This is the same stuff that I've been battling on my other Fukien Tea for a week. It starts as a gooey, sticky substance I think is 'honey-dew' and these white things that appear not to move at all. Then as it progresses it begins to turn the leaves brown/black and they harden and fall off the plant.
It will defoliate a Fukien in days if it goes unchecked.
The Fukiens are the only plant in my collection that are affected by this.
I hope someone can ID this thing for me:
Here, you can see that the flower bud is actually stuck to the leaf below it in the goo:
[url=https://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/djlen/?action=view¤t=IMG_2654a.jpg][img]https://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/djlen/th_IMG_2654a.jpg[/img][/url]
Here, I've moved the flower and there seems to be a colony of the white things on the leaf:
[url=https://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/djlen/?action=view¤t=IMG_2661a.jpg][img]https://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/djlen/th_IMG_2661a.jpg[/img][/url]
If you mist the plant the white things and the honey-dew get all over the pot and shelf the plant stands on. It's just a mess!!
I am treating it with a Neem Oil spray. This seems to kill off the white things and clear the plant of the goo. The other plant that I've had it on was much advanced and is just hanging on. I hope I caught this one in time.
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Gnome
- Super Green Thumb
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Len,
The scale that I have seen in the past do not look like your photo. Mine were shaped like a football that had been cut in half longitudinally and laid flat on the surface of the plant. They were motionless and had a rigid, smooth shell and had to be scraped off with a fingernail or similar. This is the adult form, the juveniles are mobile but much smaller and I never was able to see them.
[img]https://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/resources/Entomology/images/Topics/intAnatomy/scaleCloseup.jpg[/img]
What you show looks more like Wooly Aphids.
[img]https://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/woolyappleaphid5.jpg[/img]
Norm
The scale that I have seen in the past do not look like your photo. Mine were shaped like a football that had been cut in half longitudinally and laid flat on the surface of the plant. They were motionless and had a rigid, smooth shell and had to be scraped off with a fingernail or similar. This is the adult form, the juveniles are mobile but much smaller and I never was able to see them.
[img]https://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/resources/Entomology/images/Topics/intAnatomy/scaleCloseup.jpg[/img]
What you show looks more like Wooly Aphids.
[img]https://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/woolyappleaphid5.jpg[/img]
Norm
They look similar to the second pic. Norm, but they don't cluster like that and are so small it's hard to tell if they are woolly or not. I've checked closely and they don't move.
If I mist the plant they, along with the honey-dew will sort of 'blow off' with the spray and I'll find them on the pot edge and on the shelf.
Then, over time (and not too much time) the black/brown spots start to show up on the leaves and they dry up and drop and before long you've got a plant that is leafless or near leafless.
I think I've got the other plant checked of it as it's starting to throw tiny new growth. I don't know. We'll see.
Just when I thought I'd got a handle on everything that could affect a plant I'm getting a lesson on indoor nuisances!!!
If I mist the plant they, along with the honey-dew will sort of 'blow off' with the spray and I'll find them on the pot edge and on the shelf.
Then, over time (and not too much time) the black/brown spots start to show up on the leaves and they dry up and drop and before long you've got a plant that is leafless or near leafless.
I think I've got the other plant checked of it as it's starting to throw tiny new growth. I don't know. We'll see.
Just when I thought I'd got a handle on everything that could affect a plant I'm getting a lesson on indoor nuisances!!!
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applestar
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It's very hard to see, but those white things look like WHITE FLIES to me. Do any of them fly up when disturbed? Have you tried just washing them off (protecting the soil by wrapping the pot with a bag secured to the trunk) under the kitchen spray? The black substance could be frass (poop) and/or mold on the honeydew.
No, they are non-moving. Some people seem to think it's aphids and a product called Safer's Soap has been suggested.
Has anyone had experience with this stuff?
I've never seen white aphids before but it was explained to me that the white, non moving things could be aphid skeletons? Does this sound logical to anyone?
Has anyone had experience with this stuff?
I've never seen white aphids before but it was explained to me that the white, non moving things could be aphid skeletons? Does this sound logical to anyone?
My tea tree has the exact same problem! I have begun to treat it with a home made insectacide which so far seems to be working. Most of the larger leaves have turned yellow at the stem and fallen off. There is loads of new growth but most of it has not developed.
Very strange! Just a month ago this bonsai was thriving for me.
Very strange! Just a month ago this bonsai was thriving for me.
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rainbowgardener
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Those posts were from 2009, most of those people haven't been around here in a long time. But aphids seem like a good guess for what you describe and the Safer's soap is a good thing to try. Or you can try a home made soapy water solution, just be sure you use real soap (like Dr. Brunner's pure castile soap available in most drugstores) not detergent. Just put a tablespoon of soap in a quart of water, add a teaspoon of salad/ cooking oil to help it stick, put it in a sprayer and spray on. Be sure to spray the underside of the leaves as well.
I'm still around, oh esteemed Rainbow Person!!!! 
And yes, the solution does work.
However, I have found that it is a short term fix and needs to be used frequently in order for
it to remain effective. I suggest applying it at least once a week and see how that goes.
You can adjust to more or less often as needed. It will not harm the plant.
And yes, the solution does work.
However, I have found that it is a short term fix and needs to be used frequently in order for
it to remain effective. I suggest applying it at least once a week and see how that goes.
You can adjust to more or less often as needed. It will not harm the plant.