You may have noticed that your anthurium leaves are sticky and wondered why and for how long.
How long it lasts is a mystery, because unfortunately you couldn’t tell without taking a closer look at the leaves.
Luckily the reason is quite simple, you have a pest infestation with your Anthurium.
So if you’re wondering why my anthurium leaves are sticky, say no more because I’ll explain why pests cause it below.
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Pests and Molasses
Your Anthurium, when conditions are right, can become infested with a variety of pests such as scale insects, scale insects, aphids and spider mites.
These pests feed on the sap of anthurium leaves, causing the plant to lose nutrients, holes in the leaves, discoloration of the plant, and other problems.
Once these parasites start eating, they leave behind a sticky substance often called honeydew.
Honeydew left behind by pests makes anthurium leaves sticky.
How to Remove Molasses from Anthurium
Removing honeydew from your Anthurium is as simple as rinsing it under warm water.
Besides sticky leaves, the main reason honeydew can be a problem is that it turns into sooty mold after a while, usually for a short time as well.
This will lead people to use horticultural oil and other methods to remove mold and honeydew.
In your case, it’s not necessary, because hot water is enough and takes care of those sticky leaves.
How to Get Rid of Anthurium Pests
The first thing to do when controlling pests on your Anthurium is to isolate the plant from other plants to prevent them from spreading among themselves.
Once you’re done, you can try spraying the plant with warm water for some pests, but others, like scale, can be a little harder to get rid of with water alone.
If you find that there are still pests on the plant, you can use stronger things like neem oil, which is not only good for things like mold, but is also an effective pesticide.
All you have to do is spray the affected parts of the plant and you will kill the pests and keep them away for the foreseeable future.
Note that you should only do this in the shade until the oil has dried, as this will make your Anthurium more susceptible to sunburn if sprayed in bright light.
Other than that, you’re good to go.