin Marino, plant expert and director of marketing at plant company The Sill. "These pests might sound creepy crawly, but it’s important to remember these bugs are only interested in your plants—not you, your pets, or your furniture."

Even just being near greenery can boost your mood, so you want to keep your plants happy and healthy. Wondering how to keep bugs out of indoor plants? Read ahead for gardener-approved pest prevention methods, including homemade indoor plant bug sprays and non-toxic treatments for your plant's soil.

Why are there tiny bugs in my houseplants?

Plants often attract bugs when they’re in poor health or if their environment is subpar. For example, fungus gnats appear when you've over-watered your plant, and spider mites are attracted to leaves that are covered in dust.

"When your plants are stressed, they actually can attract pests," says Jesse Waldman, former director of marketing and e-commerce at Pistils Nursery in Portland, Oregon. "Poorly cared-for plants, a plant that's experiencing stress, whether that's water-stress or light-stress, or just any of those sorts of environmental factors that make your plant happy or unhappy. If it's stressed out, it's possible that it will become more likely that it will get a pest."

While pests can certainly invade an otherwise well-kept plant, pests tend to leave healthy, happy plants alone.

Common types of houseplant bugs

Identifying the type of plant pest you’re dealing with is the first step to getting rid of them for good. Ahead are the most common bugs that plague houseplants.

Spider mites

If you see some webbing on your plant and little white dots in a circle, you probably have spider mites, says Monique Leonard-Segovia, professional gardener and owner of Texas-based plant shop The Brown Thumb. “Spider mites are worse than mealy bugs–they're really hard to get rid of, and they can infest your plant really, really fast.”

Mealybugs

Mealybugs are small, oval white bugs that secrete sugary wax. Mealybugs love indoor plants, and since one female can lay up to 600 eggs (HUH?!), they pose a great threat to vulnerable or sick houseplants. “They’re the little white nasty bugs that you get on the back of your plants–they look like cotton,” explains Leonard-Segovia.

Aphids

Coming in several different colors, shapes, and species, aphids are a quickly-reproducing type of common bug that likes to suck the sap out of plants, causing them to droop and appear weak.

Fungus gnats

Fungus gnats are super tiny black bugs that often get mistaken for fruit flies. These tiny black bugs thrive in moist conditions and love to set up shop inside the soil of overwatered plants whose roots have begun to decay.

Clover mites

Have you ever spotted a group of itsy-bitsy red bugs on plants, scurrying across their leaves quickly? These tiny red bugs are called clover mites, and they’re one of the most common bugs to find on indoor houseplants. These critters tend to invade houses during the springtime and, thankfully, only reproduce outside, meaning they’ll likely dehydrate and die off quickly within the confines of your home.