Rubber Tree

Fungus Gnats:

The adult fungus gnats are gray or dark-gray, fly-like insects about 1/8 inch long. They are attracted to light and when present in your house, swarm over the windows because of the natural light. The immature form of the Fungus Gnat, which lives in the soil, are thin whitish maggots with a jet black head, and attain a length of about 1/4 inch. The maggots are likely to be found in soils with quantities of decaying plant. The damage caused by these pest’s are usually occur while they are in their maggot form as they will bury themselves in the soil and feed on the roots of the plant. The gnats themselves are more of a pest then an issue to the plant.

Best way to keep your plant free of fungus gnat maggots is to avoid overwatering your plant. In the event that your plant is already infested with this pest, use an insecticide drench and apply it to the potting to control the problem. For the adults use of a labeled and targeted insecticide should assist in destroying them. If you want to avoid the use of chemicals to kill the larvae, by allowing the soil to dry out completely between watering they should die out.

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.

Thrips:

There are many sub species of Thrips that can infest common indoor house hold plants. The insect is barely visible to the naked eye. In its adult form the pest is a brownish, black color with light markings on its body. The larvae can be a light yellow to orange color with black excrement on their backs. When a plant that this pest inhabits is disturbed the adult forms it can be seen to fly or run. This insect will feed on the juices of the plants leaves and/flowers. The damage that is left behind is random streaked silvered areas of the plant that are speckled with little black dots of excrement. The plants leaves and/or flowers may be blotched or drop away from the plant.

Labeled insecticides that state they can handle thrips are the best option for removal. Try a daily spray of 4 times a day for 4 days on both the plant and the soil to get rid of this pest.

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).

Potassium Deficiency:

Symptoms that your plant has a lack Potassium may always vary among different types of plants, but it will consistently appear on the oldest leaves on the plant. Yellow spots will appear on the leaves that are almost completely translucent. In some cases this is followed by the leaves rolling and giving a burnt or dead looks from the tips inward. As the problem persists it will makes its way from the older leaves into the younger leaves until the plant is dead. The best way to take care of this problem is to find a fertilizer that contains Potassium Sulfate. This should bring the color and life back to the new leaves on the plant.