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Clear sap on money tree? It is sticky. I repot her like a month ago… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Dracula Spectacula

Clear sap on money tree? It is sticky. I repot her like a month ago and she's been kinda droopy since. She was also patient 0 of the seasonal fungal gnat attack. I only just now got them under control so I imagine she is not happy from that either. No leaf yellowing, browning, or drop. She just kinda seems tired. Leaves won't get big but she's throwing out a lot of new stuff. The sap has predated her depression. Today I learned it was coming from her. She's always had little random sticky spots on her leaves here and there. I thought maybe my roommate dropped a sticky drink and it splashed on her and I was just perpetually finding residue. But I cleaned her fully recently and this is the first time I have seen full on droplets on her leaves and stems.

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16 comments

  1. Belle

    ***QUARINTINE IMMEDIATELY*** It’s some kind of pest, I’m not sure what one but it’s leaving that sticky stuff behind when it’s eating the plant!! I’d look on the underside of the leaves and all over really well to try and identify the pest. I’d give it a good spray down in the shower to try and knock them off, then I’d go leaf by leaf and wipe them with alcohol then give it a good spay down of neem oil and dish soap. Fungus gnats won’t leave that honeydew melon like sticky stuff.

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    • Dracula Spectacula

      The only pest evidence I can find is fungal gnats. She has been alcoholed very recently and I neemed all of my plants like 2 days ago. She is literally covered in their carcasses as of my current inspection. She has 2 literal spiders living on her and I don't think they're gonna survive the neem gnats. She had EXTREMELY bad fungal gnats. Like I touched her one day and they literally exploded in a cloud. The leaf that is sapping is new and has 0 damage spots. There is not so much as a suspicious speck outside of the obvious gnat nibbles and their carcasses 😭

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    • GreenIvy

      Fungas gnats don’t touch leaves, they stay in the soil and eat from the soil.

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    • Belle

      They are known for fungus gnats!! But the sticky stuff is from a pest that’s eating the plant, fungus gnats don’t eat the plant they are after the fungus!!

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  2. GreenIvy

    It’s probably plant respiration. It releases the sap when it has a lot of water. Mine does this too

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    • Dracula Spectacula

      Do you think she might be too wet? She's not got very good roots for her size. I inherited her from an older woman who stopped caring abt her plants. Her pot is huge but she won't stand up in anything smaller due to her height and chaotic structure

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    • GreenIvy

      These plants like to dry out between watering and don’t like staying wet in my experience and need enough bright indirect light. Wait til the top layer is dry an inch down before watering again then give it a good soak.

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  3. Dracula Spectacula

    This is what leaf damage from fungal gnats looks like btw (not the half eaten leaf! That is cat damage) I literally watched one cause that big spot on the lower part of the big leaf

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  4. GreenIvy

    Fungus gnats only damage small seedlings, not full grown plants. Other than that it has no effect on plants other than being annoying

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    • Dracula Spectacula

      That is extremely incorrect information and I beg you to look it up. I have them right now. I am literally telling you I have watched them damage my plants 😭 They lay their eggs in the dirt but they live outside of it 😭

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    • Belle

      Good to know!! Ty🌱✨🌱

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  5. GreenIvy

    The larva can hurt small delicate root systems of seedlings or maybe a newly propagated plant but have no effects on a mature plant. That info is everywhere on the internet

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    • Dracula Spectacula

      Upon looking it up I think they actually are fruit flies 😭 Their bodies are too chunky to be fungus gnats. They are lighter in color with red eyes. If they are not fruit flies idk what they are. I do know they love my sink drains and I have seen a multitude of them on literally all of my plants. My whole life I have been told they are fungus gnats but they look very different 😭 Idk wtf they are. I'm in zone 8b. I have watched them physically eat my plants many times

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    • Diana

      I’m not sure but I pour almost boiling water down my drains to make sure nothings living in there. Maybe try that too.

      1 like
  6. Green thumb novice

    As for the the sticky sap on stems of leaves, I find them on my Old Faithful but it hasn’t really done any damage that I can tell. I worried about it at first but no pests that I can see.

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  7. Phil

    It’s guttation. Perfectly normal for a money tree. Also some Calatheas do it in abundance. I even have a sansevieria cylinder plant that does it in small quantities.

    2 likes