Content
- The palm fronds have white spots - what can that be?
- Calcareous water
- remedy
- Scale insects
- fight
- Lubricants (mealybugs)
- Tips
Lime-based water can leave white spots on the palm leaves
The palm fronds have white spots - what can that be?
White spots on the upper leaf surface of the palm often occur. In addition to parasitic, so caused by insect pests, care mistakes may be responsible for the unsightly discoloration.
Calcareous water
Palm trees need a certain amount of humidity to thrive. Frequent wetting of the fronds with a sprayer is therefore advisable. However, some plant lovers use unfiltered tap water for this purpose, which contains a lot of lime in some regions. This remains after drying as an ugly white spot on the foliage.
remedy
In areas with hard tap water you should only use the palm tree
Fogging water.
Scale insects
These lice excrete a secretion that sits over the insects like a protective shield and protects them from the weather and predators. The sap-suckling animal does not move, but sits together with a variety of eggs under its shield. At the puncture sites show white discoloration, often occur in the episode of fungal infections (Russtau) on.
fight
Scale insects are very persistent parasites that like to hide in hard to reach areas of the palm. Follow these steps:
Contact toxins prove to be ineffective in scale insects, as the pests are well protected by their hard body armor.
Lubricants (mealybugs)
These white colored insect pests, which also belong to the scale insects, sit almost motionless on the leaves and look like white spots. Seen with the magnifying glass, they resemble tiny little cotton buds and are therefore relatively easy to identify.
In light infestation, you can remove them by showering off the palm. It is also possible then to combat with pure alcohol, which is applied with a cotton swab directly on the pests. In case of heavy infestation you should always treat the palm with a suitable insecticide.
Tips
It is often recommended to scrape off large scale colonies with a knife. However, this only makes sense with isolated animals. Scraping carries the risk of spreading the many eggs and larvae that live beneath the signs over the whole plant. This will unintentionally make the plague spread.