Hello,
my indoor ficus tree appears very healthy, and it drops a few yellow leaves per week (I assume thats a healthy rate?). However, over the past few months about 20 leaves have become coated in fuzzy white spots that do not simply wipe off like dust.
Here is a picture of one leaf I pulled from the tree (both pictures are the same leaf, one underside and the other overside)
Please lend me your expert suggestions on how to solve this organically
thanks!
[img]https://i54.tinypic.com/1izmds.jpg[/img]
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DoubleDogFarm
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 6113
- Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm
hi, thanks for the reply
I looked up whitefly, but all the images of whitefly appear to show some traces of dead/live flies. I have found no flies at all. I did see a tiny grey bug in the soil, but I'm guessing thats normal
maybe I should remove all the infected leaves? I would guess there are 30ish
I looked up whitefly, but all the images of whitefly appear to show some traces of dead/live flies. I have found no flies at all. I did see a tiny grey bug in the soil, but I'm guessing thats normal
maybe I should remove all the infected leaves? I would guess there are 30ish
I wish the pic would enlarge when I click on it, but it doesn't. I can't see enough fine detail to make a determination. 
You say the white spots "do not simply wipe off like dust", but can you wipe them off at all? Have you tried wiping a leaf with rubbing alcohol? I'm thinking it might be ficus scale disease.
If the white spots don't come off with rubbing alcohol, then you could be dealing with a leaf spot disease, although I must say it doesn't really look like that to me. Ficus are susceptible to a couple of different leaf spot diseases. One is bacterial ... Xanthomonas leaf spot. Still, if I could get a closer look at the detail ....
Thrips can cause that kind of stippling, too. You can read some about thrips on ficus [url=https://trec.ifas.ufl.edu/mannion/pdfs/WeepingFigThrips.pdf]here[/url]. Thus far, I'm leaning toward a diagnosis of thrips. Ficus benjamina is one of their favorite species.
Let me know what you think.
You say the white spots "do not simply wipe off like dust", but can you wipe them off at all? Have you tried wiping a leaf with rubbing alcohol? I'm thinking it might be ficus scale disease.
If the white spots don't come off with rubbing alcohol, then you could be dealing with a leaf spot disease, although I must say it doesn't really look like that to me. Ficus are susceptible to a couple of different leaf spot diseases. One is bacterial ... Xanthomonas leaf spot. Still, if I could get a closer look at the detail ....
Thrips can cause that kind of stippling, too. You can read some about thrips on ficus [url=https://trec.ifas.ufl.edu/mannion/pdfs/WeepingFigThrips.pdf]here[/url]. Thus far, I'm leaning toward a diagnosis of thrips. Ficus benjamina is one of their favorite species.
Let me know what you think.
thanks for all the info! I am able to wipe the spots off with alcohol, so I can rule out your first suggestion. however, I googled images of thrips, and they didn't resemble this case as far as I can tell.
these almost look like little white paint drops, thats the best I can describe it
here is a larger image so hopefully that will help
[img]https://i54.tinypic.com/14m9t83.jpg[/img]
these almost look like little white paint drops, thats the best I can describe it
here is a larger image so hopefully that will help
[img]https://i54.tinypic.com/14m9t83.jpg[/img]
Yes, that image helps a great deal! I can tell you with total confidence that I am now completely baffled! 
Seriously, looking at it up close, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before. However, the fact that you can wipe off the spots using rubbing alcohol indicates that it is either scale insects ... although I have to admit they would be the strangest ones I've ever seen ... or a fungal growth of some kind. The only other option I can think of is that it is, in fact, an inorganic substance, such as overspray from paint or some household cleaning product.
For fungal infections, which would include things such as powdery mildew, you can treat the plant by spraying it with a solution of milk and water. Most people begin with a mixture of 1 part milk to 10 parts water. Any kind of milk will do, even nonfat powdered milk ... reconstituted, of course.
Another option would be simply to wipe down both sides of all affected leaves with rubbing alcohol, and watch the plant closely for any recurrence, treating any new outbreaks as they develop.
And keep an eye out for any sprays that may be used in the vicinity of the plant, just in case it's a residue from some product. Ya never know!
As an added afterthought, do you mist this plant with water? Could it be a mineral residue of some sort, left after the water evaporates?
Seriously, looking at it up close, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before. However, the fact that you can wipe off the spots using rubbing alcohol indicates that it is either scale insects ... although I have to admit they would be the strangest ones I've ever seen ... or a fungal growth of some kind. The only other option I can think of is that it is, in fact, an inorganic substance, such as overspray from paint or some household cleaning product.
For fungal infections, which would include things such as powdery mildew, you can treat the plant by spraying it with a solution of milk and water. Most people begin with a mixture of 1 part milk to 10 parts water. Any kind of milk will do, even nonfat powdered milk ... reconstituted, of course.
Another option would be simply to wipe down both sides of all affected leaves with rubbing alcohol, and watch the plant closely for any recurrence, treating any new outbreaks as they develop.
And keep an eye out for any sprays that may be used in the vicinity of the plant, just in case it's a residue from some product. Ya never know!
As an added afterthought, do you mist this plant with water? Could it be a mineral residue of some sort, left after the water evaporates?