Maggie, I believe your Ficus has scale bug..The stickiness you're seeing/feeling is honeydew secreted by scale..the honeydew can attract ants. Would you say more than half your ficus have these bugs? BTW, make sure infested ficus isn't near non-infested tree..These insects will take charge of neighboring plant. There's several things you can do, but ridding scale is not an easy task.. ARe you able to take this plant home? Is there anywhere you can hose down? I find spraying with Fish Emulsion, (1 capful per 16oz mister bottle) and spray entire plant, in-between stems, leaves, etc. The problem w/FE, is even though they now sell an odorless type, is it still has a bit of a fishy smell.. There's also an oil called Neem..this is more common, but I've heard both good and bad regarding this product. You never mentioned the size of your tree, so I'm assuming hand-picking each bug, then swiping w/rubbing alcohol is asking too much, right? If it's a smaller tree, and you have time, this can be done, but again it's a big job. They also sell systemics, which is an insecticide added to soil, watered, insecticide is then taken up via roots.. www.homeharvest.com sells products..But to be honest, I've never used systemics, or any harsh chemicals on my plants. If your ficus wasn't in the best of heatlh to begin with, I'd bet it came w/scale..they probably weren't as bad/noticable, but existed. They might have even been in the crawler stage, which are tiny..before they turn into those bumps you're seeing. If your tree has more than 75% scale infestation, maybe it's best to dispose of the tree before bugs find homes on other plants. Sorry to sound hasty.. Before tossing, I'd work w/the tree..But that's me..don't know if u have time to play around w/plant since it's at work. BTW, can you please tell me where the tree was purchased? The reason I ask is I used to work at Home Depot in the gh..we'd get Ficus w/scale, then sold to the unsuspecing public..this would irk me to no end. I even complained to my manager, but he didn't care. Good luck w/your tree and please keep us posted..Toni

I've had this problem before, too. I also was told it is "edema". I noticed only one certain type of tomatoes I started from seed had this problem. This was years ago and I got the seed from Territorial. I took the problem to them. At first, I thought it was infected seed so I asked if anyone else had brought this to their attention. They didn't know what it was. I was later informed that some plants just don't do well in hydro because they are too sensitive to an overabundance of some nutrients and water. It had something to do with cell walls expanding too fast before they are rigid enough. I can't remember exactly. Even though it wasn't Territorial's fault, Territorial sent me a different variety to try free of charge. I was impressed with that. I must say, though, that even the plants I started for the ground from that seed pack exhibited this symptom. I culled most of the plants in case it was a fungus or bacteria before I knew it was not infectious. However, the ones I didn't discard ended up doing poorly as the leaves apparently couldn't withstand the symptom and the bumps started becoming brittle and breaking the leaves. I didn't waste any further time on them at that point.

They're under a 4' shop light with 40 watt cool lights, and the light is on 16 hours a day. I haven't fertilized them yet because I thought you were supposed to wait until they were a little bigger (these germinated around 4/23, so they're a little over 2 weeks old). When I transplanted these to new pots, I gave away several to some friends. I found out today that theirs are still looking great, even though they haven't fertilized them. So I don't think it's the soil or the lack of fertilizer. The closest thing I can find online to the bumpy part of the problem is oedema: http://msucares.com/crops/comhort/tomatodisease/images/odema.jpg It doesn't look exactly the same, but maybe if the bottoms of their leaves were purplish... I don't think I've been watering these too much - when I noticed the problem, the soil was drier than usual. I think it's pretty humid in my apartment though, so maybe that's the problem? Still doesn't explain the leaves curling and older leaves going chlorotic though... :(

I would suggest replanting with something that is not so stressed. Even if they started to pull through somehow they would be a pest magnet. Also they would probably not get a chance to set fruit before the heat wave hits. I know it is not fun. I lost only one plant with this last minor frost. In truth the plant was still hanging on. The problem was branches, and leaves started dying off quickly. It was just starting to recover from the damage caused by a hail storm a few weeks ago. I also have replanted twice this year. Frost killed off my plants two times since the first week of March. Last frost date here was supposed to be Mar. 15. I bought transplants. I have some that I started from seed too late. Though I am going to plant them out as well. I have them for back up. The plant I yanked is now replaced by one of my Black Krim plants I hardened off. I covered everything I could with anything I had. The plants in my 4 foot by 4 foot raised bed were too big to cover with buckets, or pots so I used bamboo poles, and clear plastic. I opened it up the next day, shook off the condensation. I covered things back up that night due to a projected dip to the mid 30's. I noticed one of the Better Bush plants had brown spots all over it. I gave it three days. The leaves were turning all brown so I pulled it. It was a shame as it already had 3 fruit set, and more blooms open before the cold snap.