Ficus is a very unpretentious plant. Care for this decorative crop consists mainly in moderate watering, maintaining a suitable microclimate in the room, and timely fertilizing. But sometimes ficus, like any other indoor plants, of course, can hurt.
In case of infection by bacteria, viruses or harmful insects, this flower, of course, must be treated immediately. Below in the article, the most common ficus diseases with photographs of affected plants will be examined. In addition, the reader will be able to get acquainted with the methods of treatment of the most common infections of such indoor flowers.
The most common ficus diseases
Most often, these indoor plants become infected:
In most cases, pests are attacked by pests such as, for example:
spider mite;
scale shield;
aphid;
mealybug;
thrips.
Most often, infection of this decorative culture with fungi or harmful insects is associated with improper care of it.
How does gray rot manifest itself?
The main sign of this disease of ficuses is the appearance on the leaves and stems of plants characteristic gray plaque. Over time, brown spots begin to appear in the affected areas, growing further. In the end, the leaf blades of the ficuses completely darken and fall off.
This disease is caused by a fungus of a special variety called botritis. Gray rot is actually a very dangerous ficus disease. In the photo above you can see how pitifully infected with botritis indoor flowers look.
What causes gray rot and methods for its treatment
The main cause of this disease is that the plant is grown in a humid and stuffy, unventilated room. Also, ficuses can become infected with gray rot if they grow in a pot too close to each other. Another reason for the development of gray rot is the old, too caked soil in the pot.
Ficus should be treated for this disease immediately after the appearance of its first signs. A plant infected with botritis dies, unfortunately, very quickly.
Sick ficus should first be isolated from other indoor flowers. Next you need:
remove all damaged parts from the plant with a sharp knife;
to coat the wounds with a paste-like mixture of CMC glue (30 g), a small amount of chalk and any fungicide (3 g);
Ficus root rot: causes and treatment
With this disease, the plants first of all start to turn yellow leaves. Subsequently, they fade, darken and crumble. Ultimately, the flower dies.
The main reason for this poorly curable disease presented above in the photo, ficus disease is the care of a culture with impaired technology. Most often, such a problem with plants occurs during systematic waterlogging of the soil. If, on the surface of the soil, a crust also periodically forms, the roots of the flower are left without oxygen. As a result, the disease begins to actively progress.
In the event that root rot is diagnosed in ficus, it follows:
remove the plant from the pot and shake the earth from its roots;
carefully inspect the ficus;
remove all darkened and softened roots;
trim the crown by removing all leaves and branches with traces of the disease.
Also, if necessary, you need to remove some of the healthy green mass, if necessary, according to how many roots were cut. In this case, the plant subsequently takes up strength not to maintain a large crown, but to recover.
Other fungal diseases
Above, we examined the most common fungal diseases of ficuses with a photo. And their treatment and prevention - the procedures, as you can see, are relatively simple. Fungal infections manifest themselves primarily with spots on the leaves. Most often, it is gray rot caused by botritis. But sometimes ficuses can become infected with other types of fungus, for example, anthracnose or tserkospora.
Fighting diseases of ficus leaves (in the photo on the page they are presented visually) of such varieties follows the same technology as with gray rot. That is, use fungicides to cure plants.
Getting rid of ficus from a fungus is usually relatively simple. But it’s much easier to prevent the development of this plant disease. Ficus should be grown in a well-ventilated area at a temperature of 23-25 ° C. It is necessary to water these plants necessarily with warm water and only when the top layer of soil in the earth dries out by about 1 cm.
What to do if the plant is attacked by a tick
Thus, we familiarized our readers with the most common infections and diseases of ficuses (with photos). Their treatment can be carried out both by folk methods and with the use of chemicals.
Ficuses are affected by fungal diseases quite often. But a lot of trouble for lovers of such indoor plants can bring and all sorts of pests.
For example, a rather dangerous type of ficus disease is infection with a spider mite. Symptoms of such an infection are as follows:
in the early stages, the appearance of white specks on the green parts of the plant;
the appearance of the web;
in the later stages, drying and falling of leaves.
You can fight this pest both by chemical and folk remedies. In the first case, in order to get rid of ficus from the insect, it is necessary to use acaricides or insectoacaricides. Most other insecticides with a persistent mite, unfortunately, can not cope.
