AboutDarlene K. Kittle Expertise I have been a Master Gardener for 20 years and I raise around 300 houseplants a year including tropicals, succulents, and cacti.
Experience She is also studying the Japanese art of bonsai with tropical plants and is President of the Fort Wayne, IN Bonsai Club.
Education/Credentials I am not a hortculturist. I am a Purdue University Master Gardener for over 20 years. I have studied plants on a personal level by growing hundreds of plants annually for the last 35 years. I have also studied under several nationally known American Bonsai experts.
Question The plant wants to grow and shoots out new leaves rapidly. These small tender leaves cannot open because of a sticky clear sappy crusty looking substance enveloping them. It tastes sweet. If I brush at it it falls off in pieces. On closer inspection, I see a lot of very very very tiny white insects crawling in the soil. In addition, dried crusty sappy looking stuff is in clumps on the underside of mature leaves. It brushes off easily. The mature leaves also seem to have a thin coating of clear sticky subtance. Is the clear sticky junk caused by the bugs? I only see the bugs in the soil, not on the plant. The bugs do not fly. They just crawl in the soil and are so small they are hard to see. They are also fast.
Answer Samantha,
Yes, the sticky stuff is caused by the bugs. What you see in the soil is the immature version of the insects. They eventually mature. You can kill them by spraying the plant and the surface of the soil making sure you get the tops and bottoms of all leaves with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol). You will need to spray again every 7 days for a month to kill any additional insects that hatch out from eggs. You can also water the plant with a mix of 50% 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) and 50% water. Be sure to retreat or these insects will return. Good luck.
