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Container Gardening Garden Clinic

White Fuzz Balls?

2 years ago

I've seen a few of these for a while on my Ficus Altissima Tree and now started noticing them in a mixed tabletop planter. Not on any other of my houseplants. I initially thought they were some sort of dust tumbleweed buildup, but now am concerned it is something more and an issue. I pulled one off and it is very stringy pulled apart. Any ideas and how to treat?

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Comments (6)

ibanez540r
Original Author
2 years ago
ibanez540r
Original Author
2 years ago
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Additional info on these balls - when I looked at them again, I realized that the balls themselves weren't fuzzy. They mingled with fuzzy areas that look like pulled cotton or clothes dryer lint so I assumed these were fuzzy as well without looking at them closely. They look like white crystals, like consistency of hardened sugar (my impression without actually trying to break them). Now it looks less likely they're bug eggs (I initially thought they looked like fuzzy spider eggs that I saw among the leaves and stems during the summer). I am still curious what these white crystals are (they are so many of them among the roots) and fuzzy substance among the roots are. Thank you.
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Can you let us see some good images of the situation? We should be able to see what kind of evergreen, too. Going by the very little information we have, I'm going to guess that your evergreen is a fir or hemlock of some kind and that it is infested with the very common (and dreaded) adelgid. Different adelgid species infest different conifers. This is a very serious pest of certain conifers and can be devastating if not discovered and controlled early on. Here is a link that might be useful:
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Im late but this just happened to mine and this is the only post I could find that looked like it, except mine only had the white mold. Yesterday I did my routine poke check to make sure everything's good and It was perfectly fine, today I walk past it and noticed it had mould all in the cracks of it, I pushed a spine and it cracked open and was full of mush. Cant figure out what caused it either, had it for years and it survived a mealy bug attack and everything. Now I'm on a mission to find another one...
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ibanez540r
Original Author
2 years ago
Fori
2 years ago
They look like scale or another related insect that comes in fizzy/waxy species. Doesn't matter too much what exactly they are--for houseplants it's probably best to just scrape them off whenever you see them and hope you get enough to stop the lifecycle. If the plants can take it, putting them in the sink and washing while wiping is even better.

Of course if they are really big or delicate plants it might not be as practical. I suspect any insecticide or insecticidal soap you can find for scale (or adelgid or aphids or other sucking insects) would work.
H P Zone 6
2 years ago
In your first photo, those look like mealy bugs. i had them in a house plant of mine as well.. the tinier white spots are eggs. take q tips dipped in alcohol and go leaf by leaf and gently wipe off. check your plant every 3-4 days for a month or 2. they reproduce like crazy and pay special attention to crevices where they like to hide
H P Zone 6
2 years ago
Im not sure about browning on stems but white puffs all look like mealy bug to me. just be persistent, youve got this

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