How can I fight scale on my indoor ficus tree?

I have a 35 year old indoor ficus benjamina tree, about 8 feet tall. I have been fighting scale for the last 6 months by severely trimming the tree and applying systemic granules and spraying each week with organic insect spray. I even spend time with alcohol and cotton swabs wiping as many individual leaves as possible. Every day a dozen leaves turn yellow and fall off. Always sticky leaves and surfaces.

The tree is in a cool and sunny area of my apartment. Please help me save this tree.


Answer

Sorry to hear about your long-lived ficus tree. I see you are doing your best with organic remedies that will take quite of bit of time; success, sadly, is not a sure thing.

That sticky stuff on the leaves is the secretion from the insect. Since there are no natural predators indoors, insects like scale can continue to increase in numbers, unless caught early on. Removing the scale by wiping it's hard body (oval, raised shape) is quite a task, but ultimately the most effective method. You will have to keep an eye out so as to remove all those hard scale where they appear, again, usually on the stems. Check back every ten days and thoroughly remove all the scale that you can find by tapping their bodies with alcohol on a cotton swab and then wiping away. Repetition and consistency are the key to success.

Keep the plant well away from other plants until the problem is eradicated. If the infestation is already too far advanced, it may be hard to save the plant.

Leaves will fall when a tree is under stress. Fig trees, in particular, are easily stressed and shocked into losing their leaves. It will make new leaves, but unless the source of stress is relieved, they will fall again.

Outdoors beneficials, like lady bugs, can help by devouring the scale pests. Some gardeners put their ficus tree outdoors in summer to help control problem pests and improve the vigor of the plant as well. So all you can do is continue the process and maybe it will help, but it's very difficult, and may not remedy the problem.

 

Courtesy of NYBG Plant Information Service

  • Last Updated Apr 17, 2023
  • Views 8987
  • Answered By Anita Finkle

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