Help! Green Island Ficus looks diseased and is infested with bugs

[Marlo85]

Hello all. I'm here because I bought a green island ficus a little over a month ago and it has been increasingly dropping leaves and looking diseased. Today I noticed the soil was infested with tiny flying insects as I went to water it. I don't have much experience caring for these plants and help would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone tell me what is wrong and what I should do? I have moved the plant outdoors due to the infestation. Thank you.

 

[LooselyWired]

Hi Marlo. Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of tremendously talented & helpful people here. I am no expert on ficus, or bugs, so I will defer the question to someone more knowledgeable. I’m sure you will get answers soon.

 

[hemmy]

The bottom pic is a type of armored scale. The above yellow leaf doesn’t look like insect damage, but it is hard to see. The white deposits on might be hard water. Flying insects on the soil might be unrelated to the scale and could be a sign of overwatering. Posting a picture of the top of the soil can help with that diagnosis.

Armored scale can hard to kill with some insecticides. But the soft, juvenile “crawler” stage are very susceptible. Since you are growing it indoors and it is one tree, I would take a paper towel or toothbrush and wipe of both sides of each leaf to remove the scale. I have used rubbing alcohol before with no damage to the leaf since ficus have a thick cuticle. Then you can spray it with insecticidal soap to get any missed crawlers.

Hopefully you live somewhere warm, since ficus are generally not cold weather hardy. Updating your profile with climate zone or general location can also help with specific guidance.

Welcome!

 

[Firstflush]

The second photo is scale. Scrape the big ones off. Use a horticultural oil/soap spray following. Scale insects breath through their shell so the oil acts by smotherIng. The soap will help as well the any other common ficus pests.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

1:1 dish soap / vegetable oil mixture. Dilute this 2tsp into 1cup of water. Spray your leaves and then after 25-30min, rinse the tree thoroughly.

 

[rollwithak]

Let’s see the whole tree and soil! If you have scale, make sure to check the bark as well. I had a ficus her infected and they were all over the trunk and branches.

 

[Marlo85]

Thanks so much, all. I scraped off what I could of the armored scale and then gave it a thorough spray down with the DIY spray and I think I'm going to repot it. I tried to get pictures but couldn't get a clear focus on anything for some reason.

Do I need to hose off the spray or can I leave it on?

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I would rinse it off after 20 or 30 min. On a ficus its not likely to harm the leaves, but it doesnt hurt. If you see a resurgence, you can spray again in a few weeks.

 

[Marlo85]

Well, upon replant, it appears that I have root rot. Is this salvagable?

 

[Forsoothe!]

Trim away any suspect roots and repot. You can treat with Bayer 3-in-1 granules or liquid as a soil drench and preclude future problems, too. Do it twice a year when it goes outside and when it comes back indoors in autumn.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Root rot is typically an over watering problem. Touch the surface of the media. If it is damp don't water, if dry give about 15 to 20% of the volume of the pot in water. Calculate what tha volume is and find a vessel that can be the dedicated water container that you use every time. I use a pill bottle on one window box, every third day...

Figs will adapt to your watering habits and can usually go a week without water, so don't be surprised if watering every 6 or 7 days works, depending upon the size of the pot and how much the sun through the window heats up the plant.

 

[Paradox]

Check the tree closely at least once a week. You may see more scale in a couple of weeks and will need to treat again if so.
I get scale on my ficus when I bring them inside for the winter. Three treatments spaced 2 weeks apart for a total of 6 weeks usually takes care of them.

I mix soap half a cup of soap (Simple Green), half a cup of horticultural oil (doesnt smell like neem does) with 1 cup of rubbing alchohol into a 16-20oz spray bottle.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Cloudsgrow]

How did things turn out? Im having an issue with one of my green island ficus aswell, looks similar but the dots onmy leaves are indents, where Im assuming all the dots on yours were raised being thst they were all scale?