Hello everybody, I am new at taking care of plants so I appreciate any advice. I have been having a lot of trouble with this plant as of late. I found brown scale on it a few months ago and have been treating it with horticultural oil. I haven’t seen much scale lately but the leaves are falling off now. I pick up a handful of leaves off the ground every day now. New growth is discolored and some of the stems seem very dry and brown. The leaves that fall off some somewhat healthy. I don’t know what to do. I will attach some pictures- thank you! i bought it from Home Depot, I water about 1x week depending on how the soil feels. Partial light.
Hi Cynthia. :) In the photo with your 3 fingers, that tiny leaf seems to show it still has a heavy, active infestation. It is probably the same throughout the plant. There is another way to attack hard scale besides oil. I have had success in the past with just water. You need a very sharp spray from the "flat" setting on one of those 7-way hose nozzles at Home Depot. Drag the plant outdoors every time you would normally water for awhile. Get your best glasses on so you can see up close and just carefully blast the critters off of every surface on the plant. A big plant like that might take a half hour at first. After the first couple/few times you won't need to look so close and can blast it all in about 5 min. You can get rid of most of them in a month this way, and 100% cure in less than 6 months. After that, all your houseplants should be leaf-washed completely at least a couple times a year or more. It looks like you may have too-low light for this plant, they would prefer much more. I don't think it will live in that spot. Also, 1 week may possibly be too frequent in low light like this. Try to make sure it is dry not just on the surface, but also down a couple inches before you water. This won't need to be quite as dry if it has higher light and better health. Does that pot have drainage holes and a saucer under it? If not, that would be a huge problem.
Thank you for your advise! The pot does have drain holes. I live in an apartment so I won’t be able to spray the plant down. I’m going to spray it in the shower to see if it helps. I also moved the plant where there is more light. Thanks again for you suggestions !
One thing you should know about the brown scale is that it's not just the water that gets rid of them, like it would for spider mites, but it's mostly the mechanical action of that very sharp, strong spray of water. Shower heads don't usually have that high-force, sharp spray that will will be strong enough to blast the bugs loose from their hold on the plant. It would be very uncomfortable on your skin. So I'm concerned the shower may not work. Please also be careful where you place the plant if you have other houseplants or plan on getting some soon. Honestly, the most common advice given in houseplant books is to just get rid of the plant before it infects your other plants. It takes drastic measures to cure hard scale. So if you don't have some way to get that very-sharp, fine spray, then you may have to consider cutting your losses. Sorry!!
Yeah I was looking at it today and noticed how sad and bare it is. :( I think it’s time to let it go. Thanks for your all your help.
