bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Friggin' Ficus Sap Suckin' Little Leeches?

Scale have a fondness for ficus species and are a common inhabitant on newly acquired material. The sticky residue you are seeing IMO is from scale. Look for VERY small brown patches that may not even really look like bugs, on the stalks of leaves . . . I bet you will find them.

I have found that a weekly spraying of neem oil does very well at controlling the population. You will see a noticeable reduction in the amount of bugs after one application. Within a month they should be completely eradicated.

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Here's to a long life and a merry one, a quick death and an easy one, a pretty girl and an honest one, a cold beer and another one!

16-Mar-2008	#8
007 Secret Agent Join Date: Nov-2004 Location: Detroit, Michigan Country: U.S. USDA Zone: 5/6 AHS Heat Zone: 4/5 Posts: 818	Scale have a fondness for ficus species and are a common inhabitant on newly acquired material. The sticky residue you are seeing IMO is from scale. Look for VERY small brown patches that may not even really look like bugs, on the stalks of leaves . . . I bet you will find them. I have found that a weekly spraying of neem oil does very well at controlling the population. You will see a noticeable reduction in the amount of bugs after one application. Within a month they should be completely eradicated. __________________ Here's to a long life and a merry one, a quick death and an easy one, a pretty girl and an honest one, a cold beer and another one!