Just noticed that our Ponytail palm has white fuzzy dots all over it, and we're trying to figure out what they are, and what to do about it.

Please see the attached image:



These dots are all over the place, and especially concentrated at the base of the leaves - second picture.



They seem to have black dots in the middle whwere they are more concentrated. Any suggestions? Is my plant lost? Other then the dots it looks healthy.

Was told these are most likely scale insects, but when we started attempting to peel them off we realized that they were almost everywhere. Does anyone have any advice as to how to proceed? We are located in an apartment building in Manhattan, so bringing the plant outside is near impossible.

Thanks in advance.

Was told this was not a fungus, but was scale.

I scrubbed as many of the bugs as possible, and tried a fungicide / insecticide without much luck. It was so pervasive throughout the plant that I decided to gamble and tear all of the leaves off the plant and see if it grew back.

Now the waiting game begins...

I would suggest trying something stronger then soap and water, it won't kill them off. If I were you I would try something like Schultz insecticide. If you keep using soap and water they will keep coming back and you will eventually lose the battle and it will, if it hasn't already, infested all of the other plants in the house.

---

Operational Manager at
Earl May Nursery and Garden Center in Ames, Iowa