pic 2

It might be mealy bugs...

It looks a bit like mealy bugs, indeed, but hard to say from the picture. I had a scheff that got them. You should eradicate them as soon as possible, can use a qtip w/rubbing alcohol.

I'd probably also take it outside and apply a systemic like bayer 3-in-1, but thats a bit of a personal choice especially for a plant you plan to move back inside. It's just, well, I've had heartbreaking mealybug infestations in the house that I never want to repeat.

Ok... so if my poor Scheff has mealy bugs... any other suggestions other than the good idea of alcohol ... not sure I can use Bayer...

Just dislodge and remove them with a cotton bud dipped in water. Check all the undersides of leaves to make sure there are no visible egg clusters.

Make sure the plant is not touching any other plants, and if you have other plants, check them to see if it has spread from/to them.

Check again in a week and thereafter. If you find more, and don't like the other options you could try an insecticidal soap spray, home-made recipes are available.

So, any chance of a non-blurry image so that we can see what these are? Mealies were not the first thing to come to mind when I saw the pictures, but one of the cottony scale insects. A decent picture is important.

No matter what pest it might be, the plants don't have to be touching for them to spread quickly from one to another. We help carry eggs and tiny nymphs on our clothes, hands, watering containers, tools, dust cloth, etc. Best practice is to isolate a new plant in another room and practice the best houseplant hygiene you can muster.

A very good treatment for many houseplant pests is an alcohol mist. Simply mix one part isopropyl to three parts water, or even stronger. Use a hand sprayer to treat the whole plant, leaves and stems. Most plants tolerate the alcohol perfectly fine, but the soft bodied critters don't.

Another excellent product would be one of the many types of horticultural oils on the market. They are very effective at smothering the pests, from eggs to adult. The oils need to be a commercial brand and not home brewed.

Hard to tell with the blurry images, but I had a fine schefflera and there was sticky stuff began on it. Discovered it was scale. It also over the winter infected my staghorn fern and my ficus benjamina tree. So out it went. No way could I eradicate the awful scale, and spending the winter with a bottle of that kind of alcohol and cotton swabs was NOT my idea of a cozy winter activity. It took all day to do the leaves on my ficus, that did not include the stems/bark, and of course you cannot wipe down the fuzzy leaves of the staghorns.

Good luck. It will be an activity you repeat frequently, if my experience is an indicator.

Note: I read the MOST RECENT POSTS featuring this post while on the Hosta Forum. I also did a quick google of "schefflera scale" and came up with the subject covered in House Plants Forum every year since 2008 or so. You might try to google it.

hows this? any better? I had to look and look for this cause I am already in the process of cleaning the plant with the alcohol swab.... btw .. she is by herself... no other plants in the room.

thanks so much moccasin and all....
R

hows this? any better? I had to look and look for this cause I am already in the process of cleaning the plant with the alcohol swab.... btw .. she is by herself... no other plants in the room.

so I'm not getting any response from my last
'better' photo.... can I just use an oil to help the problem...
its back... i did the alcohol thing....didn't stop it