HELP! what are these marks on my ficus Audrey

3 years ago

I noticed these marks appearing within the time period of three days. I want to know what it is so I can treat it ASAP. I also included a picture of a more exaggerated case on my lemon tree!

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Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
Austin, I suspect you're not getting answers because of the quality of the pictures. It’s virtually impossible to see what marks you’re referring to. Can you show clearer pictures not in purple light?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
do you mist or spray your plant?.. if so.. with what and why???

are the lights new.. and could they be burning or drying the tissue??

how about a pic of the whole.. both of them ...

in the green pic.. how much of the white is reflected light

describe the base cutltural conditions ... temp of house.. furnace.. house humidity ... location.. big city name ...

you cant really just show us a boo boo.. and ask us to intuit cause and effect without some relevant facts ... e.g. in the purple pic.. that plant is suffering some major problems beyond some minor leaf issues.... tell us about it

ken

ps: there is a citrus forum also ... you might want to post there.. and link them to this post.. to keep all the answers here ...
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yeah the picture of the roots was after i pruned them.there was a fair amount of very long and kind of... mushy... roots so I think that was the problem. i added a good amount of pumice to the bottom of the pot and the did a layer of pumice/cactus soil mixed and then the cactus soil. fingers crossed. the black sap actually started before the leaf fell off and then i noticed it come from the spot where the leaf was. when doing the root pruning I also pruned some of the leaves and one branch toward the top of the plant - and the sap from those was white. but.. the area where the black sap was coming from still looks pretty diseased and feels a little soft. the current state of things:
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What it looks like to me is localized death of tissues caused by something phytotoxic (poison to plants). What would cause this is spraying something the plant doesn't like on the leaves and allowing the solution yo dry on the plant. How did you apply the neem product? Was it pure cold-pressed neem oil in an emulsifier like soapy water or is the neem fraction already dissolved in a solution? It's not unusual for plants to react poorly to the vehicle that delivers the neem fraction of the product. For clarity, if you were spraying saltwater on weeds to kill them, salt would be the active ingredient (like neem is) and the vehicle that delivers the active ingredient is the vehicle. Often, the vehicle used for insecticides and neem products are solvents, and solvents are often used to extract neem oil from the branches and twigs. Both solvents and detergent emulsifiers can destroy the cuticular wax in leaves that protect the plant from moisture loss and pathogen entry into the plant ...... which is why cold-pressed neem oil is best. It's possible the leaves are in the process of being shed. The chlorotic look (yellowing) of the leaves might be because the leaves are being shed. Part of that process is recycling the Mg from the chlorophyll in the leaves. Chlorophyll is a green pigment, so when it's broken down, expression of other pigments follows. Also, part of the shedding process before the leaf falls off is a layer that forms at the leaf attachment site. The layer (abscission layer) first inhibits movement of water/sap/nutrients/all bio-compounds across that layer/region. Because it doesn't look like under or over-watering, my guess, if it is related to the leaves being shed, is that it's ultimately related to A) a reduction in light levels or B) poor nutrition, which causes the plant to rob mobile nutrients from oldest leaves in order to fuel new growth. You really need to fertilize. Don't use a fertilizer advertised as being specifically for Ficus - they're scams. You won't find better than Foliage-Pro 9-3-6. When the cause of the problem isn't conspicuous, it's often best to review what you're doing for the plant, culturally speaking - how much light, temperatures, watering/fertilizing habits, etc. Comparing your care to this Overview of Good Growing Habits might isolate something that, if improved on, could make a significant difference. Al
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My Audrey looks like that too! Is it really normal for this plant? that would be a big relief!!
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If you're watering when you can still feel moisture in the top SEVERAL inches of soil, you're likely over-watering; this, because the top few inches of soil can be dry and the bottom few inches completely saturated. Use a 'tell' to 'tell' you when your plant needs water. More on that below. It's a cut/paste job of a reply I wrote and saved, so forgive the odd formatting. It's also not getting all the light it wants. Your plant will tolerate/enjoy full outdoor sun, and would reward you for siting it there. Your tree should be acclimated to a full sun position if you don't think you could tolerate seeing all the leaves fall off from sunburn before it puts on a new, pristine flush of foliage. You should start fertilizing after a couple of weeks, and read up on how to repot so root congestion doesn't become a major limitation. These articles should be helpful: Growing Basics About tending Ficus in pots. Using a 'tell': Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al
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Austin Goetz
Original Author
3 years ago
This is a better picture of the leaf issue. Both have the same marks for some reason. I feed at the recommended times, humidity is 50, I spray weekly for bugs and fungi, and I have grow lights for them to supplement the shoddy Pittsburgh winter sunlight.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Did you draw a ring around the affected areas, or is the ring a natural part of the problem? What sort of issue are you having that warrants weekly treatments? What are you using to treat the plants and what issue(s) are you trying to resolve?

Al
Austin Goetz
Original Author
3 years ago
I use been oil and copper fungicide since I think this is a treatment for it but I am not sure. These rings appeared suddenly. I did not draw anything. I just need to know what is causing these rings so I can stop it.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years ago
Austin - Copper is a micronutrient essential to normal plant growth, but being a micro-nutrient, it takes only a tiny amount more than a sufficient amount to create a toxicity. While I can't say with great certainty that the cause lies somewhere in the fact you're treating plants with horticultural oil (?) and a cupric fungicide, I can say it's likely there is more harm than benefit with that regimen.

A plant's best defense against insects and pathogens is a high level of vitality, since the level of chemicals that ward off insects and diseases will be produced in direct relationship with the plant's metabolic rate. If the chemicals/treatments you're using are limiting the plant's vitality and metabolic rate, you'd sort of be shooting yourself in the foot.

When it comes to IPM (integrated pest management), which includes treatment of insects and diseases, the first step is to identify the problem and decide if it's something you feel you and the plant can tolerate or if it's something that needs addressing. If it actually needs your attention, the next step is to use the least noxious but still effective measures to eliminate or reduce the problem to an acceptable level.

Have you identified the pests/diseases? Have you considered the possibility that you might not even have a pest or disease infestation? that you might be treating a physiological disorder caused by adverse cultural conditions, and that identifying the cultural conditions causing the stress and improving those conditions might gain you more traction?

Al
Austin Goetz
Original Author
3 years ago
This is very good advice. I will only treat pests when necessary from now on. However I have no clue what is wrong with the plant and wanted some help figuring it out. Any idea of what may be happening?
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years ago
First, I believe you're over-doing the fungicide and hort oil applications, but there's not enough background info to posit with any certainty the care regimen is the underlying cause. I can see the citrus tree is in dire straits, but the images don't tell us much other than the plant is dealing with at least 1 cultural condition right on the edge of what it's genetically programmed to tolerate. If you can give us specifics about its treatment in areas like light, watering habits, fertilizing, temperature, soil choice, ......, it might provide us with a moment of epiphany that ends up proving fruitful.

Too, you might compare your growing regimen with what I outline in this Overview of Good Growing Practices with an eye toward noting any significant departures from the suggestions. That might provide a place to start.

Al
Austin Goetz
Original Author
3 years ago
Perfect! I have the citrus in a grow closet under an led grow light. The humidity level for the lemon is around 40-50 percent. The temp is around 80 in the grow closet. I water it once a week and feed it every other week. The banyan figs are in my bathroom which has a large south facing window. I have the same regimen for them as well. The temperature is around 70 for the bathroom.

HELP! what are these marks on my ficus Audrey

Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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HELP! what are these marks on my ficus Audrey

Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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