Most often, for spraying infected ficuses, they are used:
"Actofit", the peculiarity of which is that it does not harm plants even with an overdose;
"Appolo" with a very long exposure period;
"Vertimek", which is most effective to use with other insecticides.
Of the folk remedies for fighting this ficus disease, the following are most suitable:
Shampoo for animals or dishwashing gel with the addition of Persian chamomile. This product should be mixed with water, whipped in a foam and distributed in the affected areas. After 20-30 minutes the drug must be removed from the plants.
Tincture of onion husks mixed with any detergent.
The infusion of garlic. For the treatment of ficuses, the cloves of this burning vegetable should first be crushed and infused for a day. About 1 g of garlic should be used per 1 liter of water. The resulting infusion should be sprayed with the green mass of ficus.
Tar soap. 10 g of such a “medicine” should be dissolved in 1 liter of water and used to spray plants.
Treatment of ficuses infected with scale
The main signs of this ficus disease are:
the appearance of yellow spots on the leaves;
twisting and falling of leaves;
stunting and drying of the plant.
The flower infected with the scabies in the first place, of course, needs to be removed away from other indoor plants.
As with mites, acaricides are best used to control this pest. It is also necessary to clean the ficus from the guards manually. This is best done using a dense sponge designed for washing dishes and soapy water.
Wipe the green parts of the plant as carefully as possible, from all sides. Leaves and branches should be covered with a thick layer of foam and rinsed with water at a temperature of 50 ° C after about 2 minutes. This procedure should be carried out at intervals of a week.
How to deal with aphids
Signs of ficus infection with this insect are primarily:
withering of young leaves;
the presence on the plant of a sticky secret of insects;
characteristic deformation of old leaves;
visible colonies of aphids in places of deformation.
They struggle with these insects when growing ficuses, usually with folk remedies. Moreover, soda-soap solution or tobacco infusion is most often used to kill aphids on plants.
In the first case, a remedy for curing this ficus disease is made as follows:
the fourth part is cut from a bar of laundry soap;
rub the soap on the grater and fill it with 1 liter of water;
add 1 tbsp soda ash to the solution.
It is necessary to process plants with such a solution about once a week until the aphids disappear.
To prepare a tobacco infusion, they get a little shag (you can also shake the contents of several cigarettes into a container). Then boil the water. Dissolve about a glass of shag in 2 l of boiling water and insist the product for 12 hours.
Mealybug on Ficus
When infected with this parasite:
on the plant you can notice white insects, as if slightly sprinkled with flour;
white powdery coating and sticky mucus appear on the leaves of ficuses;
the flowers look drooping and lethargic.
They fight with mealybug usually using a solution of green soap (15 g per 1 liter of water). Spraying ficuses with this tool is supposed to be 3 times with an interval of a week.
Also, to combat the mealybug, you can use the infusion of garlic. In this case, 5-6 cloves of this vegetable are taken per 1 liter of water.
How to deal with thrips
Recognizing these insects that feed on plant juices is completely uncomplicated. The body of these parasites can have a yellow, brown or black tint. In adults, there are two pairs of wings. At the same time, they move very quickly, making sharp jumps.
On a plant, signs of thrips infection are:
discoloration of the leaves and the presence of a large number of dots on them;
the appearance on the lower part of the leaf blades of yellow or brown spots, which after a while become silver.
To combat these insects, you must first put the infected ficus in the shower. Next, you should treat the plant with one of the following drugs:
Fitoverm;
“Aktoy”;
Moslilan;
Intavir.
You also need to set blue or yellow sticky traps around the perimeter of the flowers. It will also be very useful to replace the earth or at least its top layer in a pot with a sick plant.
Instead of a conclusion
Most often, lovers of decorative indoor flowers are faced with the pests and ficus diseases described above. Their treatment for aphids, scale insects, fungus, etc. is often successful. But still, when growing ficus, it is worth trying to create the most favorable conditions for them. In this case, the risk of plant infection will be significantly reduced.
In order for ficuses not to hurt, among other things, it is necessary to observe elementary preventive measures. Newly acquired flowers should be quarantined. From existing plants in the house, dried parts should be removed in a timely manner. The soil in pots when transplanting plants must first be disinfected.