Dwarf Schefflera

Spider Mites:

Spider Mites look like tiny dots on the underside of your plant leaf. They usually live in large groups, so you will definitely see more than one of these tiny dots in a group on the plant. Spider Mites are known as such from the silk webbing that they leave behind on infested leaves. This presence of webbing is the best indication that your plant may be infested.

Spider mites usually become a problem on outdoor plants after certain insecticides have been sprayed that may have killed the natural enemies of the mite. The best thing to do when dealing with Spider Mites is to find an insecticidal soap that you can use to wipe down the plant leafs. It is advised that you test out the insecticidal soap on a small portion of the plant before applying it to the whole plant.

Scales:

There are many species of scales that are commonly found in indoor house or greenhouse plants. Some species of the insect can have an armored shell like covering that will protect its entire form while others will have none at all. Those with the waxy shell can have its protection removed by simply scraping it away. It is easiest to tell the difference as the soft scales (no armored protection) produce honeydew while the armored scales will not. Scales feed on your plant by sucking on the plant’s sap. This will promote poor growth which will eventually stunt the growth of your plant. It can also lead to your plant being infested to sooty mold.

The most practical thing to do for your first attempt at cleaning up your plant from its infestation is to use soap and water to wash off the leaves and stems. If your plant is heavily infested, you can try an insecticide spray schedule on your plant that involves 2 to 3 sprays a week every two weeks. It is usually best to discard the plant however before the infestation can spread.

Mealy Bugs:

Mealy bugs are white, waxy creatures that live in large colonies usually on the undersides of the leaves and/or around leaf joints. The bug is about 1/10th of an inch and has the look of cotton. Similar to other pests a sure sign that your plant is infested is if you observe that the leaves of your plant seem dry or weak (dropping). If you notice those signs the first course of action would be to isolate the infested plant from all other plants within your home. After that use a strong spray bottle with water in order to try to wash off the colonies from your plant, or wipe off the infestation with cotton buds dipped in rubbing alcohol. Take note that this may not work to get rid of all the Mealy Bugs at one time, so keep the plant away from others while you monitor it for more insects. Another option is to buy the Mealy Bug’s natural predator called the Mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) which is a species of lady bug. This is an option for heavily infested plants, but is probably not practical unless you have a large number of infested plants. Once the Mealybugs have been killed and consumed the Mealybug destroyer will die off from a lack of a food source.

Nitrogen Deficiency:

When you start seeing some discoloration and yellowing of the leaves on your plant it is usually caused from a Nitrogen Deficiency. The yellowing usually start at the tips of the leaf and works its way inwards with no particular pattern. It will consume the old leaves from oldest right up the plant until only the newest growth stays green. Here are a few recommended tips to handle a Nitrogen Deficiency. For those who own fish aquariums is to empty some of the aquarium water they have replaced into the soil of their plants. Another solution would be to spray the leaves of the plants with a foliar fertilizer [fertilizers made especially for applying nutrients to the leaves] with a mix of about 5-10-5 (percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).

Iron Deficiency:

Interior plants can often suffer from an Iron Deficiency. You can tell that your plant is affected by a lack of iron by taking observation to the young leaves on the plant. There might be a slight yellowing, shedding of new leaves or flowers, and stunting of growth. This usually occurs to plants that are in poorly aerated soil or when the soil is over watered and saturated. Iron deficiency can be alleviated with regular applications of iron sulfate foliar fertilizer or for a long term solution the best way to alleviate would be to correct the poorly aerated soil and the water log problem.