Scale or mealybugs
Sticky leaves with brown bumps or white cottony tufts mean scale or mealybugs have moved in.
Diagnosis
Scale or mealybugs
What's happening
Scale insects look like small, hard brown bumps stuck along the stems and frond midribs, while mealybugs appear as white, cottony fluff tucked into leaf joints. Both are sap-suckers that excrete a sticky 'honeydew' onto the fronds below, which is often the first thing owners notice and which can grow a black sooty mold.
How to fix it
Isolate the plant. Dab each insect directly with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill them on contact, then wipe the fronds clean of honeydew. Follow up by spraying the whole plant with neem oil, coating stems and leaf undersides, and repeat the treatment weekly for several weeks to break the life cycle as eggs continue to hatch. Inspect new growth regularly until you've gone a few weeks with no new bumps.
What fixes it
- Neem oil for pests — Neem oil smothers scale and mealybugs and disrupts their life cycle — reapply weekly until the plant stays clean.
If that doesn't fix it
This is general guidance based on common symptoms; individual plants vary.
Read the full Areca Palm care guide →
Reviewed June 2026 · how we check this