What to do if scale insects appear on ficus? Review of all effective methods of combating

Pests affect indoor plants in the same way as garden ones, but they are more difficult to control. Insects and mites on potted crops produce more generations due to warm conditions all year round, and inept use of chemical protection products at home can cause harm to humans. Scale insects on ficus are one of the most unpleasant pests. Even if the problem is noticed on time, treatment will take a long time.

Signs of plant damage by scale insects

The leaves become shiny and sticky, as if covered in sugar syrup. A transparent sticky liquid drips from the leaves onto the glass and onto the windowsill where the plant stands. And at this stage it is already difficult or impossible to fight scale insects. The scale insect, feeding on the sap of the plant, produces a large amount of sticky excrement. In the summer, especially if the flower is on a balcony or loggia, a sooty fungus settles on the sugary secretions, covering the leaves and shoots with a gray or black coating. This further weakens the development of plants, since the processes of photosynthesis and respiration are reduced due to dirty plaque. Old leaves turn yellow and fall off, young leaves dry out. With severe damage, the bark cracks and the shoots become bent, growth slows down, and flowering stops.

Reasons for appearance

Scale insects usually appear in a collection of indoor flowers due to an infected, unquarantined new plant. Rarely:

• brought from the street on the hands, clothes of people, fur of domestic animals;
• strays can fly when ventilated with air currents;
• pests at different stages of development enter the house with dirty garden tools.

Even less commonly, the cause of scale insect infection is poorly treated garden soil used for planting ficus trees. But it can be easily brought from a greenhouse or conservatory with citrus fruits, peppers, ornamental or aromatic crops.

Methods of pest control

Most springtails, and there are about 8 thousand species of them, lead a secretive lifestyle. Their diet includes fungal mycelium, algae, and lichen. A limited number of springtails feed on plants, but this is what gardeners have to deal with.

Methods for getting rid of dura on indoor flowers can be divided into several groups: mechanical, agrotechnical, folk and chemical.

• it is effective for small infections;
• light particles of the substrate float up - expanded clay, peat.

Mechanical methods of control include cleaning trays, pots, shelves or window sills where flowers stand with a soapy solution.

The most effective way to combat durs is to reduce watering and dry the soil. Loss of moisture is detrimental to them. The lump of earth is dried in the air in the shade or blotted with napkins. Not every plant can withstand prolonged drought, so you will have to act based on each type of indoor flower. It is worth reviewing the composition of the soil; organic residues are excluded from it - tea leaves, dry leaves. These components promote the growth of fungi, a breeding ground for springtails. Proper drainage is necessary so that moisture does not stagnate in the soil.

If there is a large accumulation of pests on the surface, the top layer of soil is replaced. 3-4 cm of soil are removed and clean sand is poured in their place. After 4-5 months, the sand can be replaced with soil. Sprinkling the soil with ash is also effective; this worsens the living conditions of pests.

Folk recipes

A simple and safe way is to lure pests from the pot into the potatoes. To do this, take a raw vegetable and cut it in half. Half a potato is placed cut side down in the ground. Springtails will gather around him. Remove pests with a spatula, along with the soil.

You need to act quickly, but carefully. The collected poduras are placed in a container with a lid (don’t forget about their jumping ability) and then destroyed

This method will not get rid of all pests, but it will significantly reduce their population.

To repel pests, it is recommended to place dry peels of citrus fruits - oranges or lemons - in pots. Sprinkling a thin layer of tobacco dust will help. Watering with the addition of a citramone tablet per 2 liters of water helps control the number of springtails. If the above methods are ineffective, you will have to replace the soil.

Treatment with chemicals

If the soil podra has multiplied in large numbers and eats young shoots, then it is necessary to resort to the use of insecticides. These drugs quickly destroy any plant pests. Among the proven products: Fitoverm, Aktara, Mospilan. The preparations are diluted in water according to the instructions, then poured into the soil. In this case, treatment is not carried out by spraying, as with other types of pests, the soil must be wetted to a depth of 3-4 cm. This will destroy the eggs and larvae.

Another recommended remedy is Bazudin. These are granules scattered over the surface of the soil. A thin layer is enough to kill springtails. The effect of the drug lasts for more than a month.

Another soil insecticide, Pochin, effectively destroys springtails when applied to the soil of a pot. Small granules act on the pest upon contact. It is enough to mix them with soil and the fools will die within a few hours.

Preventive measures:

1. It is better to buy indoor flowers in specialized stores. Before purchasing, it is good to inspect the specimen; if there are any doubts about its health, take another plant.
2. Provide good drainage to prevent moisture from accumulating at the bottom of the pot.
3. Observe the agrotechnical conditions recommended for plants (temperature, humidity, lighting).

Before starting the fight against durs on indoor plants, you should assess the size of the threat. They are part of the processes of humus formation. Chemicals that harm indoor plants will not be needed if flower care is properly organized.

Appearance of the pest

The scale insect is a parasitic insect, the family of which includes about 2 thousand species. Most often they damage cultivated and wild plants, but with soil and other flowers they can be brought into human homes, where there are all conditions for the reproduction and existence of scale insects: warmth, light (if the flowers are on the window), moisture, nutrition.

