A sticky, but not really, looking situation.

[Johnathan]

Okay guys. Miss this place and you all for sure. Sincerly hope everyone is well.

I've been away for a couple months trying to take advantage of the weather and let the trees breath and relax a little bit.

Just doing walk bys and watering a while back I noticed on the Tiger Bark something that appeared sticky on the leaves. I just thought it was sap or something lol Originally I was going to just get some "leaf polish" and clean the tree up.

Anyway I've been noticing it more and more (insert dramatic anticlimactic orchestra here)

After taking a few pics and zooming in and getting close to the tree, I'm pretty sure its some kind of honeydew pest. I also saw some little black spots moving around underneath the tree.

I've been meaning to spray the tropicals and everything else down with the Bayern 3 in 1, but never got around to it.

Now, I'm thinking of grabbing some of that along with some neem oil and just giving them a good cleaning this weekend.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

EDIT: looks like a shit ton more little brown spots when looking at the pics instead of in person.

 

[bonsai-ben]

Daconil -- (anthracnose, fungus)

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Daconil -- (anthracnose, fungus)

I don’t think so. This looks like pest and not disease. Try to identify the bug, but I’d probably just hit it with Malathion.

 

[Anthony]

Suggestion-
Take leaf to have problem identified before spraying.

 

[GailC]

Looks like scale insects, I've had the same thing on my orchids.

You can wash the leaves and manually remove the scale but you will need some kind of pesticide to finished the critters off, preferably a systemic.

 

[GrimLore]

I don’t think so. This looks like pest and not disease. Try to identify the bug, but I’d probably just hit it with Malathion.

What Greg said, also treat nearby plants.

Grimmy

 

[Bavarian Raven]

Rubbing alcohol kills them. I have same problem on my citrus plants. :/

 

[Johnathan]

Daconil -- (anthracnose, fungus)

I actually have an anthracnose issue to take care of as well on a maple I acquired too. So thank you for this information.

I don’t think so. This looks like pest and not disease. Try to identify the bug, but I’d probably just hit it with Malathion.

@Brian Van Fleet is Malathion a stand alone product or something I can find in an everyday pesticide? A systemic as suggested by @GailC maybe one of those fancy all in 1 deals?

Suggestion-
Take leaf to have problem identified before spraying.

What are some typical places I could take leaves/ trees to have it analyzed?

Rubbing alcohol kills them. I have same problem on my citrus plants. :/

This seems safer than any chemicals I would think, but would it also work on the root system clearing any pest out of there?

 

[Anthony]

On our side the guys who run plant nurseries or sell insecticides/pesticides are
university trained.
So you can just show them.
Or call the University, we have a Herberium, and Cocoa Research unit and Agricultural
division. Plus Plant Quarantine, with a few plant pathologists.

How is it done on your side ?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

For diagnosis, call your local county extension office. Every county in the USA has a USDA Extension Service office, should be listed under county government. Each will have a plant pathologist or two. Often the extension office is either located near your local county fair grounds or it will be affiliated with the local land grant university. Google can be your friend in terms of finding them.

Myself I would immediately suspect insects, fungus tends to be a secondary issue, opportunistically using the location of the insect bite to infect the leaf. But if you have anthracnose on one tree, the insect bites could allow it to spread.

It is a ficus, they tolerate most brands of spray well. From a big box store like Home Depot or Menards, you can get Bayer 3 In One, it is a miticide, and insecticide and fungicide. I would personally treat for both sucking insects and spider mites. I find if a tree has one, it often has both. Follow directions on the label. Key is to read when they suggest to spray a second and third time. Follow up on schedule, or you won't get all the bugs and risk developing your own special breed of pesticide resistant bugs. A single spraying is almost never enough, usually 3 applications are required to truly clean up a collection of trees.

If one has it, there is a good chance others do too. I tend to spray the entire collection to get them all. Low level populations might not show symptoms, if you don't spray everything green and growing in your collection you risk the pests coming back over and over and over again.

Seriously, I would just treat for mealy bug, which is a soft scale, and spider mites all at once. Even if you guessed wrong on the identity of the bug, sprays for mealy bug will kill most of the common ficus pests.

