Question
i have plants in every room of the house so they face every direction but north.  i have an aloe Vera in the east window with spikes about 7 inches & a normal size African violet in the same window but not on the same stand. both of these have little white puffy areas, the aloe has more. all plants are watered weekly unless they are the type that needs more or less.  i also have another plant that is about 3.5 feet tall i do not know the mane of it but the leaves shoot of of the stems & form a kind of umbrella type circle there are about 10 leaves on each. this is in the west window but was in the east before. it has a sticky saplike substance on it & will ooze or drip onto whatever it is near or over, you cannot see this happen but the pot is very sticky as is the stand it is on.  i also have several different types of plants in the bedroom in the south window with the same sticky saplike substance on them.  what can i do, i do not want to lose any of them.

Answer
April,

Your problem is not a fungus, it is insects. If you look at the backs of the leaves of the plants with thhe stickiness I think you will find tiny spots that you can scrape off the leaves with your fingernail or a knife. The removable spots are an insect called scale. The stickiness is it's excrement. The black ones are dead, the brown ones are alive. The little white puffy areas on some of the other plants are another insect called mealy bugs.

You can kill them all, the scale and the mealy bugs, and any tiny immature ones that may be flying around by mixing 2 parts rubbing alcohol, 1 part water and 1 tablespoon of dish soap per quart of mix and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the tops and bottoms of all the leaves with this mix daily for 5 days then twice a week for 3 weeks then you should be able to take a soft cloth dipped in alcohol and wipe all the dead scale off. After that you should watch the plant closely for signs of this insect and treat them immediately if you see anything.

I think your umbrella type plant plant may be a large schefflera. You can go to Google and put that in and look at the images section.
If it is not that you can send me a picture of it and I will identify
it for you.

The stickiness can be wiped off of the furniture and the floor with paper towels or rags soaked in rubbing alcohol. Good luck.

Darlene