Question
Hello,

We have a huge very old fern which looks visually healthy and beautiful but the floor is sticky where the fonds hang over. A indoor tree the same. Lovely, healthy beautiful but sticky and then a banana tree. It does not grow tall but it lovely and you can see the water droplets from it and very sticky on the floor around it. I have washed these but I really have seen no signs of tiny critters on it and the leaves on all look very healthy. I just keep washing the floor around them. These are very big plants and I thought maybe it is something they just do but wanted to find out. Again I have looked for these little things suggested for a infestation and have not seen. I do know what they look like. What can you do with a really big plant? It can not be moved to wash....not these any more they are so big.
Thank you. Susan

Answer
Susan,

Hello to Austria! The size of your plants is why you should not keep repotting into larger pots. You end up with unmanageable plants. The tops can be pruned back and if you want after you prune the tops back you can remove each plant from it's pot and prune the roots back then put it in a smaller pot. Plants can remain healthy for many years in a small pot by pruning the top and then pruning at least an inch off the roots all the way around and putting the plant back in the same pot with fresh soil. Most plants for the average home should not be in a pot with a diameter larger than 14 inches (35.56 centimeters) or the plant will grow to an unmanageable size.

The stickiness does indicate insects are present. Look at the undersides of the leaves and look for tiny black or brown spots that you can scrape with a small knife and they come off. If you find those they are scale. That is the most difficult insect to get rid of.

Look at the growing tips of the plants with a magnifying glass and see if you find tiny black, red or brown insects that are only on the growing tips. Those would be aphids.

Look all over the plant for little bits of cotton balls. They would be in the crotches of the leaves where it comes out of the stem or on the backs of the leaves.

If you bump the plant and see tiny light colored flies flying out of it that is white -fly. All of these insects can be causing your stickiness problems. The stickiness is there excrement.

You can go to the following site for suggestions of how to get rid of them: http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef406.asp          

By pruning the plants back you should be getting rid of a lot of the insects. Then, because of the size of your plants I recommend that you go to a plant center and ask if they have a systemic insecticide that you can use on houseplants. It would either be something you mix with water and water the plant with it or something that you sprinkle on top of the soil then water over it to wash it into the soil. Then the roots will take the systemic insecticide up into the plant and make it unpalatable to the insect so they either die or leave. That is the easiest insecticide to use, follow the instructions on the bottle or package. Otherwise you need to spray the plants thoroughly with 70% isopropyl alcohol every 3 days for 30 days or until the insects have been gone for at least a week.

If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene