Help! Infestation!

Hello,

I am in desperate need of help!I am having such a hard time identifying these little white bugs. I have been googling for over an hour and cannot find anything that looks similar. They are small white bugs that look almost like a white dusting, however I'm positive that they are not scale, as they look almost like small spiders, and they're only on the tops of the leaves, not really the bottoms at all. I am suspecting spider mites, but I want to be positive before I treat the plant as it's so sensitive, I don't want to kill it or make it drop all it's leaves.

I also discovered centipedes in the soil, and I'm pretty mad because I used miracle grow container soil, which I thought was sterilized, but I suppose it could have come from the plant's original dirt. I've heard that to get rid of them I have to completely replace the soil, removing all of it from the roots and replanting. Is this true?

I've included pictures, could you please let me know what you think they are, and how to get rid of them?

It's so horrible and I love my ficus to pieces... It's about 5.5 feet tall with a braided trunk, and I'd hate to lose it.

Thank you!

-Tina

More pictures :(

whitefly?

It doesnt have wings though :(

another picture.. hope it helps!

They don't look like whitefly, but I wouldn't worry about what they are at this point. Your local garden center should sell insecticidal soap, which is very very safe, non toxic, and should send them to bug heaven very quickly. I had these same critters on african violets one year - they are not spider mites, not scale, not mealies. You didn't say what kind of plant this is, but the insecticidal soap is safe for most everything. Be sure to spray the plant thoroughly, in all the crevices and under the leaves, then repeat the treatment in a few weeks, and again in another few weeks if necessary. Should work great!

As for centipedes, there may be something you can spray onto the soil, and I have also hear that you can take the plant outside and water it with water mixed with dishsoap - but I don't remember the details. Someone on here should be able to advise you on that.

This message was edited May 1, 2009 2:47 PM

It's a ficus plant. I just took it outside and hosed it off with the "mist" setting, so it would be very gentile. I hope the water washed off some of them at least... I will get some insecticidal soap...

Sure theyre not mites? I mean, they dont look like mites, but they are VERY small. Definitely not white fly, mealies, or scale for sure...

I'll try the dish soap.. that wont poison the plant?

I'm not sure what they are, but spider mites will look like reddish brown dots on the underside of your leaves, so yours do not fit the description. I'd try the insecticidal soap on them as jmp24 suggested, it kills a pretty wide range of nasties and is a lot less toxic than many other insecticides. Can't help you on the centipedes, but they don't eat plants so while you probably don't want them in your house, they won't hurt the plant. I also am not sure that they came from your Miracle Gro soil...the majority (if not all) of the potting mix brands that you buy at the store are not sterilized, but I can't imagine why there would have been centipedes in it, I suspect you had them around somewhere already and they found their way into the plant looking for water or because they're enjoying eating the white things.

I don think the centipedes came from the miracle grow soil, but when I transplanted, I didnt replace the old dirt, I just put the new dirt under and around it. So that's probably what happened. They were probably in the old soil :(

Ecrane is right.

Centipede's will not hurt your plant....they can be annoying for some of us who hate to see creepy crawling bug's in plant's and around the house!

reply on those white thingy's on your rubber tree.......do you have a plant that bloom's inside around it? Maybe hanging above that plant.

Those white thingy's on your plant do not appear to be a "type" of bug but may be just bloom's falling off from another plant near by.

Rachel

I'm pretty sure theyre bugs as they move around on the leaf, and there's no blooming plant in the house or within 20 feet of my ficus :(

The centipedes are so gross!!! Thanks for the responses :D

Those are living creatures with legs.

I had a problem with what I thought was spider mites too. I took the plant out of its pot, filled the sink with luke warm water and just a few drops of dish detergent. I dunked the plant in it for awhile, using a cup to pour water over the base of the plant, then used the sink sprayer to wash the soap off. I also sprayed the roots really well. I did have to repot the plant with new soil. I didn't cut off any roots though.
I went and bought a miticide after I did this and sprayed the plant with it.
The process has to be repeated once a week (except repotting with new soil) to wash off newly hatched eggs until the infestation is gone.