Many times people will say to me “There is something sticky on the floor under my plant.”  Well, this stickiness is not a by- product of your plant but actually “honeydew”  caused by an insect secretion. Ugh!  Ficus trees, Scheffleras, Aralias, Palms  and many other plants are host to a scale insect that cause this sticky substance.  Mealybug is an insect that is a  white sticky mass on the plant which looks like cotton.

Foliar MealyBug

Soft Scale (top) Hard Scale (bottom)

Red Spider Mite

       Spider mites can be detected when you give your plants a gentle spray of water and see fine webbing between the leaves. Aphids are soft bodied insects which  usually  collect around the new growth of your plant. These insects can easily be controlled with a soapy spray and good rinsing.

You can hand pick scale and mealy but it is very time consuming.  Sometimes just  time outside will allow natural predators to take care of the problem.  I’m a very impatient person and don’t like messy plants so I take a more diligent approach and spray with an insecticide.  Insecticidal soap can eliminate many bugs but it has to have contact with each and every bug on the plant to work.  That is why it is called a “contact insecticide.”   

Systemic insecticides actually enter the plant and kill insects as they feed on the plant.  Systemic insecticides also have some residual effects so the plant is protected for weeks or even months. 

It is really up to you how you would like to treat any insect problems you have on your plants, but don’t ignore these problems.  They can easily mean the end to your beautiful plant and travel to other plants in your home.     Please read all labels on the insecticide and make sure your plant is listed and also how it should be sprayed and how often.  It usually takes more than one spraying to be effective because of the different stages of the insect’s life.  Some sprays only work when the bug is an adult and will not kill the eggs.  So you have to wait for all the eggs to hatch and be killed as adults.  This can take a few weeks.

It is also a good idea to wash the area inside where the plant was sitting as well as the decorative container and the plastic grower’s container it is planted in.  Especially with mealy bug.  This creatures will live on your walls and floors!