Hello, it's me, your Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica). I'm usually a strong, resilient specimen with glossy, deep green leaves. But lately, I haven't been feeling like myself. Tiny invaders are stressing me out, sucking my sap, and making my leaves look sad. I need your help to identify these pests and, more importantly, to send them packing for good. Here’s what to look for and how to help me recover.
These are my absolute worst nightmare. Spider mites are nearly invisible, but their damage is not. You might notice fine, silky webbing, especially under my leaves or where they join my stems. My leaves will start to look stippled with tiny yellow dots and may become dry, brittle, and lose their vibrant green hue. I feel constantly drained when they're around. To help me, first isolate me from other plants to prevent the mites from spreading. Then, give my leaves a thorough shower in the sink or with a hose to dislodge as many as possible. Follow this by wiping every leaf, top and bottom, with a soft cloth soaked in a solution of insecticidal soap or neem oil. You must repeat this every 4-7 days for at least two weeks to break their life cycle.
Scale insects are devious. They look like small, brown, bumpy growths stuck to my stems and the veins on the underside of my leaves. They don't move; they just latch on and suck my sap, excreting a sticky substance called honeydew. This honeydew can attract ants and lead to sooty mold, which blocks my sunlight. To eliminate them, you’ll need to be hands-on. Dab each scale insect with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol; this will dissolve their protective waxy coating and kill them. After manually removing them, treat me with a neem oil spray to catch any crawlers (the juvenile stage) you might have missed.
If you see small, white, cotton-like masses in the crevices of my leaves or where they meet the stem, you've found mealybugs. Like their relatives, they are sap-sucking pests that weaken me and cause my leaves to yellow and drop. They also excrete honeydew. The treatment is very similar to scale. Use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol to directly wipe out every single white mass you can find. They love to hide, so be meticulous. After this spot treatment, give me a full spray-down with an insecticidal soap solution to ensure any tiny bugs you missed are eliminated.
While the adults are just annoying, it's their larvae in my soil that cause the real problem. They munch on my delicate root hairs, which hinders my ability to take up water and nutrients. This stress can cause me to wilt and my growth to stunt. The key to control is targeting the larvae. Let my top few inches of soil dry out completely between waterings, as this creates an environment they hate. You can also use yellow sticky traps to catch the adult flies and reduce their numbers. For severe infestations, a soil drench with a product containing Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) will specifically target the larvae without harming me.
