White spots on money tree leaves can be natural but could also indicate that your money trees are being attacked by fungi bacteria, insects, and other types of pests.
These trees might have white spots on their leaves, but they are easy to treat so long as you know the cause of the spots. Read this article to learn the cause of white spots on your money tree leaves as well as some brilliant solutions.
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Why Are There White Spots on Your Money Tree Leaves?
There are white spots on your money tree leaves because you possibly expose them to more light than they need. If the growing conditions are fine, white spots on the money leaves can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, insects, and other types of pests.
– Light Problems
If you can see white spots on your money tree leaves, you should check the light exposure of the plants.
Tree leaves turning white or getting white spots usually do so because they are experiencing sunburn. This means that the leaves are most probably burning from the inside (or edges) due to the high amount of light that they receive daily.
Money trees do not grow optimally in direct sunlight, so white flaky spots on their leaves are a major sign to know that you need to shift them away from the sun. If the plants stay exposed to full sun for a long time, you will see the leaves turning brown.
– Powdery Mildew and Other Fungal Infections
Fungi are enemies of your money trees and other plants as they kill the plants slowly. If you see white leaf spots on your tree leaves, there’s a high chance that there is powdery mildew or other types of fungi. White fungus on money trees starts as little dots and then spreads to cover a major part of the leaves.
Other types of fungi that you should watch out for are septoria leaf spot and root rot. These fungi create flaky and pale spots on your money tree leaves and can kill the plants. Well, fungi do not just infect your plant from nowhere, so to know if your plants are truly infected by fungi or not, you need to find the cause.
Often, money trees and other plants get root rot and other fungal attacks from the soil, especially when you overwater them. Also, they can get the disease from sick plants nearby.
– Nutrient Problems
If your money tree leaves turn white, pale, or yellow and develop paler spots, it could be due to improper fertilization. Some nutrients that can cause white spots on your money trees when they are depleted are nitrogen iron, calcium, magnesium, copper, and manganese.
The symptom of nutrient deficiency usually starts as white or pale spots on the leaves before all the leaves become pale.
Note that too many nutrients can also give your plants white spots on their leaves. In this case, the spots will be flaky and the entire leaf will also feel curled and look dry. When last did you feed your money trees?
How much nutrients did you feed them? Answering these questions can help tell you if the spots on your money trees are caused by nutrient problems or not.
– Humidity Problems
Humidity problems which are usually caused by poor ventilation can give your money tree leaves white spots.
This is because fungi and other types of microbes thrive well in very high humidity, so if you grow your money trees in a place with more humidity than they need, they will not easily fight off the white spot-causing microbes.
You can tell that the humidity of the room is too high when your plant’s substrate does not go dry three days after watering. Also, you may notice water droplets around the edges of the money leaves in the morning if the humidity level is high.
– You Water Your Plants With Hard Water
Another major reason why your money tree plants can have white spots on their leaves is when the water in their substrate is hard.
Hard water refers to water with a lot of minerals in it. When the money plants collect water and the minerals in it, the water evaporates (through transpiration) and leaves the minerals on the surface of the leaves.
This will make the leaves look dusty. In this case, you can easily dust off the spots (if they are caused by hard water). Note that the plants may start to die if you continue to water them with untreated water.
– Insects and Other Pests
Spider mites and insects such as leaf miners, mealy bugs, and aphids are pests that can make you see white spots on your money tree leaves.
For example, spider mites cover themselves in silk on the underside of your money leaves, so they can appear as white spots. Pest infestation is a major reason why money tree leaves have white spots.
Money tree leaves turn white, yellow, or pale when they have a heavy load of pests attacking them. You may also notice that the plant will become weak. Note that not all of these insects will create bite marks on the money leaves because they are often sap-sucking in nature.
– Bacterial Infection
Bacterial infection can make your money tree leaves turn brown. Your money tree leaves turning brown or white and brown spots on money tree leaves signify that the plants are infected by bacteria.
The spots will first look pale before they become darker and dry up. You will notice that the spots will continue to spread from leaf to leaf and then from plant to plant.
– Viral Infection
Viruses give your money tree leaves similar spots to bacteria. The mosaic virus is a popular type of virus that causes white or yellow spots on money tree leaves. Just as in the case of bacteria, the spots will dry up after some time. Note that you need to quickly attend to your money trees with viruses.
– Could Happen Due to Age
You may just be worried for nothing. When the leaves of money plants age, they sometimes develop white or pale spots before they fall off the plant or dry out.
