When you mentioned sticky stuff on the leaves, the first thing that comes to mind is aphids. Carefully inspect the undersides of the leaves...especially around any new growth.

What conditions is the plant growing in? Soil PH, humidity, temp? The need low PH and high humidity. Two year old plant may need a little more shade as well.

Mine drops leaves all the time. I don't fret it too much. As long as I'm seeing new growth. Check all the above. You might look out for spider mites or thrips as well. You can always mix up an oil and soap mixture to spray the plant with. Let me know what you find.

well i didnt' see any sign of aphids when i looked earlier. well the pH is about 5.8 and the temp during the day is about 78-84 and about 68-70 at night. the humidity is about 40% during the day and about 70% at night. ok well its under 4x40W flourescent bulbs and a CF bulb. how old is yours? well i haven't seen much new growth yet but i just got it too..ok yeah i might try to use some oil and soap mixture.

Everything sounds as it should except for the daytime humidity. That too should be 70+%. You might try putting together a little plastic enclosure around the plant and mist inside to boost humidity. This is especially important after receiving a shipment. Mine stay inside a plastic enclosure with a humidifier for approx. 2 weeks or so. Don't overwater but keep soil a bit moist.

My MF is probably 4-5 years old. Got it from PineIsland Nursery and it is blooming/fruiting.

I'd look more carefully at your plant for critters. Check the bases of the leaves and stems for scale. I've never seen sticky stuff on a plant that doesn't normally have it unless there was some sort of infestation. I don't know anything about Miracle Fruit though so I don't know if the sticky stuff is normal for that plant.
Karyn

ohiojay..ok well i have a plastic enclosure around my GH but how or where could I get a little plastic one to put around my Miracle Fruit? ok. i see little greyish/brown fuzzy things on the bottom but i dont think they move. ok I will keep looking for bugs tho.

You can use trays (any container with a large surface area)of water around the plant to increase humidity. You can also put the plant in a tray of water. Just elevate the pot on something so that it's not sitting in the water. Evaporation from the trays will increase the humidity around the plant.
Karyn

ok thanks karyn. i have a tray under it now but its not that big and i dont know if its really helping. Ohiojay mentioned putting it in a little "mini greenhouse" type enclousure..how do i get one of them or make one?

You could probably fashion something out of PVC piping and a thick plastic tarp or you could buy a mini greenhouse from a retailer. If the water trays don't provide enough humidity a mister or humidifer might help. I still think there must be some sort of unwanted critter hiding on your plant. Why don't you post your pics on the pest & disease forum. Good luck with your tree.
Karyn

ok i might be able to make one out of PVC piping. So I'd be having a GH in a GH lol. well i didnt see any bugs on it.. I looked and i still dont see anything. ok i will.thanks

"i see little greyish/brown fuzzy things on the bottom but i dont think they move." Karyn may be correct. Are these fuzzy things something you can remove with a fingernail? If so, then most likely it is some form of scale...which can be tough.

As for your mini-greenhouse...don't bother with the PVC. It is a pain in the butt and just not worth your time. Karyn also mentioned the mini-greenhouse you can get from a retailer. That is exactly what I use for my plants. I think they call it a "4 tier mini greenhouse". They are perfect for this and are not very expensive. For the humidity, I use a one room ultra sonic humidifier. Works great.

ok well I made a little PVC temporary GH for my Miracle Berry. I sprayed it with water and put it over my Miracle Berry. I have a 3 tier GH as my main GH lol. But i only use 2 tiers because my plants are to big to have the 3. yeah but wouldn't a humidifer be to big for my 6x4 3 tier GH? ok i will check to see if they can be removed with a fingernail. Also why do they have to be put in a smaller enclosure for humidity for 2 weeks? after that can I put it back in my 3 tier GH after the 2 weeks of being in my smaller PVC temp GH?

Hottielover I think we were under the impression that the main GH was bigger and by making a small enclosure you could increase the humidity in a specific are. I don't think a separate GH is necessary for a GH that size. Have you posted photos on the "Pest & Disease" forum yet? The black spots on the leaves don't look right to me and the shiny sticky stuff looks so much like what I see on my plants that have scale or aphids. Aphids are usually quite easy to see but scale isn't. It can blend in with the bark and foliage extremely well. Have you checked the other plants that are near your Miracle Berry for critters? They could be infested and not be showing any symptoms but their secretions might be dropping on the MB foliage. The sticky stuff is normally sweet and can promote the growth of other nasties.
Karyn

oh ok. why would I need to raise the humidity for only 2 weeks after getting it? also how could I raise it in such a lil GH like mine?yes I have and they said that it could be root rot or scale. yeah i didn't see any aphids on it. yeah I dont see any on my banana or vanilla. But my black pepper did have some black spots but not the same kind and it has little white crystals on the stem. hmm ok.

Has this sticky stuff been on the leaves since you got the plant? If so it might have been sprayed with something like Organicide or Neem Oil just before shipment. Then enclosing it and mailing it could have caused enough stress for it to defoliate.
Losing the old leaves might just be a good thing. I often strip off all the mature leaves when transplanting many plants to reduce transpiration and to encourage new growth.
My miracle fruit here in SFla lives outside yearround. It likes rich acid well drained soil with fairly constant moisture (not wet though!), and partial bright shade.
Hopefully with spring appraoching your plant will flush out soon.

well i didn't notice the stucky stuff when I first got it. yeah but if its infested then losing them isn't a good thing right? cuz it could kill the plant. man i wish i could keep my tropicals outside year round. mines in acidic right well drained soil. how big is your Miracle Fruit tree? has it fruited yet? yeah i hope so

Well, losing the leaves could very well be a good thing.
If you didn't see any infestation, there probably isn't one.
I'd think the yellowing, spots and loss of leaves could be from the shipping stress and getting aclimated to it's new location.
If there are bugs, they're coming off with the leaves.
Obviously you're cleaning up all the fallen leaves.
Just keep watching for new leaf buds.
Maybe the plant got chilled somewhere during shipping.

As far as I know there are two kinds of Miracle Fruit growing around here. One grows tall and upright into a tree around 10 to 15 feet tall. It has larger leaves than mine does. Mine is a bush about 3'X3' and grows more horizontally than tall. It has smaller leaves. Flowers and fruits prolifically off and on all year, more in the summer.
It really appreciates a minor element spray in the spring when new leaves are flushing out. Regular fertilizing a few times a year. And heavy mulch.
That's about it.
It's really a special bush to have. I enjoy them a lot with key limes and water or in mojitos!

How did you make out with your infestation problem?

I am expecting my MF to arrive here in CT any day now, and I have my perlite and peat moss ready to repot it. Also planning on putting mine in an enclosure to boost the humidity, then we'll see if it can survive the winters here, when the enclosure will be crucial.

If you found insects, then perhaps a good oil spray would work on them...low toxicity, etc...

Good luck!

Rick

Did you resolve your problem with the miracle fruit pests?

--Rick in CT

Any tricks to encourage berry production? My plant is very healthy although in the last couple of months, has only produced 2 berries. I have lots of blooms and new growth of leaves but the blooms never blossom into berries. Is it advisable to spray a diluted fertilizer directly on the blooms to "shock them" into producing the berries? Any insight would be gladly appreciated........

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