Ficus leaves contain a lot of juice, which contains a large amount of nutrients; sugars are important for the life of pests.

Males do not bring any harm to indoor flowers, since their life cycle is too short due to the lack of mouthparts - but they have paws, segmented bodies and even wings. They usually do not fly around the apartment, but they can move short distances this way.

The female scale insect on the ficus is attached to the leaves and is protected by a small waxy “shield” (it is smaller in males). It is the females who secrete a special sticky enzyme that spoils the leaves. Only young females have legs and can move; over time, the legs are reduced, and the insect remains on the leaf.

An adult scale insect reaches 4-5 mm in length and has a brown, reddish or yellowish color. An unfavorable fact for plant growers is that scale insects multiply very quickly, and after a couple of hours small insects run out from under the mother’s shell and begin to lead an independent life.

Signs of scale insects

Many plant growers do not always see the presence of scale insects on Ficus Benjamin. How to deal with it?

Before asking such a question, you need to know the signs of an insect:

1. A sticky coating on the leaves is a substance secreted by female scale insects, which makes the plant unviable. This glue is called honeydew - it is excess plant juice that is not “removed” in the scale insect’s body.
2. If you look closely at the leaves of the plant, you can see brown or gray larvae.
3. The flower began to dry out sharply, its leaves were dying.
4. Lumps have formed on the surface of the flower, which form in damaged areas when they begin to be overgrown with new tissue.
5. The plant stopped developing.

If the pest affects the ficus for more than two years, the plant’s leaves not only fall off and young shoots dry out, but the bark also begins to crack, and dark-colored bumps and irregularities also form on the trunk and branches.

Most often, the owner has no idea how the insect could get on the houseplant.

There are several ways to become infected with scale insects:

• buying a diseased plant - in flower shops there are often epidemics of scale insects;
• on a bouquet of flowers from a store or garden;
• in the warm season, the pest can be brought by the wind;
• from other diseased plants.

Infection occurs for no reason and at any time of the year, so it is impossible to prevent it.

Chemical control methods

If you cannot remove scale insects from a plant manually, for example, using soap, a sponge or a scraper, you have to use chemicals. They are considered the most effective in combating scale insects on Ficus Benjamin. Often, even poisons cannot have an effect on the females and larvae hiding under the shield, so it is first necessary to remove severely affected leaves and collect the pests manually.

Next, you can use a chemical, the most effective are “Aktara” (spray the plant and water the soil 4 times with a break of a week), “Aktellik” (considered the best remedy for fighting scale insects, before use you must read the instructions), “Vermitek” (treat 1 once and switch to another insecticide), “Fitoferm” (spray the plant with a powder solution 7-9 times with a break of 10 days).

Traditional methods

The best results are obtained from mixtures of machine oil (30g) and soap (10g), diluted in water (a glass). The ficus is treated with this substance several times until the signs of the presence of scale insects completely disappear. The main rule when processing is to cover the soil with a bag and leave it unwashed for half a day. The interval between procedures is 10 days.

An additional remedy can be tincture of garlic, pepper or onion. Leave for a day under a tight lid and spray the plant several times at intervals of 5-7 days.

Conclusion

Scale on indoor plants is not the most pleasant thing, especially considering that it is not easy to remove. Often growers lose this battle because they do not take the matter too seriously.

Scale insects require systemic control using different substances, and often several procedures are required at once.

Leaves fall off after transplanting

Yellowing of schefflera often occurs when moved to another pot. If it was a full-fledged transplant with exposed roots, the operation rarely goes without leaf fall. But owners also make mistakes.

Priming

The substrate for shefflera should be slightly acidic or neutral. The best solution is to buy a ready-made one, intended for ficus or ornamental deciduous crops. When preparing a soil mixture yourself, it is not always possible to fully disinfect the components or select them correctly. As a result, the shefflera turns yellow and drops its leaves.

Causes:

• alkaline reaction or too high acidity of the soil;
• soil pests - even earthworms that fall into a pot turn into them;
• dense substrate - the roots do not receive enough oxygen, the water stagnates, it is difficult to care for the shefflera;
• poor permeability of components.

Often the soil becomes salty from watering with hard water. The white crust on the surface can be removed. If plaque covers the walls of the pot, the soil will have to be changed.

Pot

The container for shefflera needs a regular shape and must contain holes for water drainage. Otherwise, the substrate will constantly become soaked.

With each transplant, the size is increased by 2-3 cm. A pot that is too large will not only cause a stunting of growth. The roots need to braid a ball. If there is a lot of free space, this will take considerable time; the plates of the shefflera will begin to turn yellow and fall off. Leaf fall will stop when the flower has covered all the soil.

A container that is too small and filled only with roots and soil residues does not hold water well; when fertilizing, the underground part often gets burned by fertilizers. The result is that the foliage turns yellow and falls off.

Transfer time

Any movement to a new container is associated with injuries to the sucking processes. Even transshipment. The root system regenerates in the same way as other parts of plant organisms. If the transplant is done at the end of the season, the process is slow, the foliage turns yellow and falls off, and when the injury affects the main roots, the shefflera may even die.