In this case, the spots on your money tree leaves are natural and you should not fear them. Check the leaves with spots to see if they are old or new leaves. If they are old, there is a chance that the spots are caused by age.
Well, note that nutrient deficiency also affects old leaves first before new leaves. This means that you also want to be sure that the old leaves with white spots do not have their spots because of a lack of nutrients.
How Do You Fix Your Money Tree Leaf White Spot Problems?
To fix your money tree leaf white spot problems you can do one – or several – of a few things. For example, you can use neem oil, wipe the leaves, use chemical fungicides, treat nutrient deficiencies, and ensure they get enough sunlight.
– Prune the Leaves and Branches
As soon as you see that a money tree has white spots on its leaves, you should first isolate it from the others so that it does not spread to others (if the spots are caused by an infection).
After isolating the money tree plant, it is time to get into action by pruning the leaves or branches with the spots.
If the new leaves that appear come with spots when they are matured, it means that the plants might be infected. While isolating the plant, find out what is wrong with it and check other plants for similar symptoms.
– Grow Your Money Trees on the Right Spot
The right spot for money plants is a place with bright but indirect light. Direct sunlight can burn your money leaves when exposed for a long time, so you want to take them some inches away from direct sunlight.
If you want to grow them near a window, make sure that the window is shaded, especially in the summer months. Also, you can grow them with grow lights.
The right spot is also one with around 50 percent humidity. If the humidity level is significantly higher than the preferred range of money plants, there can be serious problems. Make sure that there is proper ventilation in the room and also that you use the right soil type.
– Use Neem Oil for Pests
If the white spots appearing on your money trees are caused by insects and other similar pests, you can eliminate or repel them with neem oil. Insects hate the scent of neem oil, so they leave plants with the oil on their leaves. You only need to use the oil at the right time.
You should spray your plants with neem oil early in the morning to repel diurnal pests, late in the evening to repel nocturnal pests, and whenever you see pests on your plants. Do not use much neem oil in the hot afternoon or hot seasons so that it does not burn your plant’s leaves.
– Treat Your Money Tree Nutrient Deficiencies
You want to feed your money plants with balanced fertilizer if you do not know the exact nutrient that they are lacking.
To quickly correct nutrient deficiencies in your plants, make use of foliar fertilizer or any products that can quickly dissolve into water. Spray the fertilizer on the leaves of your money plants and wait a few days to see improvements.
Please do not correct nutrient deficiency with an organic fertilizer such as rotted manure except you know exactly what you are doing. Also, do not overfeed the plants so that you do not burn their leaves in the process.
– Ensure That the Trees Get Sufficient Light
Money tree leaves turning white because of insufficient light can be easily corrected by growing the plants with a little bit more exposure to light.
While the money plants do not like direct sunlight, they need to grow in a bright room with at least six hours of light. You can tell that your plants have enough light when all their leaves are green and none of their stems is stretchy.
– Wipe Your Money Leaves Often
You love your money leaves because they look fresh and green. If you want them to stay green, fresh, and shiny, you need to continuously wipe them with a clean cloth. The cloth will help remove dust, pests, and other foreign objects on your money tree leaves.
You can use a dry or wet cloth. Just make sure that you do not injure the leaves by wiping them too hard.
Also, do not wipe them with a dripping cloth so that water droplets do not stay on their surface for long. If you want to clean your money leaves with a wet cloth, do so in the morning.
– Use Chemical Fungicides
If you are tired of learning how to get rid of fungus on money trees, don’t get fed up. All you need to do is to buy chemical fungicides from gardening stores nearby.
Just make sure that the fungicides are safe for your potted plants. Chemical fungicides will help to eliminate every money tree fungus and your plants will no longer produce leaves with white spots.
These fungicides are usually made of inorganic compounds, so if you prefer organic products, you can make use of a baking soda solution for the plants. All you need to do is to mix your baking soda with water and spray it on your money leaves.
– Repot Your Money Trees
If the money plants have a soil-borne infection, there is nothing much you can do to help them if they are still growing in the poor soil.
While you can eliminate some microbes with chemical fungicides and other products, there is no guarantee that you can eliminate 100 percent of harmful microbes in the soil. This means that the best thing to do is to repot the plants.
Please repot the plants with care so that you do not harm their roots. Also, make sure that you use a well-drained substrate so that water can drain off quickly from the substrate and not lead to root rot in your money plants. If you want to learn how to braid your money tree check out our detailed guide.
