Hi All, I am new to all of this, and I have a problem that I need help with. I have had a Ficus Tree in my sunroom for almost 3 years (in the same spot). I have noticed lately, that the leafs seem to be sticky...like sap or something is coming out of the top surface of the leaf. What have I done to my tree? The leaves aren't yellow, or dropping...it looks like healthy green leaves...only they are sticky. Any Suggestions? FraninNashville
Aphids? Check the undersides of the leaves. Being in a steamy climate, there's no harm in putting it outdoors for the next month or two.
Check for the pest called SCALE also....Look for light brownish, or tan colored slightly raised bumps on the leaf stems and on the leaves.
So far I've gotten aphids and scale...but no one has told me what to do to get rid of them. Would insects/pests on the bottom of the leaves, cause what looks like sap come out of the top of the leaves?
Are you seeing any pest? Pest like aphids and scale secrete what's called a honeydew after sucking the juices from the plant, so the stickiness can be anywhere on the plant and it can even drip all over the floor and anything else you may have near it. Nasty huh? It can be difficult to get rid of scale if it's a bad infestation, because the crawlers, "crawler stage" can move around ( BEFORE they set up camp under the scale shell) are very hard, if not impossible to see. I don't know of any magic cure, maybe someone will have a better answer.What I have used on a couple of much smaller plants a couple yrs back with success.... Alcohol mixed with water 1 to 9 ratio in a spray bottle once a week might help, soem have used the alcohol straightup. If you miss any (easy to do) they will come back over and over again until you can get them all. They can easily spread to other plants as well, so keep any other plants away, maybe inspect them as well. You must get complete coverage of all the stems and leaves, including under the leaves. If you are up to doing this, it might take a while, there is no guarantee, but it has been done. If you have aphids, you can try an insecticidal soap, or just a garden hose should spray them off, just keep an eye out for any you might have missed.
I've got snow scale on my citrus, and I'm having good luck with a strong aspirin solution. It seems to get the crawlers as well. You can dissolve the aspirin in water with vinegar, or in alcohol; the latter seems more practical as you get a more complete dissolution and it will kill the scales as well. This will also kill aphids. You're in Nashville. Look for something called "Safer's Insecticidal Soap" and the rest of the Safer's line of products at your local garden centers. It does absolute wonders on most pests, and they may make an environmentally (and people) friendly remedy for scales. This said, my ficus tends to gum like that occasionally in the absence of bugs; I just hose it down, and all is well.
