Ficus Neriifolia dropping leaves after spraying

Jess

AS some of you may have read, I have spider mites on several trees and have been spraying them to get rid of the pests.

I have a small 3 tree group planting of narrow leafed ficus. Generally seem to be doing ok. I have sprayed this planting 3 times for mites, more from a preventative standpoint as I have not really seen the mites on these trees like I did on the Fukient Tea and the pyracantha.

The problem is they are dropping leaves. The first time it dropped 6-10 leaves everyday for about 3 days. This time the same thing. I don't understand why. If I am using a recommended spray in the manner that should be ok, why it is causing the leaves on the ficus to drop?

Also, on several of the trees, like my dwarf myrtle and New Zealand Tea, the leaves are turning dark brown and some are falling. Is there not a spider mite spray that can be used without damaging the trees? Will malathion cause the same damage to the trees that the Pyrethrin has?

Jess

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Jess

No one has any sage words??

TreeBay

Pyrethrin has been known to cause foliar burn, and figs are sensitive. Check out this thread over with our friends on GardenW&B

Malathion, in my experience does not cause these types of problems.

Regards,

Matt

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Jess

You can bet that is what I will by trying from now on. This is exactly the input that I was looking for. Thanks!

Now that I have sprayed all of the trees again, I am seeing leaf burn, if that is what it is, on most of the plants. Just not as severe on some as others. I have 6 ficus trees that are dropping leaves. You can bet that I will not be spraying them with that stuff anymore.

Jess