In the summer she has already spent a lot of effort on building up green mass. In addition, heat negatively affects the general condition of the flower; only it can cause leaf fall. Excessive injury will make the situation worse.

Planting process

It is best for the sheffler to pass without destroying the earthen clod. This way the roots are minimally damaged, and the suspension of growth processes often goes unnoticed.

The more damaged the underground part is, the more time it takes to recover. The Schefflera root system spends energy on regeneration, and is not able to feed all the vegetative organs; some of them turn yellow and fall off.

How to get rid of false scale insects at home?

To combat insects, chemical and folk remedies are used.

Fight with special drugs

The natural defenses of scale insects and false scale insects make them invulnerable to some traditional insecticides. The most effective drugs for killing parasites are juvenoids - hormone-based insecticides, neonicotinoids and organophosphorus agents.

Aktara

Aktara is a systemic insecticide for controlling pests of indoor and garden crops. The main active ingredient is thiamethoxam. In some plants, this poison penetrates through the skin after spraying or by absorption by the roots. The scale insect sucks the juice from the tissues of the flower, and with it the poison enters its body.

Watering at the root is the most effective way to kill the pest. For treatment, a package weighing 1.4 g is diluted in 2 liters of water. The poison is applied after watering the plant. The death of the insect occurs within a week. To achieve a lasting result, treatment is carried out 2 more times every 7-10 days.

Fitoverm

Fitoverm is one of the effective drugs for exterminating many types of pests. The main component of this product is the biological substance aversectin C. For treatment, 2 ml of the product is diluted in 200 ml of water. Spraying is carried out 3-4 times with an interval of 7-8 days. In most cases, this is enough to completely destroy the pest.

Advice! To ensure the well-being of indoor flowers, after treatment with Fitoverm, they are sprayed with the stimulator Epin. This will help support plant immunity.

How to fight with folk remedies?

Remedies prepared according to folk recipes are effective only as preventive measures and at the initial stage of plant infection. However, use in combination with mechanical cleaning can give a positive result.

According to reviews from flower growers, the following remedies are effective against insects:

1. Soap-alcohol solution. 15 ml of soap is mixed with 10 ml of alcohol and added to 1 liter of water. The product is shaken until foamy and applied to the leaves.
2. Soap-oil solution. 10 ml of liquid soap is mixed with 5 ml of vegetable oil and 30 ml of water. The resulting mixture is applied to the leaves and the plant is covered with a plastic bag. After 12 hours, the leaves are washed with warm water. The procedure is carried out 2 times with an interval of 7 days.
3. Washing powder and burdock oil. 10 g of powder is mixed with 10 ml of oil and added to 1 liter of water. Leave for several hours and spray as a preventive measure once every 30 days.
4. Onion infusion. Grate one medium onion and add 250 ml of water for 3 hours. The leaves are rinsed with the strained solution 4 times with an interval of 8 days.
5. Hot pepper decoction. 50 g of pepper are heated to a boil in 500 ml of water, left for 24 hours and filtered. Before spraying, 10 ml of infusion is diluted in 1 liter of water and 5 g of liquid soap is added. Leaves are treated with pepper infusion once every 15 days.
6. Infusion of tobacco. 80 g of crushed tobacco is poured into 1 liter of water and left for 24 hours. After this time, the infusion is filtered, the volume is adjusted to 2 liters and the plants are sprayed.
7. Kerosene. To 1 liter of water add 5 drops of kerosene, 40 g of grated laundry soap or 25 g of green soap. The resulting product is used to wipe the leaves and shoots.

Carefully! Use a kerosene-based product with caution on flowers with thin leaves, as it can cause burns. It is recommended to test the solution on a small area and wait 30 minutes

If there is no reaction, you can treat the entire flower.

How to recognize the appearance

The scale insect is well known from photos, but owners often discover the pest when the females and larvae literally stick around the vegetative organs.

Ficus requires close attention:

• if the plates have turned yellow, browned, or have light spots on them;
• damaged leaves do not increase in size, but curl and dry over time;
• branches are exposed;
• ficus dries out;
• sticky discharge appeared.

This is definitely a scale insect if insects are found on the plant:

• inactive, non-flying, covered with a waxy coating;
• round or oval, several mm long;
• at the initial stage they are attached along the veins on the back side of the leaf, petioles;
• They look like growths, it is impossible to remove them with a finger, you need to scrape them off with your fingernail.

Insect development cycle

The insect develops gradually and in several stages.

1. In the climate of the middle zone, scale insect eggs are most often left over for the winter. During the cold season, they are protected by a shield left over from the fertilized female.
2. By the end of spring, larvae - vagrants - are actively hatching from the eggs. They quickly spread to different areas of trees.
3. The maturity of individuals occurs after 2-3 months, then adult males and females begin to mate.
4. After mating, males die immediately, while females carry eggs for 90 days and at the same time suck the juices from the plant.
5. The female begins to lay eggs towards the end of summer. Their number can reach 250-500 pieces.
6. After oviposition, the female dies, her body dries out over time, and the scutellum becomes a winter refuge for the offspring.
7. Scale insect eggs mature within 9-10 months.

