Hi Mary Ellen
Ficus tree has a tendency to get scale and that is perhaps why you have sticky substance on the leaves. Check closely under the leaves and on the stems. Sometimes they are hard to detect until you get a really bad infestation. See above for treatment.

My gardenia plant leaves are shiny and wet with a sticky residue. plant seems healthy and i cannot see alot of insect . ihave had mealy bug on my OLEANDER and have treated sucessfuly with malathion .should i use something different on my GARDENIA? Craig

If you have mealy bug you would see it. Another insect that attacks gardenia and produces a sticky residue is scale which may not be easily detected. Look closely at the stems and undersides of leaves for bumps that can be scraped off with your fingers. A magnifying glass really helps. They leave behind a clear sticky residue on the leaf surface. The treatment would depend on where your plant is growing (indoors or outside). You can use malathion to treat for scale, if it is listed on the label. It will kill the insects in the crawler stage but not in the shell stage. You may need several applications. Don’t spray indoors and use precautions when spraying. Don’t use insecticidal soap on gardenia as they have a tendency to be sensitive to soap sprays causing phytotoxicity(yellow/brown spotting and burned tips.
UF IFAS ext.serv. An ultra fine horticultural oil will also work on scale.

I’m a new to the house plant thing. I’ve searched your site because my staghorn fern has little white/ brownish bumps. I see a picture but the article it is with doesn’t talk about the staghorn but a jasmine plant. I’m assuming I have some sort of insect. But I’m not sure how to take care of it. Can you please advise.
Thanks
F

Hi Frank
The picture is of scale on a staghorn fern which sounds like what you may have. One suggestion is to dip the leaves in soapy water to initially wash off the scale and then spray with an insecticide to kill the egg and nymph stage. Neem oil is a safe organic insecticide-follow directions suggested by manufacturer. Staghorn fern can be sensitive to sprays so try it on one leaf first to make sure its safe.

Is this plant indoors or outdoors? See above article for treatments..

The black sticky stuff is called sooty mold (Fumago vagans) which grows on the honeydew that is secreted by insects such as aphids, scale & mealy bugs. Treatment will depend on which insect you have. Get rid of the bugs first and then fertilize.

If you have scale try some horticultural oil on a Q-tip and dab on individual adult scale. The oil will kill them by suffocation. For cottony cushion scale use rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip. You can also try scraping them off with your fingernail. This can become very tedious, repeated baths in insecticidal soap once a week can help control the problem. One treatment is not effective as you may kill the adult but not the next generation. Check your plant often for insects so that you can control any infestation before it gets out of control.