I am referring to the outer half of the leaf. I have read some descriptions of scale problems with ficus, and perhaps i have misunderstood them, but that doesn't seem to fit my case. It looks as if almost half the leaf is completely covered with a white film, that rubs off and feels sort of waxy. Could this be a salt problem, or is it a fungus or insect? Is there something else that could cause this? Thanks for the help.
Hi cmkilbert, Did you recently buy your ficus? I work at a garden centre and often our tropicals have a filmy white coat on them which is the remains of the fertilizers which the growers use on them. It rubs off and kinda has a waxy feel to it. Best to post picture so we can get a positive identification. -Eric
sorry to hear about you ficus....I have one that's 15 years old and about 8 ft. tall....over the past 2 months it's been losing many leaves every day...the bottom of the trunk looks like it's wet( but it's not)......that's the only difference I can see from when it was a very healthy plant......it's been in the same spot for over 10 years....any suggestions?
When's the last time you got it out of the pot to check for root-boundness, and changed the soil to something fresher?
I'm no plant expert or anything, but my ficus tree does the same thing. I noticed a white film on it a long time ago (more than a year ago) and was worried it was some kind of powdery mildew or something. It appears to be healthy otherwise, it' not dropping leaves, and is growing like crazy. I recently learned about hydathodes. When there is too much water in a plant’s system and/or the humidity is high, the hydathodes excrete water. The water contains a small amount of plant sugars and salts. I'm thinking maybe the excretions, combined with a little household dust and the waxy nature of ficus leaves might be what that film is. Sometimes my ficus leaves 'cry' also, and little drops of sappy like stuff drip off the tips of the leaves onto the floor and onto other leaves beneath. I've read this is also normal for ficus, and may also be contributing to the film on the leaves. Like I said, this has been happening for years to my ficus and it doesn't appear to be sick at all; in fact it's thriving. It completely fills one corner of my dining room from floor to ceiling and I have to trim it frequently to keep it in it's boundaries! I'd be sure to check it over good anyway, and research possible pests and diseases just in case. I'd hate to see you loose a good ficus tree!
