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You do n’t require your violin fig ( Ficus lyrata ) to have white-hot spots on the leaves , do you ? If and when they fall out , they signal something is wrong with the works .
While not common , blanched office on fiddle foliage common fig tree can occur due to poor care practices , an contagion , or pests like mealybugs , whiteflies , and aphid .
Credits: Alex Worley
Without identifying the material causal agent , applying a fixing blindly can harm your plant even further . I ’m a master gardener , and in this clause , I ’ll help you troubleshoot your violin leaf Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya and address the white spots .
What causes white spots on fiddle figs ?
Powdery mildew
grey - white spots on fiddle figs can be a sign of powdery mildew , a fungus that acquire on the leaf surface .
An infestation contribute to powdery spots or temporary hookup on the leaf and halt . Under a magnifying glass , this disease appear as a vane - like fungal growth on the leaf ’s surface .
Those are usually the spore sending their thread - like ‘ roots ’ into the leave to get nutrients .
Hard water deposits. Credits: Alex Worley.
Powdery mould is prevalent in fond , humid condition with poor air circulation . The fungus feast on the plant life ’s tissues , causing yellowing leave , stunted growth , and white spots .
Treatment
1 . Baking soda
My go - to treatment for powdery mould is baking tonic . This house fixings kills fungi by raising the pH , get it difficult for them to expand .
To make a baking soda spray :
Anthracnose attack.
commix 1 teaspoonful bake sal soda and ½ teaspoon of horticultural crude into 1 quart of piss . Shake well and strain before spraying onto septic leaves . Reapply every 7 - 10 days .
If you do n’t have horticultural crude , use non - detergent soap . These are with child wetter , helping the baking soda joint to the leaves .
Other efficacious choice to baking soda solution admit K bicarbonate , a soft acetum solution , and ethanol - based mouthwash . Each of these options will kill powdery mildew spore upon contact lens .
2 . Apply a sulfur - based fungicide
For severe cases , use antifungal easy lay or sulfur - free-base fungicides following recording label instructions . Good pick let in :
I recommend applying fungicides on a wry day to allow the leaves clock time to take in the treatment before being cloud or rained on ( if your plant lives out of doors ) .
Hard water mineral deposits
Mineral bank deposit are probably the most common cause of white smirch on fiddle leaf figs .
The first thing I do is check for hard water marks on the plant ’s leaves , particularly if the owner is a beginner . Most first - timers practice water from any source to irrigate their plants , a mistake that often leads to issue like this .
Mineral deposit are harmless but leavewhite dust or flakes on the foliage . They come from mineral like calcium and magnesium in hard water .
You ’ll notice the darn after water droplets dry on the foliage . The good intelligence is that these spots wipe off well with a damp cloth .
How to get rid of the mineral deposits
The result is as childlike as cleaning off the bloodless spots with a soapy solution .
I recommend using a non - detergent soap likeDr . Bronner ’s – everlasting - Castile Liquid Soapto avoid chemical substance burn and foliage discoloration .
Here ’s how to do it :
Important : pass over the folio mildly to annul injure the folio or even breaking them .
Preventing mineral deposits
Going forward , prevention is important . Always use distil or filtered pee to irrigate your Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya .
In addition , increasing humidness around the plant preclude the water from vaporise too promptly and posit mineral on the leaf . Light haze over or place a pebble tray with water nearby can avail moisturize your industrial plant .
lastly , keep the leave dry with the proper watering proficiency and air circulation . Aim the water at the soil , not the foliation .
Pest attacks
A assortment of tiny - sized bugs that invade fiddle folio Libyan Islamic Fighting Group may also appear as white spots to the naked eye . The most vulgar of these are mealybug , which appear as white , cotton - like spots on the leaves .
The white stuff is , in fact , a protective layer of powdery wax that covers the insect ’ bodies .
Other possible but improbable pests causing white spots on fiddle figs include aphids and whitefly .
Pest control options
Upon substantiate that the white blot are a issue of pest activity , several safe , effective options deposit the job .
Spray insecticidal goop
Insecticidal soap is smashing at smothering and killing soft - bodied insects like aphid , mealybugs , and whiteflies . The soap disrupt the pests ’ waxy outer coating and cell membranes .
Spray it directly on the affected leafage , reapplying every 5 - 7 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. until the infestation pull in .
fray alcohol
For isolated blighter , I prefer using a cotton swab dipped in 70 % rubbing alcohol .
Gently pass over mealy bug , aphid , and descale off theme and leaves . The alcoholic drink kill on middleman without harm the plant . It also absent the embarrassing honeydew melon .
you may also make a more potent homemade mealybug killer by meld scratch alcohol and dish soap .
mingle a cupful of 70 % rub intoxicant with a few bead of dish soap and 32 ounces of water system . change the solution to a sprayer bottle and spray the affected violin leaf fig pass on to stamp out the mealy bug .
For maximal efficacy , spray the leaves at least twice a hebdomad until you get rid of all the mealybugs .
you could also check mealybug infestations by spraying the fiddle leaf figure foliage with neem oil solution every workweek or two .
at last , introduce beneficial louse like lacewings and ladybugs that feed on mealybug will also serve to see the mealybug universe .
Learn control using acetum .
Anthracnose
Another fungous contagion , cry anthracnose , can also cause ashen spots on your fiddle leaf fig .
While both anthracnose and powdery mildew can make white daub , the coming into court and progression of the spot is reasonably different and worth note .
Powdery mold causes distinct white powdery spots , whileanthracnose causes oval - shaped tan / white spots with morose edge that enlarge over clock time . Affected leaves end up turn brown .
The first thing I like to do to get free of anthracnose is to admonish its spread .
Since the pathogen thrives in soaked , shady conditions , move your fig to a burnished point withindirect light . The added sun helps dry excess wet on the leaves .
Next , prune off all infect leavesusing acute , sterilized pruners . Dispose of the leaves with clean spots so fungous spore do n’t spread . However , avoid cutting off more than 10 % of the plant life ’s foliage at a go .
Finally , treat with a copper - free-base fungicideto protect healthy leave and stem . These create a barrier to keep spores from invading .
Further tips :
For stubborn fungal infections make clean patches on violin figs , right tutelage and intervention are required . Try these tip :
Pro top : The environmental condition that favor anthracnose vs. powdery mould are slightly different . Powdery mould flourish in warm , humid air with hapless circulation while anthracnose prefers humidness but , more specifically , needs wet foliage . If you mist your violin common fig tree too often , you risk anthracnose .
Conclusion
When diagnose the white spot on fiddle leaf Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya , cogitate of the kind of water system you ’re using for irrigation , humidity floor , and potential plague .
you’re able to get rid of the splotches just by cleaning the leaves with a soft or non - detersive soapy solvent , spraying the plant with a baking soda result or fungicide , or spray the leaf with horticultural oil color .
