Question
Hello. I had a thriving ficus for many years and have since found a problem. It's in our dining room and gets direct and indirect sun throughout the morning. The problem is that sap seems to be on the leaves now and worse! covering my hard woods with a sticky film. It occasionally drops leaves but that's not so much a worry. It's easy enough to clean the floor every now and again. Thus, I wanted to sort out how to resolve. Any ideas? Also, should I move this outdoor for the summer? We did last summer and it seemed to thrive so much that we cut it back a bit for the fall. Not sure about that either. Thanks, JC

Answer
Janet,

I suspect that you have scale (an insect) on your ficus and the sticky stuff all over everything is the scale's excrement. Look for little round brown or black or white spots on the branches &/or leaves that can be scratched off with your fingernail. If they scratch off and the leaf or branch looks fine underneath then it is definitely scale. The most successful thing to get rid of scale is Neem oil. You can buy it at any garden center like Lowes or Home Depot. It is concentrated and you dilute it and spray it on in a spray bottle. Be sure to spray the fronts and backs of all leaves and all the branches.

If it is staying above 50 degrees at night where you live then I highly reccommend that you put it outside for the summer. You can also put it outside to do the above spraying. Treat it at least 3 times in the 1st week. If you leave the ficus outdoors the scale will also be attacked by other insects which are their natural enemies.

All tropical house plants are happier outdoors for the summer as long as the night time lows are above 50 degrees.  Good luck at getting rid of the scale.

Darlene