Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Question and Answer >> Plant Diseases

Indoor Pine White Sticky Substance: Honeydew from Insects

The Problem

Indoor pine had white sticky stuff on branches/needles years ago; homemade spray (water, soap, alcohol/peroxide) worked. Recipe lost.

Expert ID

Sticky stuff = honeydew (insect excrement). Commercial Safer Insecticidal Soap is reliable, safe, easy. Spray outdoors to avoid furniture residue.

Plant Diseases: Pine Bark Beetles in Alabama: Prevention via Tree Vigor—Contact Extension for Local Advice; Pine Tree Holes in Rows: Sapsucker Woodpecker Damage; Snowball Bush (Viburnum) Leaf Beetle Damage: Organic Control; Stone Fruit Pest Management: Neem Oil for Plum/Peach and Poison Ivy Control; Diagnosing Pine Tree Decline in Southern Illinois; Transplanting Indoor Norwegian Pines to Outdoors in Tennessee; Pine Cone Absence in Massachusetts: Not Necessarily a Problem; Identifying a Tree with Round Cones & Tiny Needles: Bald Cypress; Identifying a Pine Tree from a Photo; Identifying and Pruning a Top-Heavy Dieffenbachia

Garden Articles

Pine Tree Identification: Expert Referral for Virginia Specimen

Can You Transplant a 20-Foot Pine Without Roots?

Standing Water at Pine Base: Trees Don't Produce Water—Check for Leaks

Tree House on Pines: Nail Damage, Beetle Risk, and Ant Management

Saving a Poorly Planted Evergreen in Minnesota

Confirming Shortleaf Pine and Measuring DBH Correctly

Heavy Cone Production on Ponderosa Pine Indicates Stress

Plants

Black Sooty Bark on Flowering Peach: Scale Insects and Horticultural Oil Fix

Managing Excessive Acorn Production in Oak Trees

Managing Neighbor's Pine Tree Roots Encroaching Your Yard

Norfolk Island Pine Dropping Leaves: Light, Water, or Age?

Can a Norfolk Island Pine Be Planted Outdoors? Climate Requirements

Pine O' Mine: A Virginia Pine's Journey from Gift to Legacy

Indoor Bonsai Tree Care: The Golden Rules for Miniature Masterpieces