Scale insect development cycle.

Scale insects on ficus - what to do when a pest appears?

Not a single plant is immune from the appearance of scale insects. The reasons for this can be varied: improper care, contaminated soil, diseases of other flowers that are transmitted.

The insect literally sucks nutrients and juices from the plant, so if the damage is not noticed in time, the plant will begin to dry out and die. Plant growers often notice scale insects on ficus - what to do if the pest appears?

Treatment

Most often, kidney disease in cats is diagnosed without a clear idea of ​​its cause, so treatment is aimed at eliminating the main symptoms. Goals of therapy:

• maintaining quality of life,
• slowing down the degeneration of damaged kidneys and the progression of chronic renal failure,
• reduction of azotemia,
• reduction of proteinuria,
• reducing the risk of hypertension.

Anorexia and dehydration: intravenous or subcutaneous administration of solutions of 0.18% sodium chloride + 4% dextrose. The required volume of administered solutions is calculated based on the need for 50 mlkg 24 hours. Systemic hypertension: ACE inhibitors or calcium channel blockers (enalapril 0.25-0.5 mgkg per os, every 12-24 hours, amlodipine 0.10-0.25 mgkg per os, every 24 hours). Metabolic acidosis: sodium bicarbonate 8-15 mgkg per os, every 8-12 hours. Hypokalemia: Hartmann's solution, Panangin.

Hyperphosphatemia: low phosphorus diet (Royal Canine renal, Hill's kd, Eucanuba renal, Pro Plan NF), phosphorus content no more than 0.6% of the daily diet. Administration of drugs that bind phosphorus into the gastrointestinal tract: aluminum hydroxide 30-60 mgkg per day with food.

Weight loss: high-calorie diet, appetite stimulation with various taste attractants, parenteral nutrition, nasoesophageal tube Proteinuria and hypoalbumemia: ACE inhibitors enalapril 0.5 mgkg per os, every 12-24 hours - reduce protein excretion by the kidneys when they are damaged. A diet rich in omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Immune suppression: annual vaccination and protecting the animal from potential sources of infection. Decreased appetite and vomiting: a diet with a reduced level of protein with a urea level of more than 40 mmol, H2 receptor antagonists (famotidine 0.5 mgkg per os, every 12-24 hours, metoclopramide 0.2-0.4 mgkg per os, subcutaneously, every 6-8 hours.

Anemia: with hematocrit below 18%, erythropoietin 25-100 units kg, subcutaneously 1-3 times a week, ferrous sulfate 5-20 mg kg per day per os.

conclusions

1) CKD is the irreversible progressive destruction of kidney tissue as a result of diseases that, in the absence of dialysis or kidney transplantation, lead to the death of the patient. 2) Cats with chronic renal failure may not have symptoms until the glomerular filtration rate becomes very low. 3) The consequence of chronic renal failure is a violation of the metabolism of water and sodium, calcium and phosphorus, anemia.

Prevention

We figured out how to get rid of scale insects. Now let’s take a closer look at what needs to be done to ensure that such a problem does not arise at all:

1. Send all purchased plants to quarantine; do not immediately place them in the flower garden. From the store, you may well bring these pests to your home.
2. Also, you should not place live bouquets next to the flower garden; insects can also hide in them.
3. Carry out pruning on time - get rid of dry and old branches, which may seem very attractive to pests.
4. When cutting leaves or shoots, do not forget to treat the cut areas with garden varnish for disinfection.
5. Make sure that the soil in the pot is clean - there should be no fallen leaves around the lemon.
6. Control the humidity level and ventilate the room.
7. Wipe the leaves with a damp cloth - this will prevent dust from accumulating on them and bugs, such as scale insects, will not appear.
8. Follow all the necessary rules for caring for plants, and scale insects will not bother you.

How to cure indoor ficus

White spots and white dots, as well as dark coating on ficus leaves, are a serious problem for any gardener. It is necessary to act immediately after detecting at least one such insignificant speck. Of course, experienced specialists, as a rule, recommend buying professional insecticides for flower treatment.

If the disease is at an early stage, it is quite possible that you can cope with the use of home remedies. However, you should not rely on them if the plant is already on the verge of death. The same white spots on the leaves indicate the development of a disease dangerous for the ficus. If this appears, immediately buy professional products.

When a flower suddenly gets sick, becoming covered with white spots, many gardeners do not dare to purchase medicinal drugs. For those who are worried about the condition of the ficus after using chemicals, the optimal solution would be a copper-soap mixture or a fungicide solution.

Wipe the leaves on both sides with this medicine daily until the white or dark spots disappear from the leaves. No matter how hard you try to care for your indoor ficus, it can still get sick, and its leaves can become covered with white dots or plaque. In this case, the sick flower must be immediately treated with effective medications.

Measures to combat scale insects and false scale insects

Scale insects are protected from external influences by a shield, so fighting them is not easy. Scale insects are cleaned with a toothbrush or a cloth soaked in an alcohol or soap solution; you can also use a soap-kerosene emulsion.

