Ficus is a very undemanding plant. Caring for this ornamental crop consists mainly in moderate watering, maintaining a suitable microclimate in the room, and timely fertilization. But sometimes ficuses, like any other indoor plants, of course, can get sick.
In case of infection with bacteria, viruses or harmful insects, this flower should definitely be treated immediately. Below in the article, the most common ficus diseases with photographs of affected plants will be considered. In addition, the reader will be able to get acquainted with the methods of treating the most common infections of these indoor flowers.
The most common ficus diseases
These houseplants are most often infected:
- grey rot;
- root rot.
Ficus pests in most cases are attacked by such, for example, as:
- spider mite;
- shield;
- aphid;
- mealybug;
- thrips.
Most often, infection of this ornamental culture with fungi or harmful insects is associated with improper careher.
How gray rot manifests itself
The main symptom of this ficus disease is the appearance of a characteristic gray coating on the leaves and stems of plants. Over time, brown spots begin to appear on the affected areas, which grow further. Ultimately, the ficus leaf blades completely darken and fall off.
This disease is caused by a special type of fungus called botrytis. Gray rot is actually a very dangerous ficus disease. In the photo above, you can see how deplorable indoor flowers infected with botrytis look.
What causes gray rot and how to treat it
The main cause of this disease is that the plant is grown in a humid and stuffy, unventilated area. Also, ficuses can become infected with gray mold if they grow too close to each other in a pot. Another reason for the development of gray rot is the old, too tightly packed potting soil.
Ficuses should be treated for this disease immediately after the first signs of it appear. A plant infected with botrytis dies, unfortunately, very quickly.
Sick ficus should first of all be isolated from other indoor flowers. Next you need:
- remove all damaged parts from the plant with a sharp knife;
-
spread the wounds with a pasty mixture of CMC glue (30 g), a small amount of chalk and some fungicide (3 g);
- spray the flower with the drug,containing copper, such as Bordeaux mixture or any other fungicide.
Ficus root rot: causes and treatment
With this disease, the plant first of all begins to turn yellow leaves. Subsequently, they fade, darken and crumble. Eventually the flower dies.
The main reason for this difficult to treat, shown above in the photo, ficus disease is the care of a culture with technology violations. Most often, such a problem with plants occurs when the soil is systematically waterlogged. If, on the surface of the soil, a crust also periodically forms, the roots of the flower remain without oxygen. As a result, the disease begins to actively progress.
In the event that a ficus is diagnosed with root rot, you should:
-
take the plant out of the pot and shake off the earth from its roots;
- carefully examine the ficus;
- remove all darkened and softened roots;
- prune the crown, removing all leaves and branches with traces of the disease.
Also, if necessary, remove some of the he althy green mass from the ficus in accordance with how many roots were cut. In this case, the plant will subsequently use its strength not to maintain a large crown, but to recover.
Other fungal diseases
Above, we examined the most common fungal diseases of ficuses with a photo. And their treatment and prevention - procedures, as you can see,relatively uncomplicated. Fungal infections manifest themselves primarily as spots on the leaves. Most often it is gray rot caused by botrytis. But sometimes ficuses can become infected with other types of fungus, for example, anthracnose or cercospore.
To fight against diseases of ficus leaves (they are clearly shown in the photo on the page) of such varieties follows the same technology as with gray rot. That is, use fungicides to cure plants.
Ficus fungus is usually relatively easy to get rid of. But it is much easier to prevent the development of this plant disease. Ficuses should be grown in a well-ventilated area at a temperature of 23-25 ° C. Watering these plants must be done with warm water and only when the top layer of soil in the ground dries out by about 1 cm.
What to do if the plant is attacked by a tick
Thus, we have introduced our readers to what are the most common infections and diseases of ficuses (with photographs). Their treatment can be carried out both with folk methods and with the use of chemicals.
Ficuses are affected by fungal diseases quite often. But a lot of trouble for lovers of such houseplants can be brought by various kinds of pests.
For example, a rather dangerous type of ficus disease is infection with a spider mite. The signs of such an infection are as follows:
- in the early stages, the appearance of white specks on the green parts of the plant;
- appearance of the web;
- drying and falling leaves in the later stages.
You can fight this pest with both chemical and folk remedies. In the first case, in order to rid the ficuses of the insect, one has to use acaricides or insectoacaricides. Most other insecticides, unfortunately, do not cope with tenacious mites.
