Hello, I recently bought this plant from someone out of the newspaper. I took it home and replanted it - it was VERY dry (soil) and in a pot far too small for its size. I don't know what kind of plant it is (its about 6' + tall) I have had it about a week now. I noticed it has some dry white "dust" on the underside of leaves near the stem (only at the bottom and not at the top branches/leaves) I can wipe this "dust" off with my finger although some does stay in the cracks of the branch? I thought it might be some sort of dry white mold - I have inspected the plant very closely for the past week and haven't noticed any moving insects, or any "webbing" or any "changes/growth" to the amount of "white stuff". I thought it might be mealy bugs too but I can't see anything moving and it is only at the bottom of the plant and does not appear to be spreading??? Also I noticed that a few of the leaves appear to have "rust" discoloration I'm not sure if this is related?? This plant has sprouted "new growth" since it has been here so I think its happy.. but is it healthy??? Please tell me what I can do to save/keep this plant or if this is just "normal" for this type of plant? My concern is I have many beautiful healthy large plants in my house and I am scared that it is something worse than some mold? I want to keep it but not kill my other healthy plants..... Thank you in advance for any advise/help.
It looks like a Ficus lyrata. It looks like a beautiful plant. The white dust on the underside of leaves souds like it's Powdery Mildew or Downy Mildew. Powdery Mildew or Downy Mildew are fungus diseases. Maybe some were already on the plant when you bought it since you say your other plants are healthy. The cause is airborne fungus. In that case your other plants may be in danger. My book of plant diseases tells me that you have to remove the infected leaves and destroy them, then spray the plant with fungicide, but you might want to search for other options as well before you start tearing leaves off the plant.