Alcohol solution with soap. The mixture consists of 15 grams of liquid soap, 10 ml of denatured alcohol and 1 liter of warm water. However, you need to be very careful here, especially for soft-leaved and thin-leaved plants. These species are very sensitive to alcohol, so they do not spray the liquid, but apply it to the insects themselves with a brush. If you really want to use this method, it is best to do a small sensitivity test on one sheet first.

In case of severe damage, the following chemicals are used:

"Aktellik". Dilute the ampoule in 1 liter of water and treat during the period when the pest appears. Solution consumption up to 2 liters per 10 sq.m. No more than 4 treatments. The waiting period is 3 days.

“Phosbecid.” Treatment with these drugs (they are toxic) is best done outdoors (20 ml per 10 liters of water).

Scale insects. Jeffrey W

If the plants are short (up to 30 cm), try watering them at the root with a solution of the Aktara preparation. This insecticide penetrates the plant through the roots and makes all its above-ground organs toxic to insects for some time. When treating with an insecticide, wipe the window sill or shelf where the plant stood, as well as the window glass, as small larvae may not be noticed.

To reduce the harmfulness of scale insects and false scale insects, one can also use the fact that the reproduction of many species of these pests is greatly slowed down by a drop in relative air humidity and prolonged exposure to sunlight. Therefore, be moderate with watering, avoid crowding of plants, ventilate the room more often, isolate the infected plant from others, and move it to a more illuminated place.

Folk remedies

To quickly get rid of scale insects, wipe the branches and trunk of the plant with a cotton swab dipped in vodka. This should be done several times, once or twice a week.

Pests are removed with a soft toothbrush and the damaged areas are smeared with onion pulp, then the plant is washed with a soap solution or treated with a kerosene-soap mixture. To do this, dilute 25 g of green or 40 g of laundry soap in 1 liter of water, adding 5 drops of kerosene and shaking thoroughly, lubricate or spray the affected parts of the plant with the mixture.

A homemade soap-oil emulsion gives a good effect: beat 5-10 g of soap or powder in a glass of water until foam forms, then add 20-30 g of machine oil. With this composition, after covering the soil in the pot with film, the entire plant is treated and left for 6-12 hours. Wash off with cold water. This treatment should be carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 7-10 days.

False scale insects

You can wash the plant with one of the following infusions:

• Garlic infusion for scale insects. Five cloves of garlic are crushed and ground in a mortar, poured with a glass of water and left under a lid in a dark place for several hours. Wash the leaves or brush them with a soft brush. For spraying, the infusion is filtered through 3 layers of gauze.
• Onion infusion for scale insects. One medium onion is crushed and infused in a glass of water for several hours. Then everything is the same as with garlic infusion.
• Pepper infusion for scale insects can be prepared for future use. 50 g of fresh hot pepper are crushed and boiled in 0.5 liters of water, added to measure. Then leave for a day and filter. Store in a closed bottle in the refrigerator.

If it is necessary to treat the plant, take 10 g of infusion and 5 g of green (laundry) soap per 1 liter of water.

You always want to keep your carefully grown plants healthy. Protect them from pests and diseases. We hope our simple tips will help you overcome these harmful creatures.

Why did the rubber ficus drop its leaves?

Your tree was bright, with succulent leaves and a beautiful crown, but for some reason it began to fade. The cobwebs on them will tell you why your ficus leaves have drooped. a spider mite
on the ficus .
This pest drinks juice and nutrients from the leaves. You can get rid of it with tobacco infusion. Wash away the plaque that appears on the ficus leaves with this liquid.
Cover the tree with film or a plastic bag for two days. Remember, ticks breed in extreme heat and dry air.

Diseases and pests in ficuses, brown spots appear on the leaves, or they turn black or curl, fungal diseases in the plant... Most often they experience difficulties in caring for the Benjamin ficus, although the description below can also be attributed to f. rubbery, lyre-shaped or microcarp...

Be careful when buying a plant, lift the leaves up. Look for signs of pests or disease. If you find any, keep the plant and don't buy it. Avoid buying a flower with damaged or damaged leaves.

With proper care, ficus trees usually do not get sick, but pests or infection can easily be brought into the house with a new plant, cuttings, changing the soil, or when taking it out into the open air. Sometimes it happens that the ficus turns black and crumbles accordingly.

The most common ficus diseases are caused by pests, such as spider mites, aphids, scale insects... You can see the common spider mite on the underside of the leaves and on the tips of the shoots. The upper side is often covered with dots and yellow spots, and cobwebs can be seen between the leaves. Frequent spraying with water and washing the leaves will help to cope with the pest.

The appearance of false scale insects and scale insects is accompanied by growth retardation, the formation of brown spots, and a sticky coating on the leaves and trunk of the ficus. The leaves turn yellow and the ficus falls off prematurely. The pest attaches itself to the plant and if it is not treated in time, the plant will die. Proper care and constant inspection of the ficus will help detect diseases or pests at an early stage, when the plant can be saved.

