Save my plants!
October 20, 2008 8:41 AM Subscribe
Can someone help me identify this fungus/bug that's attacking my office's plants?
We have a number of different plants at work. We love them and try to take great care but over the last couple of months we've been having issues. Most of the plants have gotten strange white patches and suddenly died off after we try desperately to save them. I theorized that we were over fertilizing them but we've switched to plain water exclusively (we'd add a capful of miracl-gro once a month or so) and it remains.
Not being botanists, or even hobbyist gardeners, we are at a loss as to what this affliction is. We haven't seen bugs yet, but the white patches seem to be cocoons or fungus patches. They appear on the undersides of the leaves or on the stems. The stems turn brown and the plants wither away to disgusting horrid shadows of themselves.
I've checked out whiteflies, spider mites and mealy bugs but they don't seem the same. The patches themselves are definitely not crawling-around bugs, although it could totally be a larval/pupal stage. An image of the most affected plant we have now is here (not the greatest pic but I can take more if needed). Please help!
We have a number of different plants at work. We love them and try to take great care but over the last couple of months we've been having issues. Most of the plants have gotten strange white patches and suddenly died off after we try desperately to save them. I theorized that we were over fertilizing them but we've switched to plain water exclusively (we'd add a capful of miracl-gro once a month or so) and it remains.
Not being botanists, or even hobbyist gardeners, we are at a loss as to what this affliction is. We haven't seen bugs yet, but the white patches seem to be cocoons or fungus patches. They appear on the undersides of the leaves or on the stems. The stems turn brown and the plants wither away to disgusting horrid shadows of themselves.
I've checked out whiteflies, spider mites and mealy bugs but they don't seem the same. The patches themselves are definitely not crawling-around bugs, although it could totally be a larval/pupal stage. An image of the most affected plant we have now is here (not the greatest pic but I can take more if needed). Please help!
Crap, sorry, I should have read that more closely. I still think it's mealybugs, though.
posted by pullayup at 8:51 AM on October 20, 2008
posted by pullayup at 8:51 AM on October 20, 2008
Your plants are infested with cottony scale.
Yup...scale. Insecticidal soap works well against these critters.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2008
Yup...scale. Insecticidal soap works well against these critters.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2008
Response by poster: Thank you both for your responses. Cottony scale does look like the answer!
True to what you are saying, it has been around 5 days since I noticed them in our manager's cube and it has already nearly devastated this 6' plant.
posted by dozo at 10:43 AM on October 20, 2008
True to what you are saying, it has been around 5 days since I noticed them in our manager's cube and it has already nearly devastated this 6' plant.
posted by dozo at 10:43 AM on October 20, 2008
Best answer: In my experience insecticidal soap doesn't work worth a damn against these things, and they spread like mad. If the hard stuff doesn't kill them I'd throw out the affected plants and soil and bleach the pots. In my experience only a scorched earth approach works.
posted by tejolote at 10:57 AM on October 20, 2008
posted by tejolote at 10:57 AM on October 20, 2008
Best answer: They are tough bugs to kill. Be sure to quarantine the plants that are infected - as you may have noticed - they spread like crazy. Peal off the hard bodied adults and spray the soap to kill the youngsters. I thing the barrier idea to keep them from leaving the dirt is an awesome idea. Good luck.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:38 AM on October 20, 2008
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:38 AM on October 20, 2008
Response by poster: From your feedback we will quarantine the infested and use sprays/barriers to keep the unaffected clean. Hopefully we won't need tejolote's advice but it's good to know that starting over might have to be the next step.
Thanks all for helping us and our plants.
posted by dozo at 12:25 PM on October 20, 2008
Thanks all for helping us and our plants.
posted by dozo at 12:25 PM on October 20, 2008
Response by poster: So, it's been a while and we seem to have gotten rid of the bugs, but the plant is looking rough. We've trimmed away the dead parts, which was at least a third of the plant, and are now nursing the rest back to health.
Take that you ugly little bastards!
posted by dozo at 4:55 AM on November 20, 2008
Take that you ugly little bastards!
posted by dozo at 4:55 AM on November 20, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pullayup at 8:46 AM on October 20, 2008