Sticky Leaves Help
Hi,
We have a plant in our conservatory. Not sure what it is exactly, other than probably not an umbrella plant, because that's what we call it. Parasol Plant maybe. Anyhow it was fine in the previous house for 8 years, but for the last 2 years it's developed *very* sticky leaves. It creates a circle of sticky goo on the floor around the plant. The leaves are covered on the surface with the sugary-like substance, and it is in nodules under the leafs. There is a photo of the underside of a leaf he http://tinyurl.com/bedu Sorry its a bigish picture and I have no software to hand ATM to reduce the resolution. Any idea whats wrong and how to stop it being sticky? Thanks, Jc. |
Sticky Leaves Help
In article ,
Josey wrote: We have a plant in our conservatory. Not sure what it is exactly, other than probably not an umbrella plant, because that's what we call it. Parasol Plant maybe. Anyhow it was fine in the previous house for 8 years, but for the last 2 years it's developed *very* sticky leaves. It creates a circle of sticky goo on the floor around the plant. The leaves are covered on the surface with the sugary-like substance, and it is in nodules under the leafs. Any idea whats wrong and how to stop it being sticky? I am not going to look at your picture on dial-up, but the answer is a sap-sucking pest. If you can't see it, and the leaves tend to go mottled yellow, it is probably red spider mite. The best solutions are to spray with soft soap, washing-up liquid and methylated spirits or even just water (but that only discourages them). You can also get a parasite for the parasite - phytoseiulus, but that is more a solution for an infested conservatory full of plants. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Sticky Leaves Help
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , Josey wrote: We have a plant in our conservatory. Not sure what it is exactly, other than probably not an umbrella plant, because that's what we call it. Parasol Plant maybe. Anyhow it was fine in the previous house for 8 years, but for the last 2 years it's developed *very* sticky leaves. It creates a circle of sticky goo on the floor around the plant. The leaves are covered on the surface with the sugary-like substance, and it is in nodules under the leafs. Any idea whats wrong and how to stop it being sticky? I am not going to look at your picture on dial-up, but the answer is a sap-sucking pest. If you can't see it, and the leaves tend to go mottled yellow, it is probably red spider mite. The best solutions are to spray with soft soap, washing-up liquid and methylated spirits or even just water (but that only discourages them). You can also get a parasite for the parasite - phytoseiulus, but that is more a solution for an infested conservatory full of plants. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Nick, thanks. This sounds like the cause. The leaves are yellowing too. I'll take some action against them! Jc. |
Sticky Leaves Help
Your plant has scale insects, ...and the Pic didn't take long to open.
-- David Hill Abacus Nurseries www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk |
Sticky Leaves Help
In article ,
david wrote: Your plant has scale insects, ...and the Pic didn't take long to open. In which case, spraying won't help. They should be scraped off gently with a bluntish but pointed knife or similar. Repeat a couple of times as young ones grow, and they can be dealt with. I should have remembered that scale insects are easy to see and hard to notice! Exactly unlike red spider mite. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Sticky Leaves Help
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , david wrote: Your plant has scale insects, ...and the Pic didn't take long to open. In which case, spraying won't help. They should be scraped off gently with a bluntish but pointed knife or similar. Repeat a couple of times as young ones grow, and they can be dealt with. I should have remembered that scale insects are easy to see and hard to notice! Exactly unlike red spider mite. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Thanks for the info - scraping them off is the only thing I can do? Jc. |
Sticky Leaves Help
In article ,
Josey wrote: "Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , david wrote: Your plant has scale insects, ...and the Pic didn't take long to open. In which case, spraying won't help. They should be scraped off gently with a bluntish but pointed knife or similar. Repeat a couple of times as young ones grow, and they can be dealt with. Thanks for the info - scraping them off is the only thing I can do? No, but it is by FAR the most effective solution! How big is the plant? Scale insects are fairly pesticide-resistant, and I have heard that the biological controls are better at stopping infestations spreading than in eliminating esisting ones (i.e. they tend to attack the young scale insects). I could well be wrong with the latter. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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