Hi, I have a pretty large tree in my house that has some kind of sticky substance coating its leaves and covering everything near the tree as well, floor, furniture, CD covers...it is driving me crazy. I can't figure out how to upload photos of the plant or the sticky substance unfortunately, but it is a clear sticky substance covering 80% of the leaves and it seems to fall off of the tree onto the floor and everything else around it. Anyone have any thoughts? thanks bob ps if you know how to upload photos please let me know. I could not figure out how to cut and and past or drag and drop the pics into this post.
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a guess without seeing the issue would be scale insect or aphids. take a leaf with the buildup to your local nursery and they can suggest treatment methods.
I have the same problem. I already checked many sites for the answer, no information found. My palma tree es full of some kind of sticky substance. I don't know if I did right thing, I just washed its leaves with soapy water. Will see what happen. Please help!!!!!
Is it a ficus (fig tree)? I found this on another garden discussion site. Most probable cause on Ficus is scale, but could be mealies, too... (click URL to read more)
I had the same problem on a large houseplant of mine. It is indeed some sort of insect, if you look closely you can see them. The sticky substance seemed to attract another kind of pest as well. I started off by rubbing each leaf individually with a damp cloth. This worked but proved to be too time-consuming. So, in June I put my plant in the back yard and let the rain and sun do their thing. Not only has my plant doubled in size but the pests are gone.
The scale insects that infested my orchids two years ago produce an abundance of sticky substance. This substance did not go moldy, which I gather, makes it different from the stuff produced by aphids. The aphid secretion must be carbohydrate or other nutrient rich. I solved the scale insect problem by cleaning the leaves with rubbing alcohol. Easy on orchids, but likely impractical on a larger plant.
The sticky stuff is an insect and is called scale. Spray till all plant and branches are saturated with a mixture of one part rubbing alcohol to 8 parts warm water and a squirt of mild dishsoap (the soap help to spread the solution around). Repeat every 5-7 days until all bugs are gone and stickiness disappears. I've been told Neem Oil works too but I've been successful with the alcohol. Place a drop sheet under the plant to avoid saturating everything else including carpets. Do it outside if it's warm enough. Good luck
Sounds like a variety of aphids that are very small they are the wettest creature on this earth my friend had to take down the largest tulip poplar on the west coast about five yrs ago the juice covered his deck yard porch etc etc look closely and if aphids well ask someone they are a real tough one to get rid of
