Ficus benjamina with tiny white hard spots
This ficus is 2 weeks new to me and fortunately the I sprayed with neem oil and isolated it from my other plants immediately. But getting ready to toss it. The plant looks fine, but leaves have tiny white specks that are very hard, like a casing. But they flick right off with a fingernail. Only on front of leaf. Any thoughts before it gets kicked to the curb? Thought maybe spider mites but nothing on back of leaf.
Nancy
Comments (8)
Nancy
6 years agoOMG! Just checked my other ficus b. and it has them too. But much, much worse. I would think it was spider mites but these are only on the top of the leaves. Undersides are clean. Nothing in the joints either. Going to clean the leaves and apply neem and hope someone answers soon. Here's second plant
Nancy
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Scale on Ficus benjamina
Comments (11)CC - An image would be helpful if you can supply one. If your 'white dots' are fairly regularly spaced, relatively equidistant from leaf margins, and arranged roughly in a line, they're normal inclusions - a prevalent part of the Ficus anatomy. Often misidentified as glands or evidence of pest activity, they are actually lithocysts (enlarged epidermal cells) that contain crystals of calcium carbonate or calcium oxylate called cystoliths (cell rocks) - fish emulsion won't remove them. If my description doesn't fit and you can eliminate lithocysts/ cystoliths as what you're describing, see my opening comment. Al...See MoreWill Ficus Benjamina recover after repotting?
Comments (8)yes it will perk back up in no time. unless you damaged a bunch of roots in the repotting process, if all you did was repot it you'll be fine. Did you root prune too. also if there is standing water in the dish dump it out and let the soil dry just a little. if in the next few days it still looks bad cut it back to the bottom shoot because the roots may have been damaged and it's having trouble pulling enough water to supply all the leaves on the top 3/4 of the tree. water is the main cause of death for many house plants. be it too much water because we love them so much we think we're doing what's best for it or too little water because it's in a hard to water location or we just neglect it. Damp potting soils are also prone to getting fungus gnats so it's imperative to let your soil dry out between watering. I think if you cut it back to the bottom shoots it will be back around 5ft tall by winter. Good luck and please give us an update us on it in the next few days....See MoreFicus benjamina 'White Spot' Problem
Comments (27)OMG - having just noticed this condition, I.e. observation, while cleaning and trimming my 12’ ficus, that was also dropping leaves, I have to say, 1) I’m glad I didn’t try to do anything about it, other than knocking off the waxy globs, before I consulted the “internet” meaning, you guys ... 2) my husband and I are laughing our heads off reading this thread - hysterical debate - thanks for the laugh ... 3) sorry Ficus, no way you’ll be pollinating anything anytime soon! ... on a more instructive note, I’ll just say that my ficus has always been very hardy and not very fussy. However, I had moved it to a less sunny spot to accommodate our Christmas Tree. It didn’t seem to care for that location, so it had started dropping some leaves, causing me to search for extraneous clues, and finding the white globs ... I am happy yo report it is now back in its original sunny spot, has been trimmed and had leaves spritzed and cleaned. I’m sure will be a happy camper once again, very soon! Fondest regards to everyone and their ficus trees!...See MoreFicus benjamina question - recognize issue?
Comments (11)I've been at bonsai for close to 30 years, and I often have trees I'm certain hold a LOT of potential, but I just can't see it. 2 of my best trees were not pruned to achieve a particular end I envisioned until many years after I acquired them. I probably scrutinized both of them 100 times until something just absolutely jumped out at me in an 'eureka moment'. Sometimes that happens as you walk past a tree I've been considering for a year or more. Not only that, but more often than not I end up revising what I had envisioned as the future style or design of a tree because the tree vetoed my plants by revealing a more interesting path I hadn't considered. If you learn the basics of pruning, like what happens when we prune, when to prune, and a few basics like where to concentrate most of your pruning efforts and how to pinch, what's left is removing the problematic branches. By problematic, I mean the ones that don't contribute to your vision of what the plant wants to be. I think I'll start a Q/A thread about pruning and see where it goes. Al...See MoreNancy
6 years ago
Dave
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoNancy
6 years agoDave
6 years agoNancy
6 years agoWell- it's been a week and ficus look pretty good but this morning I found something discouraging. This is so weird. Now it's a powdery white substance that can't be scraped off, still only on the front of the leaf- and I only saw it on ONE. I'm 100% sure that the particular leaf got castille soap treatment and neem oil. It was prominent on the outside and had a brown tip so I remember it. In the pic it still has the brown tip which is no worse. Dave any ideas? I can treat with Bayer 3-1-1 but still not convinced it's spider mites. What do you think?
Dave