 

[LanceMac10]

Scale...they leave that goo as they feed
Looks like some mites as well.......hoof it down to the Depot for some horticultural soap or pest control from Miracle Grow organic line.
Get in there and make sure you get all the scale insects off. They'll suck your baby dry!!
Indoor growing is a pain.

 

[Johnathan]

So this is what I ended up with. Got both of these for less than the price of the Bayer 3 in 1. Something about "organic" swayed me.

Should I just use the recommend directions/ doses on the label?

 

[sorce]

"organic"

Aka "doesnt work"!

I just drank the rest of mine!

Squishing and centipedes!

Sorce

 

[LanceMac10]

I've had good results with both. Use the insecticidal soap, spray under the leaves and branches as well. A few applications spread over a couple weeks should do it. I will go thru it and try to squish the scale by hand, just cause it feels good.

 

[Johnathan]

Aka "doesnt work"!

I just drank the rest of mine!

Squishing and centipedes!

Sorce

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Maaaaaan it's gotta work, after all, it's Miracle Gro

I've had good results with both. Use the insecticidal soap, spray under the leaves and branches as well. A few applications spread over a couple weeks should do it. I will go thru it and try to squish the scale by hand, just cause it feels good.

I will try them out. Not sure how much I like the idea of squishing

But it was cheap and I'm leaving for 10 days for Xmas so I figured I'd give it a shot. If not, then I will get the Bayer 3 in 1.

Anyone know if I can use this 3 in 1 to treat anthracnose?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Maaaaaan it's gotta work, after all, it's Miracle Gro



I will try them out. Not sure how much I like the idea of squishing

But it was cheap and I'm leaving for 10 days for Xmas so I figured I'd give it a shot. If not, then I will get the Bayer 3 in 1.

Anyone know if I can use this 3 in 1 to treat anthracnose?

Your Insecticidal Soap can work, but you must be religious in doing a regular follow up. A lot of the effectiveness is mechanical, in that you literally wash the insects away. The potassium salts of fatty acids help dehydrate the insects. You will have to repeat at least 3 or 4 or possibly more times, at least every week if cool, and every 5 days when it is warm. You want to get young ones that hatched after your last treatment before they mature enough to start laying eggs themselves. Most sprays do not affect eggs that have not hatched. That is the reason for the repeats.

As to 3 in 1, and anthracnose - you must read the multi page label to see if it lists anthracnose as one of its targets. If it does not list anthracnose, there is no guarantee that it will work. It is important (actually it is the law) you must read the label before using any pesticide, there are many things in the label that you should know before you use any pesticide. Safety, Plants it is approved for, Pests that the spray targets, Plants it must not be used on. REI - re-entry interval - how long to avoid being near or touching the plant after spraying for your own safety. And for things you might want to east PHI - pre-harvest interval, the number of days, or weeks or months that must pass before the plant is safe to harvest, or eat. This is why I will not tell anyone what dose rates I use, you must read and get the information clear in your own head before using these pesticides & fungicides. I am tangentially involved with a farm, Because that gives me ''professional'' status, if I recommend a dose rate or a specific pesticide, and someone gets hurt, there is a potential that I could get sued. So I won't tell you what to do, you must read it yourself.

I will offer this, I went to my reference book, for Anthracnose in Grapes, in Michigan approved fungicides include: Abound (azoxystrobin), Captan, mancozeb, tebuconazole, boscalid, lime sulfur is somewhat effective - read up how to apply as fungicide, Pristine (pyraclostrobin), Quadris Top (difenoconazole + azoxystrobin), Rally (myclobutanil), Sovran (kresoxim methyl), elemental sulfur is listed as ineffective, and finally Topsin M (thiophanate methyl). This list is the only fungicides approved for grapes in MI, that will kill anthracnose. See if the active ingredients in the 3 in 1 contain one of these fungicides listed. If it does somewhere on the label it will list anthracnose as one of the fungi it targets. Otherwise for the anthracnose, look for something from this list. Probably the most available will be the Mancozeb. I believe Bonide carries it.

 

[Johnathan]

@Leo in N E Illinois too much to quote. Thank you for your details and experience!