Hello - my son recently bought a ficus tree for his apartment, a beautiful tree, but now it has this very unattractive growth, which I believe is gall. How should it be treated? Should it be left alone? I have read that it should be cut off and strayed with Lysol, but thought I should check with you experts first. thanks for your help.
~Kimberly
I don't think there is anything you can do for it. Someone better informed will come along who will know something.
Dawn
I've read, too, that there is no 'cure' for galls on Ficus, but that they are usually harmless to the tree.
Al (tapla) is the 'ficus expert' in my book...hopefully he'll come along and confirm this or perhaps have a few options for you.
Braided Ficus benjamina? Probably crown gall - (Agrobacterium tumefaciens)
Most galls are nonlethal to trees, but, as you see, they can horribly disfigure. Total removal is necessary to keep gall from regrowing, but it's almost impossible to achieve - especially given the trunk configuration (braids). In a single trunked specimen, you could carve out all of the surrounding tissue, but not so easy in your tree ...
I don’t know the exact cause of the gall on your Ficus, but it is usually a mite or psyllid that has compromised the vascular tissue and laid eggs. It causes irrational cell proliferation, which is somewhat analogous to cancer in mammals, but in most cases is nonlethal. If you have other Ficus, I would seriously consider discarding it.
Al
Thank you very much, Al, for your response. Very informative.
Kimberly
