white fungus on jade tree

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Jade tree has been dropping leaves pretty bad lately. There's now a white "fungus" on it that we can see on some leaves. I know I've read about it before but I'm wondering if anyone here has actually run into this AND found a solution to saving the plant.



Commence idea sharing!

 

[catjac1975]

Any chance it's mealy bugs?

 

[Smart Red]

I agree with catjac. Powdery white stuff in joints and leaf bottoms near the stem? Yup, mealy bugs.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Boo. That's not good news. I hadn't seen any activity of them on the plant prior to this and I don't see them now. Really don't want to have to throw this thing out but I know dealing with mealys is basically like aphids.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Also, after posting this I found a white webbing on the underside of one leaf late last nightz which was obviously a sign of a home/egg sack / ...

Fiddlesticks

 

[Smart Red]

I gave my infected hoya a good bath in soapy water. Kept the roots out of the water as the plant soaked for maybe two days. Then I gave the soil a 'Sevin' soda.

Knock on wood, the plant seems to be clear of problems now and it's been over a month.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

I gave my infected hoya a good bath in soapy water. Kept the roots out of the water as the plant soaked for maybe two days. Then I gave the soil a 'Sevin' soda.

Knock on wood, the plant seems to be clear of problems now and it's been over a month.

You soaked it for TWO DAYS?!?! Wow I usually hear people soaking plants for 15 minutes. Maybe that's what I've done wrong before :/

 

[Smart Red]

I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to end up with any half-measures that almost worked.

I figured I couldn't hold my breath for two days, chances were good the mealy bugs couldn't either and the hoya plant didn't seem to mind the bath.

I wouldn't submerge the whole plant for that long. Being a succulent, its roots wouldn't enjoy that.

 

[aftermidnight]

I had a trailing hoya, very small leaves think it was H. minima. Much to my disgust it ended up covered in mealy bugs so I tried dabbing them with rubbing alcohol, I was fighting a losing battle .
It was the first year it was going to flower so I was persevering with the alcohol treatment. When it flowered the scent especially at night was overpowering, smelt like Noxzema. DH was not impressed so I hung it outside, this was in August.
Low and behold a week later all the mealy bug was gone, not a sign of it, that had me scratching my head until one morning I saw two or three yellow jackets crawling over the leaves and flowers, they had cleaned every single mealy bug off and were looking for more. Whats more they must have pollinated one of the flowers because I ended up with a long seed pod. So I guess yellow jackets are good for something after all.

Annette

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

I had a trailing hoya, very small leaves think it was H. minima. Much to my disgust it ended up covered in mealy bugs so I tried dabbing them with rubbing alcohol, I was fighting a losing battle .
It was the first year it was going to flower so I was persevering with the alcohol treatment. When it flowered the scent especially at night was overpowering, smelt like Noxzema. DH was not impressed so I hung it outside, this was in August.
Low and behold a week later all the mealy bug was gone, not a sign of it, that had me scratching my head until one morning I saw two or three yellow jackets crawling over the leaves and flowers, they had cleaned every single mealy bug off and were looking for more. Whats more they must have pollinated one of the flowers because I ended up with a long seed pod. So I guess yellow jackets are good for something after all.

Annette

That is an amazing example of why the ecosystem of a house can be perfect for pests. We love having our plants inside, but predators don't exist there for the pests. That beings said, you can also bring a plant in from outside and bring pests with it to your plants that are inside. There is no great solution.

That all being said, I'll drop the idea by Mrs Z, who the plant belongs to.