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Brown spots on my birds of paradise


Question
I'm frustrated of my plants, as soon the new leave open fully the leaves starts developed brown sports and sticky all over the leaves and then onto the stems, then the brown spots and the sticky juice falls to other plants or anywhere that lands.

Answer
Jennifer,

It sounds like your bird of paradise has an insect problem called scale. Take a Q-tip and dip it in rubbing alcohol and see if you can flick these brown spots off the leaves. If so it is scale. The sticky juice is it's excrement. If there are not too many you can remove them all with the Q-tips dipped in alcohol. That will kill them. If there are too many you can spray them with rubbing alcohol straight in a spray bottle making sure you get the front and backs of all leaves and the surface of the soil. Repeat the spraying twice a week for 3 weeks to get any eggs that hatch out. This will not hurt the plant and will eradicate the scale but you do have to be persistent or it will come back. Spraying will leave the dead scale on the plant but later you may be able to wipe them off with a paper towel dipped in a bit of alcohol also. Good luck.

Darlene

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