Question
I've had this house plant for over 5 yrs. It has grown alot over the years, but I noticed that the new growth is now stopping.  There is a shiny, sticky film on the new growth and little black dots all over. It looks like they are rotting as they are growing. I'm not sure of the name of the plant, but it is about 5ft high now with big green teardrop shape leaves that have yellow in the middle .  The stalk is about a 1/2 inch thick. The plant appears to look healthy except for where the new growth is starting.  The black dots and sticky leaves are only on the areas of the new growth.

Answer
Kathleen,

I suspect that the spots you are are talking about are actually an insect called scale. It looks like a little black, brown or gray dots on the back sides of the leaves and you can scrape them off with aq fingernail or a sharp knife.

You can kill them by flicking each one off the plant with a q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol. If there are too many for that you can also put rubbing alcohol mixed 50/50 with water and add 2 teaspoons of dish soap per quart of mix in a spray bottle and spray the entire plant twice a week for 6 weeks and it will kill the scale insects but you must be consistant with the spraying or babies will hatch from eggs and keep re-infesting the plant. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene