She started off perfectly healthy and after a couple months I noticed little dark brown specks on her leaves. Using my finger nails, I can scrape them off. The specs seem like burnt scabs. They don’t look like a pest nor are they apart of her leaves. She started off outside, but I decided she was getting too much sun and with it being winter now, sometimes nights will get down to 40 degrees (Florida). So now she’s inside. Has anyone seen this before? If so, what can I do to get rid of the specs?
Looks like an infestation of scale. Take care to isolate the plant and wash your hands after handling to prevent its spread. Scale Management Guidelines--UC IPM
All God's creatures live outside... on, in and around plants. Plants are critter hotels that have be de-critterized every time you decide to bring them indoors. I am unfamiliar with black scale that size and think you might only have... egg masses. (The Dr. is upbeat when he tells you you don't have cancer. You have a virus they can't identify.) We live inside houses because they have,"endless summer". Whatever you got, soon... will evolve through whatever stage it's in now and who knows, a week or a month from now your house could be flooded with Bluebottle flies. Every plant that goes outdoors for summer rejuvenating needs to be deloused, beginning with a drench of the soil to make the soil unfriendly to eggs and critters that eat roots. Next, bugs prefer the underside of leaves so you need to thoroughly spray both sides of the leaves. I use both Pyola and Plant Guardian, both of which are for indoors. Beware of anything not specifically for indoors because the odors are concentrated indoors without breezes. Any plant that has been in full sun also needs to be acclimatized to the indoors for several weeks so that they don't lose leaves when they are brought indoors. To plants, coming in from direct sun is like you coming indoors and standing in a closed closet. They need a period of weeks in shade outdoors to make the transition.
Thank you both for your information. After reading through both of your posts, and doing more research about scales, I’ve come up with a few next steps. Please let me know what you think or if you disagree. I brought her inside just today but I’m keeping her right next to the glass door so she can get indirect morning light. Tonight it’s dropping down to 45 so I’d like to keep her inside. Tomorrow morning I plan on taking her back outside to remove her heavily infested leaves and use a toothbrush to scrape off her leaves that have only a few scales. I read about a natural insecticidal soap that I can make and I’d like to try that as well. Thank you both again. I’ve never taken care of a plant before so I appreciate the advice! Ps. “Hotel for Critters” That’s funny! Didn’t think about it that way.
Be aware that the soap spray is ineffective against the adult scale, therefore they should be physically removed by hand before spraying. I suggest you wet the toothbrush with soap solution as you're cleaning the leaves - there's less chance the bristles will damage the leaves; in addition the soap will kill the juveniles that can't be seen. It may be a bit of work but do clean all leaf and stem surfaces. Do not expose the plant to strong sunlight during and shortly after the spray as that may damage the foliage. Also, the sprays must be repeated every 7-10 days until the scale is eradicated. I usually carry out several applications.
Scale is a pain to deal with but soapy solutions isn't going to do the trick. With or without a toothbrush. Due to their hard shell, scale needs to be smothered thus using a oil based solution. Such as dormant oil. If you sus out dormant oil sprays that you can make at home, I am almost sure you will come up with a recipe that you can make from your own pantry. Usually a combo of dish detergent (non anti bacterial), oil and water. Usually recipes are for a concentrate that you then dose out to a sprayer, topping it off with water before applying above and beneath all leaves. Yes and do avoid leaving the plant in direct sunlight once it has been sprayed before it has a chance to dry. Avoid chemical applications when at all necessary.
