A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Jade plant. Possibly scale issue.

I've grown my Jade plant from a leaf (over five years) ago and it's never had problems before.
We put it out in the summer and bring it in for winter.
This year, we didn't have enough room and ended up putting the plant on a counter next to the back door. It is a window door (faces east) and is next to a window, and should be recieving enough sunlight.
My dad has done lots of gardening and the plant has not been overwatered or underwatered.
Today he left for a long trip and I forgot to ask him about spots on my plant before he left.

It has black crusty looking spots on some of the leaves surrounded and covered by a thin layer of white, wispy material.
I've done quite a bit of internet research, and think it's probably a scale infection.

I was wondering if this IS scale or are they just cold spots? The white, moldy-like stuff went away after I wiped it with a damp rag, but came back after a week and the black spots remain. I don't want to poison or misdiagnose my plant...

If it is scale, how should it be treated?

Some sites say to use Schultz's Fungicide 3, but I don't know the side effects of this product or the price range.
This site had a topic about scale for a eucalyptus, and they suggested using a combination of veggitable oil, Murphy's soap and water spray.
They also suggested using rubbing alcohol (also mentioned on other sites).

Which of these methods would be the safest? For the plant and the house (it is indoor now and I don't want to poison my family)?
How can I prevent scale(or whatever infection this is) in the future?
Will a bug actually come out when I clean out the leaves? I am not quite sure what scale is.

Would it be easier to just take the couple of leaves with the infection off? It has many many leaves and has had entire branches taken off and transplanted, but it is the winter season and I don't want to hurt it...

take an ounce of rubbing alcohol, an ounce of dish soap (the hand washing kind), an ounce of oil (i use veggie oil from the kitchen) and a quart of water. mix well. dip a cotton swab in the mix, rub it on the black spot (or just use straight alcohol to check). then scrape the black spot with your finger nail. if it is scale, it will "pop" off. the underside will be slimy.

if it is scale, spray the plant well (very well) and then rinse with clear water. then rub the spots off, gently, with a paper towel. do this routine every couple of days for a week or so, making sure you drain the plant well in between. i've salvaged plants with scale this way.

Hi and welcome to the forum! I am by no means an expert on Jade. I have had one for a couple years and it is doing well. I have had to clean off the leaves with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip and the plant did fine with that. Someone with more experience will most likely be around at some point and give you some more help. i'm thinking about the black spots. Are they raised from the leaves or like an indent? My jade doesn't get watered from the top of the plant and i got water on it once and the leaves burned, which made a few black spots that were more indented and they are now scars on the leaves. I also have 1 crusty raised black spot on a leaf where I think a leaf from above was bumped and fell off and then it "bled" a little and dripped onto the lower leaf. that black spot has never come off.

Good luck with your Jade, and like I said, someone who knows more than me will be around to give you more help. :)

Thank you very very much!

We have a couple water scars and they look different.
The spots are slightly raised, like a scab.
I just thought it was weird because of the white, moldy looking stuff around the spots.
Thank you again!
I will try to lift them off and see if it is slimy underneith!!!!!

It didn't really pop off at all....
Could it be that there is water damage and a mold of sorts?

Can you take a picture of it and post it???? Sometimes it is easier to tell you what it is with a picture. If you need help posting a picture, just let us know and we can help you...its pretty easy.

I have pictures.
How can I upload them? Are there any good places to get a personal site?

http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/...;current=Christmas2007SecretSanta111.jpg

This one shows the black "scab" with the white mold-like stuff growing off it.
If the white is wiped, it starts growing back after about a week.
The black doesn't come off. It is slightly raised from the plant, just like a scab, but it is not crusty; it feels just like the plant itself.

http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/...;current=Christmas2007SecretSanta113.jpg

I found this while exploring with the camera!
Is it mites? or is it just a mess?

Thank you!!!

here is some info that might help you

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/bugs.html