The appearance of brown or red spots on ficus leaves indicates a fungal infection. Gradually, the spots grow and the leaves die. Poor placement of the pot and improper care contribute to the appearance of this disease. Dampness poses a particular danger. A sick ficus should not be sprayed, and all infected leaves must be removed.

One of the diseases characteristic of some plant species is gray rot. This fungus is quite easy to detect - gray mold forms on the leaves and stems, the affected parts quickly darken and gradually die off. Removing the affected parts, reducing watering, ventilating the room and treating the plant with insecticides will help get rid of the scourge.

Rotting of roots and stems manifests itself in wilting, despite soil moisture. The leaves turn gray, and pockets of rot can be found at the base of the stem. It is almost impossible to save the affected plant.

Powdery mildew is a white, easily erasable coating that often appears with poor ventilation. The presence of sunburn or areas damaged by pests makes it easier for fungal spores to penetrate. Black sooty fungi appear on the secretions of pests: aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, whiteflies. Aphids attack young shoots of ficus trees with tender leaves.

Non-cancerous diseases that cause itching in the armpits

The following six conditions are more common causes of armpit itching:

Intertrigo

Diaper rash is a rash that develops in the folds of the skin. Diaper rash occurs when heat and moisture become trapped between folds of skin, leading to the growth of yeast, fungi, or bacteria. The rash itself is usually red or purple and may itch or burn.

Diaper rash usually develops in the armpits. But it may be in other areas:

• in the crease of the neck;
• under the breast;
• under the belly;
• in the groin;
• between your fingers.

Your doctor may prescribe steroid creams to relieve itching and irritation. In severe cases, he may prescribe an antibiotic or antifungal cream to clear the infection.

Eczema

The term eczema refers to a group of conditions that cause inflammation of the skin. The most common symptoms are itching, redness and inflammation. It can be observed anywhere on the body.

Other skin symptoms of eczema may include:

• Dry skin;
• Skin sensitivity;
• Swelling of the skin;
• Crusts on the skin;
• Rough, scaly patches on the skin.

Although there is no cure for eczema, certain treatments can help relieve symptoms and prevent the condition from getting worse.

People should visit a doctor or dermatologist for a diagnosis and to discuss possible treatment options.

Contact dermatitis

Contact dermatitis (CD) is a type of dermatitis that occurs when the skin comes into contact with an irritant. Symptoms may develop from a single exposure to a toxic substance or repeated exposure to an irritating substance.

Any substance that comes into contact with the underarm area can irritate the skin. Examples include:

• water;
• soap;
• razor;
• deodorant;
• fabric detergent;
• fabric softener.

Itching, burning and tingling are common symptoms of CD. In severe cases, the skin may crack and bleed.

Heat rash

Heat rash, also known as miliaria, is a skin irritation that usually occurs during hot, humid weather.

Miliaria develops when the sweat glands become clogged and cannot produce sweat. Water entering the gland causes them to swell. This results in a painful itching or tingling sensation.

Warm rash usually appears as a cluster of small rashes or blisters. The accumulations usually occur in the armpits and other areas where the skin touches the skin.

Areas where heat rash may occur include:

• neck;
• area under the breast;
• elbow folds;
• area around the groin.

Miliaria usually goes away after the skin cools. Applying cold compresses and wearing loose clothing can ease skin irritation.

In some cases, your doctor may prescribe a lotion to relieve pain and discomfort.

Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis is a condition in which the sweat glands produce excessive amounts of sweat. This condition can affect sweat glands throughout the body or in certain areas, such as the armpits. Although hyperhidrosis can cause embarrassment and discomfort, it is a relatively harmless condition. However, hyperhidrosis increases the risk of fungal infections, which can cause itchy armpits.

Poor hygiene

The armpits are home to many different bacteria. Poor hygiene can cause sweat and dirt to accumulate on the skin, allowing these bacteria to multiply.

Excess bacteria leads to bad odor and an increased risk of infection, which in turn can lead to itching

Keeping your armpits clean is important to prevent itching

People should see a doctor if they have:

• bacterial or fungal infection;
• a skin condition such as eczema or dermatitis;
• persistent heat rash;

The doctor will examine the armpit and prescribe all the necessary procedures.

In some cases, a doctor may refer a person to a dermatologist for specialized treatment.

How to get rid of acne on shoulders

Local treatment

Topical treatments—usually creams, gels, and foams—can help clear up acne. Use products that contain:

Benzoyl peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide is an antiseptic that kills C. acnes bacteria on the surface of the skin and inside hair follicles. In 2017, a 12-week clinical trial examined the effectiveness of this antiseptic as a treatment for acne vulgaris among 607 participants. The researchers found that using benzoyl peroxide cream resulted in a 72.7% to 75.0% reduction in inflammatory lesions, while using a placebo cream resulted in a 41.6% reduction in inflammatory lesions.

Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid that reduces sebum production and skin inflammation. It also reduces acne damage by exfoliating the skin—removing oil, dirt, dead skin cells, and bacteria.

