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Sticky leaves

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by Tonya on May 28, 2006 12:44 AM
My croton has sticky leaves...what is the deal? It doesn't appear to be unhappy...leaves are upright and nothing has changed as far as position, watering, light, etc.. Any ideas?? [dunno]

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by margaret e. pell on May 28, 2006 04:03 AM
Check for scale bugs. I don't know croton, but hoya are suseptable, and that's how I know when my hoya is infested; either the bugs secrete a sticky substance or the plant does in responce to the bugs. Check for little brown or gray bumps on the stems and undersides of leaves, especially above the sticky places.

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may God bless the WHOLE world!
by Tonya on May 29, 2006 01:19 AM
I don't see any bumps or anything...I dunno. My scheffolerra did this when it was stressed. Nothing has changed with this one, tho. [nutz]

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by margaret e. pell on May 29, 2006 02:55 AM
Sorry. I'm sure someone will have good advice!

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may God bless the WHOLE world!
by Tonya on May 29, 2006 03:58 AM
Just in case...what do you do for those bugs? Maybe it hasn't had time for the bumps to form?? The plant was fine just a couple of days ago...

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by margaret e. pell on May 29, 2006 10:24 AM
The bumps are the adult bugs. They live under a shell and you can't see any legs, antenna, body parts... If there aren't too many, I pick them off by hand with a tissue. This takes some effort as they are well stuck on, and they always squish. If there are a lot I use a commercial houseplant bug spray that acts on scale. In any event, you should probably clean the sticky stuff off the leaves as that will cause other problems (mold, sooty mildew, ants like it, too). What did you do for your scheffolerra?

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may God bless the WHOLE world!
by Tonya on May 29, 2006 04:09 PM
I had forgotten to water it, so as soon as it had a good drink, the sticky went away. I was working full time and very pregnant...obviously the first thing on my mind after a 12 hour shift was SLEEP and putting my feet up, unfortunately, my poor plant suffered. It is recovering nicely since my daughter was born! [grin]

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by margaret e. pell on May 30, 2006 05:16 AM
Any chance thats what the croton wants? Sorry, but tropicals aren't plants I know much about. Mostly I grow cacti and succulents, except for 2 philodendrons and a few hoya.

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may God bless the WHOLE world!
by Tonya on May 30, 2006 02:30 PM
I just watered it about 4 days ago, the soil is still moist, but not soggy. I almost think my oldest daughter might have put something on it, because it is perfect otherwise. [dunno]

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by margaret e. pell on May 30, 2006 02:35 PM
Ok, how brave are you? [Wink] Taste the stickiness! [grin]

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may God bless the WHOLE world!
by angelblossom on May 30, 2006 02:37 PM
[shocked] [Big Grin] [Big Grin]

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by Tonya on May 30, 2006 02:58 PM
Yeah, I thought about that... [scaredy] then I thought just wash the leaves. I'll let ya know. [grin]

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by Tonya on June 01, 2006 01:44 AM
I never did get brave enough to taste the stickyness, but I wiped the leaves and everything seems fine now. [dunno] I have NO idea what happened! Thanks guys!

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