Hello, I am new to this forum (and new to gardening, as well). I have an indoor ficus tree that is just a couple of months old. It's not doing well, and I'm hoping I can get some help to save it! I already know some of its problems: we have fungus gnats because I overwatered it. I have found some solutions to deal with that (laying potato slices or food-grade DE to catch/kill the larvae. But there are some other problems, too: 1. The leaves are turning yellow, then develop a 'dead' brown spot before they fall off. What's causing this? 2. Something is eating the leaves! This, I fear, has moved on to my otherwise healthy kolanchoe plant, too. :( What could be doing this? 3. There are little green 'balls' attached to the branches. What are these? Any and all advice would be appreciated! Thank you! fjh
Flypaper works really well for normal flies but it might work for fungus gnats too, not sure. 1) sounds like some kind of fungus or bacterial infection. You can buy cheap fungicide from most garden stores. I'm not sure on the bacterial infections, though, or how to tell the difference. Most disease I have seen that create dead spots are fungi. 2) unless it is eating them in huge numbers it is probably safe to ignore. The only option I can think of to prevent this is poison insecticide, which you wouldn't want indoors. Maybe attract some spiders? 3) I have never seen anything like those green balls. Unless they appear to be part of your plant's growth I would assume they are egg sacs from whatever bugs are on your tree, and pick them off and throw away.
