Well, garden webbers, I turn to you first in plant crisis, but now that I'm done panicking I did some more searching on line I see that I most likely have the ficus whitefly. Rats.

So my next question: has anyone been able to rescue their ficus with the proper systemics?

it is whitefly. The cure is not cheap. Forgot name of stuff but lowes or hd will have it, ask in garden center, tell them whitefly treamtent for ficus. I had to do it with my Ficus. Costs about $60 for a 8 foot long hedge six foot high.

Go shake the hedge, if a bunch of white stuff comes off, it is white fly. Might as well treat the hedge anyways, if it is not infected if you like it.

If you cannot find the stuff local, send me a private email (I might miss post if your reply here) and I will send you the name of the stuff.

The stuff I bought protects the ficus for a year. Name begins with "M" but it escapes me.

We too have 2 ficus trees that usually have curled leaves with tiny bugs in it. May be thrips http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/thrips/cuban_laurel_thrips.htm
We were told to use a mix of dawn and water (yeah, soap) and spray it on. It worked for a while, but we just chopped most of the leaves off because they froze in our strange Florida freezes a few weeks back.
Everyone's told me to get rid of our ficus trees - they seem to not be too popular.

Ficus white flies do not cause the curled leaves. The leaves stay flat but fall from the tree both brown and green.If you look on the underside of the leaves you will see small egg casings after the babies hatch they wander around on the leaf until they can fly. They can demolish a tree depending on size very rapidly. I posted under "93 and counting" about this pest. The two systemic products are Merit and Safari which we used at this zoo. The problem is Ficus sap is very thick slowing absorption second treated leaves if eaten by wildlife could well kill them and both are highly toxic to aquatic life. Dragonflies are becoming a natural predator I'm sure others as well, the cold has also slowed them down. I've talked with U of F, Miami metro zoo, Miami Extension and Disney, so far there is no good safe way to handle this I would recommend fertilize the trees whether or not you treat to get the tree in best shape I have heard Neem oil may work but our trees are to big so I didn't do much research on it.

Using cheap dish soap or insecticidal soap is a good idea as a starting point with any insect issue .
Problem is - soapy water only kills on contact . There is no lingering , preventative to kill any thing that comes along later . And , if you miss a spot under a leaf - no control .
Soapy water is very safe for your plants , for the person applying the soap and for the environment .
zoo-katie gave excellent advice .
Have you tried contacting your local Extension Agency ?
I'll bet they have seen this on Ficus hedges before and can help you .

I thought I better elaborate alittle here this pest is actually named a Fig whitefly meaning all species in the Fig family are susceptible including Ficus and has been seen on not only F.benjamina but also F.altissima, F.bengalensis (banyan) F.microcarpa F.maclellandii. Also Cuban laural, Fiddleleaf fig, Bananaleaf fig, and our native Strangler fig. Azalea is also listed as a host plant although I haven't seen this. These insects were first identified in Miami along the Miami river about 2 years ago imported no doubt, spreading occured when landscapers trimmed hedges and threw cuttings into the back of open trucks. It has been steadily moving north reaching Palm Beach Co. about 1 year ago. Miami now requires all Ficus be treated or removed. The chemists I've talked to (Behr the one of the Honeybee fiasco), would not guarantee the safety or effectiveness of their product. If treating the leaves they need to be soaked we however treated directly onto the trunk slower but safer, about 6 weeks before reaching the leaves. Good results have been had with Cyfluthrin, Bifenthrin,and Carbaryl however because this pest is so new long term effects on natural predators is unknown and it as said before it is not a solution. Catherine Mannion (University of Florida) and Henry Mayer CoOp extension Service (Miami-Dade) along with others, would be who I would recommend you call they are testing at the Miami zoo and have been studying this problem the longest and are very helpful.
Katie

Great info zoo-katie. My neighbor has ficus hedges seperating our lawns and they are in real bad shape. I am going to approach him and offer to get rid of them and replace with a similar bush, hopefully more hardy.

Any suggestions?

cxjr25
Sure, I am a big advocate of using natives although I love the tropical look I try to incoorporate both for a happy medium.
You could think about using a mix of native palms, the very common firebush, cocoplum, florida privet however these should be left to grow as in nature there is really no such thing as a house plant or a manicured hedge. Explore native nurserys there are alot of unknown plants that are really interesting and that survive here with little or no water. These would need little maint but would also create habitats for wildlife. The palms should be clumped together strenght against high winds with shrubs layered underneath. A side note Sabel palms should never be pruned of their dead fronds they although ugly lol give strenght and feed the tree as well as a great home to bats who love mosquitoes :) The only pruning would be for depth these shouldn't reach more than 20 ft. at best hope this helps.

Katie

Thanks for all the information!
I talked with some nurserymen this afternoon who also say the ficus benjamina is really starting to see trouble here on the southwest coast these days. What a shame for all those landmark trees I see dotting the older neighborhoods, but I know something wonderful will take their places one day.
As for replacing our hedge, yes, I'll bet cocoplum will do a nice job, though I may contemplate small trees that don't have a long but narrow canopy since we do have a wood fence lining the ficus hedge.... but massive, hulking, RVS are a lot taller than any wood fence!

Hedge replacement will probably have to wait a while, so for now I'm going to hit the ficus with the electric shears and some soap mix. I hope everyone has learned some good techniques for battling these new bugs-- I know I have! Thanks so much!!!! XOXO, Gardenwebbers!!

Jane

Ugh! I have ficus separating me and my neighbor, I chose treatment. Ficus are a horrible plant that root out everywhere and are a REAL pain to remove. I measured price of save (treatment) verses effort. Effort / treatment = TREATMENT! :)

Not a big fan of chemicals, but from time to time, got to do it. I would prefer to pull them and replace with firebush. If they get infected again, goodbye ficus.

The ficus came with the house, probably one of the last things that I have not pulled and replaced with natives.

My suggestion is find your local John Deere Landscapes (formerly Lesco) location. Ask them for Merit 75WP in the 2 oz container. You'll spend about $35-40 & it will last you for a long time. Imidacloprid (the a.i. in Merit) will systemically control the whitefly populations. For quick knockdown, use your favority horticultural oil or a pyrithrin insecticide. Hope this helps.

Can you send me some cuttings of diseased branches before you cure it? I have Ficus ringing my property and would like them dead YESTERDAY.
I figure I can get mine real sick and make them die naturally and not pollute my fruit trees :-)

i have a fungus on a NEW hegde that has infected the old beautiful hedges on property. i cant afford to rip them out and they provide much privacy for us.
one leaf curls up with tiny black dots and the other bubbles and when you "pop" the bubble it has black bugs in it. the latter is the worst. what can i use?

Omg I just bought a house and I have to heddges of ficus:(. One side is completely infected by whiteflies the other, the roots are getting sooooi close to my house it's so scary! I had no idea ever before about ficus and all the headaches. I live in Miami, does anyone know who could I call or what could I do to permanently remove them?

thanks!!!!

dasaye, I hope you mean "hedges." Ficus should be kept no less than 100 feet from the house, or you have to root-prune them every year. If you have a septic tank, they wil go straight for it, or water pipes. To remove them, you can cut them back to the ground and use stump killer to destroy the stumps. It would help to know how large they are.

Hello dirtygardener73. Yes my apologies. Hedges. As for size they were 7-8ft tall before we pruned them. About 3ft wide. The roots seem to extend pretty far. And if the amount of maintenance the previous owner gave the home is any indication then I can be pretty sure he never pruned the roots.