Most often used for spraying infected ficuses:
- "Actofit", a feature of which is that it does not harm plants even with an overdose;
- Appolo with a very long exposure period;
- "Vertimek", which is most effective to use with other insecticides.
From folk remedies to combat this ficus disease, the most suitable:
- Pet shampoo or dishwashing gel with Persian chamomile. This remedy should be mixed with water, whipped into a foam and spread over the affected areas. After 20-30 min. the drug must be removed from the plants.
- Onion peel tincture mixed with some detergent.
- Infusion of garlic. For the treatment of ficuses, the cloves of this burning vegetable should first be crushed and infused for a day. For 1 liter of water, you need to use about 15 g of garlic. The resulting infusion should be sprayed with ficus green mass.
- Tar soap. 10 g of such a "medicine" must be dissolved in 1 liter of water and used to spray plants.
Treatment of ficuses infected with scale insects
The main symptoms of this ficus disease are:
- appearance of yellow spots on the leaves;
- twisting and falling leaves;
- stop growth and shrinkage of the plant.
A flower infected with a scale insect in the first place, of course, must be removed away from other indoor plants.
As with the mite, it is best to use acaricides to control this pest. It is also necessary to manually clean the ficus from scale insects. This is best done using a dense sponge designed for washing dishes and soapy water.
Wipe the green parts of the plant as carefully as possible, from all sides. Leaves and branches should be covered with a thick layer of foam and rinsed with water at a temperature of 50 ° C after about 2 minutes. This procedure should be carried out at intervals of a week.
How to deal with aphids
Signs of ficus infection with this insect are in the first place:
- withering of young leaves;
- presence of sticky secretion of insects on the plant;
- characteristic deformation of old leaves;
- visible aphid colonies in places of deformation.
Fight these insects when growing ficuses usually with folk remedies. In this case, most often, soda-soap solution or tobacco infusion is used to destroy aphids on plants.
In the first case, the cureThis ficus disease is made like this:
- a fourth part is cut off from a bar of laundry soap;
- tinder soap on a grater and pour it into 1 liter of water;
- add 1 tbsp of soda ash to the solution.
You need to treat the plants with this solution about once a week until the aphids disappear.
To prepare a tobacco infusion, get some shag (you can also shake out the contents of several cigarettes into some container). Next, boil water. Dissolve about a glass of shag in 2 liters of boiling water and infuse the remedy for 12 hours
Mealybug on ficuses
When infected with this parasite:
- on the plant you can see white insects, as if lightly sprinkled with flour;
- white powdery coating and sticky mucus appear on ficus leaves;
- flowers look drooping and lethargic.
Fight against mealybugs usually using a solution of green soap (15 g per 1 liter of water). It is supposed to spray ficuses with such a remedy 3 times with an interval of a week.
You can also use an infusion of garlic to fight the mealybug. In this case, 5-6 cloves of this vegetable are taken per 1 liter of water.
How to deal with thrips
Recognizing these insects that feed on plant juices is not difficult at all. The body of these parasites may have a yellow, brown or black tint. In adultsThere are two pairs of wings. At the same time, they move very quickly, making sharp jumps.
On the plant, signs of thrips infection are:
- discoloration of the leaves and the presence of a large number of points on them;
- appearance of yellow or brown spots on the lower part of the leaf blades, which after a while become silvery.
To fight these insects, you must first put the infected ficus under the shower. Next, treat the plant with one of the following drugs:
- Fitovermom;
- Aktaroy;
- Moslilan;
- Intavir.
You also need to install blue or yellow sticky traps around the perimeter of the flowers. It will be very useful to replace the earth in a pot with a diseased plant, or at least its top layer.
Instead of a conclusion
Most often, lovers of decorative indoor flowers are faced with the pests and diseases of ficuses described above. Treating them for aphids, scale insects, fungus, etc. is often successful. But still, when growing ficuses, you should try to create the most favorable conditions for them. In this case, the risk of plant infection will be significantly reduced.
To prevent ficuses from getting sick, among other things, elementary preventive measures must be observed. Newly purchased flowers should be quarantined. With the plants already in the house, dried parts should be removed in a timely manner. Soil in pots when transplantingplants must be disinfected beforehand.