A 2022 clinical study compared the effectiveness of salicylic acid cream and benzoyl peroxide cream for the treatment of mild to moderate acne. The study involved 31 people, all of whom applied each cream to separate sides of their faces for 28 days. Researchers found that 2% salicylic acid cream reduced the number of papules and pustules by 47.9% and reduced the number of non-inflammatory lesions by 43.1%. These results were comparable to those obtained with benzoyl peroxide cream. Scientists have concluded that these two creams are equally effective in treating acne.

Retinoids

Retinoids are a class of chemical compounds derived from vitamin A. A person must use a retinoid consistently to see results. This is not a spot treatment.

Azelaic acid

Azelaic acid exists naturally in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Topical application helps reduce redness and swelling of the skin. A small 2022 study examined the safety and effectiveness of 15% azelaic acid foam in the treatment of mild acne on the torso. The results showed that 44% of participants who used the foam twice daily experienced a significant reduction in acne.

Drug treatment

The following medications, in tablet form, help treat the main causes of acne.

Antibiotics

: Helps treat moderate to severe acne vulgaris, but doctors caution against their use in the long term. Dermatologists usually recommend topical treatments, such as those containing benzoyl peroxide.

Contraceptives

: used to treat acne:

• norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol
• norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol
• ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone
• drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol

Hormone therapy

: Involves taking medications that reduce levels of certain hormones that contribute to acne. Examples include:

• spironolactone
• cyproterone
• flutamide

Fungal and other diseases

If the leaves begin to fall in the fall, there is no reason to worry. This is completely normal. However, there are other reasons that negatively affect the growth of ficus.

• Root rot is caused in two ways: poorly drained soil or too frequent watering. Any of these situations will cause the roots to begin to soften and rot. The problem can be prevented very simply by adjusting watering control and organizing high-quality drainage.
• Phomopsis canker is caused by pruning with a non-sterile instrument. This fungal disease enters the plant through cuts. The easiest way to combat this is to completely cut off the affected branch, since there are no chemical treatments for this disease on the market.
• Ficus plants sometimes attract fungal pathogens that cause crown rot or stem rot. It attacks the plant from the ground line, causing the crown to rot and the leaves to yellow, wither and even die. High humidity contributes to the appearance of a white coating on the soil and stems. Brown spots and sometimes gray mold appear. Spraying healthy foliage with a mancozeb-based fungicide will help.

Most bacterial diseases cannot be treated, so the plant is completely destroyed. Good care can prevent infection. A simple set of fertilizers, applied on time and in the required quantity, helps to revive a plant if it is not growing well.

To learn how to deal with ficus benjamina pests, watch the following video.

Causes leading to ficus diseases

Optimal development conditions and proper care are the key to the full growth of ficus plants at home. Lack of lighting, incorrect temperature and humidity in the room, irregular watering and improper application of fertilizing are the reasons why diseases of Ficus Benjamin and other species appear. These reasons include unsatisfactory soil composition.

In this regard, the leaves of the rubber ficus, just like other varieties of the Mulberry family, wither, turn yellow and fall off. In this case, you need to react correctly - reduce or increase watering, expose the flowers to sunlight or, conversely, shade them, replant them, etc.

Most often, diseases of rubber ficus appear on the external condition of the leaves.

Yellowing of foliage

Most often caused by too low indoor humidity. This situation can be observed in winter in plants placed next to heating devices. Dry and hot air causes the leaves to dry out, turn yellow and fall off. Massive loss of foliage can lead to the death of the flower.

If the plant is moved to a room with high humidity and a humidifier is installed, then there is a chance of saving it

Therefore, timely care and attention are important here. If this is not possible, then the heating device needs to be covered with something.

To increase humidity, the plant is regularly sprayed.

Frequently moving a flower from one place to another at home can cause the foliage to fall and turn yellow. Therefore, its permanent place of residence must be determined immediately after purchase or landing.

Leaf fall

Ficus leaves become small and fall off en masse. Such a plant suffers from a lack of fertilizers. There is only one way out - transplanting the flower into new fertile soil. To transplant rubber ficus, use a substrate based on peat, sand and leaf soil in equal parts. After transplantation, the plant is watered.

Symptoms of waterlogging and lack of moisture

If the ficus foliage looks unhealthy, falls off, turns yellow at the edges or is covered with yellow spots, this is a sign that the plant is overwatered. Proper watering of ficus involves regularly moistening the soil only after it has dried. Excess moisture will lead to rotting of the roots, and subsequently to the death of the plant itself. For ficus that has suffered from overwatering, watering should be stopped for a while until the soil is completely dry. Plants that are too flooded and are losing leaves en masse are transplanted into new soil. During the replanting process, all rotten roots must be removed. The sections are treated with charcoal powder.

A lack of moisture is as detrimental to rubber ficus as its excess. The consequence of this is shrunken and curled leaves. In addition, the root system also suffers from drying out of the soil, as a result of which the ficus may die. Proper care and provision of proper growing conditions will prevent this consequence.

Other reasons

If the tips of the ficus leaves turn dark brown, it means the room temperature is too high, or the flower is suffering from an overabundance of fertilizers.

