4

I'm in Long Island and have a fig tree in my yard. I added some top-soil to the base a week or so ago. I don't know if it is related, but yesterday I found that the leaves are infested with what look like thousands of tiny white eggs. See photos.

The eggs are only on the top side of the leaves, not much on the stems. They look too distinct to be powdery mildew (I think?)

Fig Leaf with eggs (?)

fig Leaf with eggs (?) 2

Liron
  • 41
  • 1
  • Welcome Liron! Thanks for joining us and bringing us your question. We especially appreciate all the details and pictures! We have plenty of tree experts here (I'm sorry I'm not one of them) and I hope you get a helpful answer very soon! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Jul 14 '18 at 15:27
  • Dried fertilizer? – Rob Aug 13 '18 at 21:46
  • Liron, welcome! Just for clarification: can you wipe the substance off lightly or take a hose and rinse it off? Or is it stuck rather firmly? – Stephie Aug 14 '18 at 08:51

1 Answers1

1

Liron, do you happen to have cottonwoods or other pollen prolific trees in your neighborhood? This looks like pollen to me. See how it settled in the crook of that branch no on the branch? How it sits on top of the leaves and is not on the underside of the leaf? If I am on the right track, all you have to do is hose this tree down or wait for a major rain. As long as this 'pollen' sits on the leaf it is blocking the light and CO2 from reaching the chlorophyll factories beneath and diminishing your tree's ability to make food for itself, and figs for you. Doesn't look like powdery mildew to me either.

stormy
  • 40,098
  • 3
  • 31
  • 75