Schefflera has brown dots
Plant: Umbrella tree (Schefflera)
How long have you owned the plant? 1 to 6 months
Plant Parent
When I bought it was ashy looking with brown spots on it. I started spraying neem oil on it.
The overall plant:
How do you determine WHEN to water? I follow the schedule I was told/researched for this plant – once a week.
Describe HOW you water: I fully soak the soil and let excess water drain away.
Fertilizer: I have always used fertilizer spikes
Assessment:
Thanks for submitting your photos and care details!
Your plant has a scale infestation.
Neem oil won’t do anything against scale because their hard shells protect them against most sprays. You need to get a pair of tweezers and pick them off followed by removing any residue (which usually contains scale eggs) from the leaf using masking tape. This is obviously very tedious so I would actually begin by CUTTING OFF any leaves that are severely infested (like if there are more than 6 or 7 scales on the leaf).
Given that you don’t have that many leaves, I suggest you treat the plant in the following ways:
– Lint roller or masking tape: gently go over every leaf surface (front and back) with the lint roller to pick up any grains (which are the eggs) and active insects (which are very small and difficult to see)
– Insecticidal soap: spray the entire plant with insecticidal soap (use according to package instructions)
Note: you will need to repeat the above treatments at least on a weekly basis until you see no more scale activity – it can take a few months but the subsequent treatments should be much quicker as you would have removed the majority of the scale insects with the first treatment.
More on scale HERE.
For a more sensible approach to houseplant care:
- Read my books: ‘The New Plant Parent‘ and ‘The New Plant Collector‘
- Take my online course: Essentials of Houseplant Enjoyment
- More detailed houseplant Q&As
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