The loss of leaves in the lower part of the trunk is considered a normal process that occurs in all aging plants. A ficus whose trunk is exposed needs to be transplanted. Perhaps such a plant was transplanted into an incorrectly prepared soil substrate.

Sometimes ficus leaves may die. This disease can be caused by infectious diseases or pests. To be more sure of this, a thorough examination of the affected flower is carried out. Then treatment is carried out with an insecticidal preparation, which is simply irreplaceable in this situation.

Indoor plants affected by scale insects

The scale insect belongs to a huge family of hemipteran insects. Of the variety of species (more than 2 thousand), several dozen prefer to parasitize house plants.

Depending on the stage of development, they have different activity and vulnerability. These pests have perfectly adapted to living off plants.

Characteristics of the parasite

All species of the family have protective wax shields on their bodies that are different in shape, size and color, but are not part of their body (if compared with false scale insects). At home, scale insects most prefer to feast on citrus fruits, palm trees and bromeliads (orchids).

The female has an oval or rounded, flat, brown, reddish or almost black shield (the color is a specific feature of the species, so it may be different), reaching a length of 5 mm. The body itself under the shield is white or pale brown, 1.5-2 mm long. Paws, wings, eyes, antennae are missing. There is only a powerful oral apparatus of the piercing-sucking type.

Males are smaller in size. They are oblong, with a small shield, often white and pubescent, but can be light orange, reddish-gray, etc. There are no mouthparts, but there are eyes and well-formed limbs, as well as wings. They are mobile, capable of even flying, but their life is short (several days) and they die after mating.

Females live up to 4 months; they motionlessly cover the offspring on the plant. The insect is characterized by such a phenomenon as parthenogenesis (females reproduce without the participation of males). The eggs are extremely small - 0.1-0.3 mm, oval or oval-elongated, white, then light gray, and then light brown.

Varieties of scale insects

Young yellowish larvae up to 0.3 mm long are nicknamed tramps, as they quickly wander around the plant on their 3 pairs of legs in search of food. Mostly they transform into females, fixing themselves in any convenient place, losing mobility and acquiring a waxy shield.

Parasites are especially active and voracious in winter, when plants are weakened and their metabolism is impaired due to improper care.

External signs of a pest

The hatched larvae, just a few hours after hatching from the eggs, begin to actively absorb the juices of the plant, choosing mainly the lower part of the leaves. The presence of adults can be detected with the naked eye due to the presence of spots (plaques) on the trunks and leaves.

Leaf damage

Small young animals are difficult to notice, but a magnifying glass will help you see their active movement. If you didn’t have a chance to look at it in time, then honeydew (sticky liquid) will indicate their presence. This is a convenient environment for the development of sooty fungus. The overall result is drying out, falling leaves, and death of plant parts.

Where does the parasite come from in the house?

The scale insect appears indoors due to infected purchased and donated plants, specimens dug from open ground, and garden soil. Parasites are sometimes carried through the window by the wind.

Important! Newly established plants must undergo a 2-3-week quarantine in isolation, and questionable soil should be disinfected in any convenient way (freeze several times, steam, pour boiling water in small portions, treat with Aktara solution, etc.)

Parasite harm to indoor plants

The harm of the scale insect is that it sucks out the cell sap of plants. As a result of this activity, the leaves turn yellow or brown, curl and fall, the growth of shoots stops, the flowers dry out and then die.

What does a spider mite look like?

Many people find it difficult to believe that the wilting of their favorite ficus is directly related to parasite damage.
Spider mites are small in size, their body length does not exceed 0.3-0.6 mm. The shape of insects is usually oblong-oval. Their entire body is covered with small, but quite noticeable hairs, which help them cling to the plant whose juices they feed on. It is impossible to see these insects with the naked eye. You should use a regular magnifying glass, through which you can clearly see them. Female spider mites are slightly larger than males. All adult ticks have 4 pairs of prehensile legs. Adults lay eggs in large numbers. Given favorable conditions, they ripen in just 3 days. In unfavorable conditions, eggs can survive in the soil for about 5 years. It is precisely because of their survivability that the fight against spider mites is quite protracted. Typically, larvae and adults respond well to the effects of both chemical insecticides and folk remedies. Ticks lay eggs in the soil, on pots and tree stems, as well as other elements.

These insects are brownish or green in color. They move slowly, so it is almost impossible to notice them. Both adults and larvae have a special proboscis, which they use to pierce the leaves and drink the juices of the plant.

It is important to know the main symptoms of plant damage by these parasites

How to help a lemon recover from illness

When a lemon has been cured of any disease, it will need to restore its strength and immunity. To do this, you should provide it with enhanced nutrition with complex fertilizers (but not overdo it), and also treat/feed it with growth stimulants. The most famous among them:

• Zircon;
• Amulet;
• Immunocytophyte;
• Epin.

If a lemon bloomed in the first year after a serious illness, then it is better to remove the flowers in order to preserve its strength to recover.

Growing lemons in an apartment is accessible only to a dedicated and attentive amateur. Only by scrupulously following the rules of agricultural technology can you count on a positive result.