H E L P! Meaningful Pot & Plant may be ruined!!!

I have a much-loved, BEAUTIFUL 26 yr. old Ficus benjamina I grew from seed which is happily planted in a very expensive gigantic unglazed Italian terracotta pot. It's been there about 5-6 years. There is a NASTY slick whitish-yellow scum which has been developing on various exterior areas of this pot. I keep scrubbing it off..... but it keeps coming back. It is on top of the "regular" white deposits that always develop on terracotta. I DO NOT want to have to unearth my tree! Are there any "specialists" out there that watch this beginner forum who can tell me what to do? I have just started really getting involved here and haven't been ready to financially join in yet, but will if needed, because I am beginning to see it's worth it!! CONVINCE ME!!!! H E L P.....

The dark white is the scum....also would like to add that the scum is near the top of the pot, and the rim stays damp alot of the time, although the plant is NOT overwatered; as though it takes on moisture.......odd.

if it were me i would take it out of that pot and put in another with fresh soil, but thats only my opinion

Hi Claywoman! I'm no expert but I am fond of clay pots, which is why I'm feeling brave enough to try to answer this.

The white stuff is likely salt deposits from hard water. Clay pots are very prone to getting them. The best way to avoid them is to use either distilled water or water that's been left out in an open container for at least 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine or other chemicals in the water. Then flush the plant by watering thoroughly -- let the water come out of the bottom. Water this way each time to keep the salts from building up.

I hope I'm right and I'm giving you the right advice. As for getting rid of the scum, you may have no option but to take out the soil and tree, then scrub and clean the pot from the inside out and soak it in a washing (not baking) soda solution. If it's too much, you may have to scrap the pot. See these links for more info:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Plant-Diseases-715/White-substance-clay-pots.htm

I got the next bit from this link: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-11-Thu-2006/living/7301392.html

Q: How do you get rid of the white stuff on a clay pot?

A: The white stuff is actually salt deposits, which occur when water evaporates. Some people like that look! A buildup of salts goes hand in hand with bad soils. Over time, salts in fertilizer and tap water accumulate in the pot. They appear as a white crust on the soil surface, the inner pot rim, and the outer surface of clay pots. Too much salt can cause plant leaves to burn and fall off. If left uncorrected, plants die. Discard pots with a heavy buildup of salts.

To get rid of excess salts, just run lots of slightly warm water through the pot. Use three or four times the amount of water that you would apply in a normal watering. The excess salts dissolve and wash out the drainage hole. Do this every three months to keep salts from building back up.

If you're really attached to the pot, I'd remove the plant temporarily, give the pot a good cleaning with bleach in case the slimy stuff is a fungus of some sort, and the put the plant back in. Check the roots while it's out to make sure there's no slimy fungus going on in the roots too.

Yes, I am attached to this pot. It is in good shape....and it's not the salt deposit area's that is the problem....it's the "fungus" or whatever. In the pic above, it's the bright white area OVER the salt deposit, it looks like a paint splash.....this gets to be about 1/8th inch thick and slimey/nasty/slick. Not like mold. I think you're right about taking the plant out of the pot.....I hate to do it. I have some plastic tubs I bought trees in that will hold it. NOW.....While I have this tree out of the container, what if there IS a fungus or whatever on it's roots? What should I do? (If it's bad enough I guess I could photograph it & post it....?) I am all about plants, but when it comes to the roots, I'm lost.

Sounds like a fungus of some sort to me. It may just be on the clay pot and not in the roots of the plant at all. I agree about removing the tree completely, and removing all soil from the roots of this plant. Clean the pot thoroughly using a bleach solution in the water to hopefully kill the fungus.

I would also spray the roots of the plant with a garden hose to thoroughly remove all old soil. That's easy for me to say though since I live in a warm climate and can easily do that outside! LOL. You should try to get as much soil off the roots as possible to get a good look at the roots to see if they are healthy looking and to check and make sure there is no fungal growth on the. Then, I think you should repot your tree in fresh soil. BEWARE though ..... Ficus Benjamina's go into shock quickly and will lose a lot of leaves if not all leaves! I love the looks of this tree and many years ago I had about a dozen or so huge trees! I like to re-arrange my plants and move them around and the Benjamina likes to be in one location and stay there. They don't like being moved. I would move one just a few feet from one location to another and it would begin dropping lots of leaves. The leaves turn yellow and just fall off! Some of mine would actually lose every single leaf, and be bare for a month before beginning to resprout! They do recover but it just made such a mess .... I finally tossed every one I had with the exception of a variegated leaf one that I had purchased from an aquaintence who had a little nursery. She passed away about 12 years ago.

So, I think you can save your pot and your ficus tree. Please keep us all posted on how it goes!

there are several reasons you have this fungus growing above the white salt deposit on the pot, there are fungus that do grow on the salt deposit, because of wet damp conditions, or they were air born and got a hold onto the deposit, your plant has been in the soil a long time if you say about 5/6 years, therefore you may find that there is very little soil around the roots now as the roots will have filled all the space where you had soil, if you have been feeding the plant, then this could be a cause as there is not enough soil to take the water and feed, either way, 6 years is too long without changing the soil and feeding the roots, it is such an achievement you have to have cared for this plant all these years from seed so I would remove it from the pot, get rid of all the old soil, even IF it means teasing away all the soil and washing the roots in cool water to remove the rest, then repot it into another pot where you can keep a close eye on the plant and feed it till you are happy that the roots are not the problem with the slime, I feel positive enough that had the roots been covered in this slime, your plant would be showing signs of foliage drop or even dying. as for the pot that has this horrid fungus growing all over it, wash it as Ecrane said in bleach, then maybe scrape the rest off til you are happy you have it all off, dont use the pot for the rest of the season, then when you are happy that the fungus has gone, pop another plant into it, but keep the plant in another smaller pot inserted into the larger clay pot till you are satisfied that the pot has not started giving you further trouble, I think this is the safest way to treat your treasured plant and the pot that you are also attached to. Good Luck. Weenel.

Well....you've given me "cause for pause." I believe I've placed more value on this tree than it deserves. We are already suffering frosts & snow (Zone 5) so I can't take it outside & do the garden hose thing....However, I have my ways. This tree may have to face reality. It's in a room with a wood stove so is going to be suffering heat fluctuations all winter which already has me worried (bought new mister today.) This tree has been through 26 yrs. of rough times, so this could get interesting. Thank you everyone!