Common Tree Problems in Florida

For homeowners in Florida, dealing with common tree problems is a significant concern. Issues like pests, diseases, and environmental stress can severely affect tree health.

This guide is brought to you by Tony Padgett, a certified arborist who runs a professional tree service and a licensed pesticide and fertilization operator, who is also the owner of Panorama Tree Care.

Let’s move on to the topic.

Ash Plant-bug:

Tropidosteptes amoenus

Ash plantbug lays eggs in twigs and branches, then hatches causing infesta-tion to trees. Leaves become discolored first with white to yellow specs, then turning brown as leaves die. Early de-leafing of tree will occur and leaves will become deformed. Bugs feed on leaves.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
May	Ash Tree	Brown spots on leaves	Moderate
July	Nearyby trees and shrubs	Yellow/white specs on leaves
		Deformed leaves
		Early leaf dropping
		Black spots underside of leaves
		Red/black bugs in May

Asian Cycad Scale:

Aulacaspis yasumatsui

Originally found in Thailand and China, this pest has recently been introduced into Flori-da and infests Cycads and Palm species. Spread by wind from tree to tree, this pest will kill its host tree. White bugs that feed on leaves and attach themselves until death. They create a white protective film over themselves and build on top of themselves cre-ating the white scale. Death to host tree can occur in less than one year due to high in-festation of this pest and easy spreadability.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Cycads	Whitescales on leaves	Severe
	Palms	Dead leaves	Fatal
	King Sagos
	Queen sagos
	Cardboard palms
	Coonties

Aphids:

Aphis spiraecola, Aphis gossypii, Toxoptera aurantii, Toxoptera citricida

With over 400 different species, Aphids are the most common tree and shrub pest in Florida. Aphids feed off of sap from new growth areas of trees and shrubs. Aphids ex-crete honeydew as a waste product, which is a sticky substance that gets all over every-thing from sidewalks to vehicles, and structures.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	All trees and shrubs	Sticky plant	Moderate – most trees and shrubs
Fall		Curly leaves
		Discolored leaves	High – pine & citrus trees
		Black fungus

Apple Scab:

Venturia inaequalis

A fungal disease that causes direct loos of fruit and defoliation. Although not extremely harmful or fatal to trees, if not treated, defoliation will stunt tree growth and fruit yields. Leaf lesions are olive green to yellow in color. Fruit lesions are brownish and corky to the touch as fruit grows. Humidity and moisture can cause this fungus to spread rapid-ly.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Wet seasons	Fruit trees	Leaf spotting	Low-Moderate
		Fruit spotting

Bagworms:

hyridopteryx ephemeraeformis

A leaf feeding caterpillar that creates a silk “bag” out of silk and plant mate-rials. These pests grow up to one inch in length and carry around the bag on their backs until ready to lay eggs. Males fly off and infect surrounding trees, while females stay in same tree and cause further infestation and se-vere defoliation.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Evergreens, coni-fers, box elder	Cocoons/bags hanging from branches	Moderate
Summer	juniper, live oak, locust, maple, per-simmon	Defoliation
	pines, salt cedar, sumac, syc-amore, wild cherry, willow
	ce-dar, cypress, elm, fruit and nut trees

Bacterial Leaf Scorch:

Xylella Fastidiosa

Leafhopper insects carry and transmit this bacterium throughout the host tree. The bac-teria cause a disruption to the trees watering ability by clogging vital watering channels. Leaf scorching cause’s severe damage to the host tree making it unsafe and causing eventual death. Easily spread

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring time	sweetgum, American elm	Browning of leaves	High
Before summer	sycamore, mulberry, red maple, sugar maple	Reddish or yellow bands separating live tissue from ne-crosis tissue.	fatal
	Oaks: bur, pin, scar-let, red	Growth decline
	laurel, wa-ter, turkey, bluejack	Branch death

Calico Scale:

Eulecanium Cerasorum

A soft-scaled insect that has a black and white color in early life, and then loses their color in late life, turning dark brown. Insect invades trees with eggs in early Spring. Hatching begins in late Spring and by summer white Crawlers will appear and feed on leaves. The insect produces honeydew in the spring and causes leaves, bark, and branches to be sticky. Mold grows on the honeydew that is produced by the female insects. Crawlers will lay their eggs on the underside of leaves and then return to the woody parts of the tree.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Early Spring – lay eggs	Crabapple	Honeydew secretion (springtime)	Moderate
Late Spring -hatching	Dogwood	Mold (summer)
Summer – infestation	Elm	Mold (summer)
	Star magnolia	Yellow leaves
	Firethorn	Black and white scale on leaves
	Maple
	Sweetgum
	Honeylocust
	Stone fruit trees
	Zelkova
	Buckeye
	Boston ivy
	Tuliptree
	Pyracantha

Chlorosis

Iron deficiency that causes yellowing and scorching of leaves. Can affect tree in spots only, and not entire tree foliage. The yellowing of leaves is caused by a lack of chlorophyll and slows down the growth cycle of affected trees. Chlorophyll is responsible for the trees ability to pho-tosynthesize and turn sugars into energy. Trees will also produce bitter fruit that are smaller than normal and poor in quality. Iron deficiency can be caused by poor soil conditions such as lime content and high alkalinity. Cooler weather conditions, water saturation, and poor wind flow will intensify this condition and cause the tree to decline rapidly.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
any	Maple	Yellow leaves	High
	Pine	Small fruit
	White Oaks	Bitter tasting fruit
	Sweetgum	Stunted tree growth
	Tuliptree
	River Birch
	Magnolia
	White Pine
	Bald Cypress

Cottony Maple Scale:

Pulvinaria innumerabilis

A flat, dark brown soft scaled insect that lays a white egg sac on branches in spring. Larvae hatch by early summer and feed on leaves and leave veins on the underside of leaves. Honey-dew is produced by females leaving a sticky residue on leaves, branches, and surrounding areas. Mold grows on honeydew. Crawlers return back to woody parts of tree but continue to infest tree. Trees can have yellowing leaves, early defoliation, and branch dieback – stunting growth and lowering defenses from other diseases.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Maple	White sacs on branches	Moderate
Summer	Oak	Honeydew
	Elm	Gray/black Mold
	Linden	Yellowing leaves
	Honeylocust	Branch dieback
	Dogwood
	Boxelder
	Alder
	Hawthorn
	Beech
	Apple
	Sycamore
	Mulberry
	Osage Orange
	Poplar
	Plum
	Peach
	Pear
	Black locust
	Willow
	Linden

Diplodia Shoot Blight:

Diplodia sapinea

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
March-October (spores disperse)	Most Pines	Short new shoots	High
Summer (disease is easily detectable)	Australian Pine	Brown brittle needles	Severe
	Scot Pine	Lower branches turn brown
	Ponderosa Pine	Resin droplets
	Mugo Pine
	Red Pine
	Spruce

Dutch Elm Disease:

Ophiostoma Novo-Ulmi

A fungal infection that disrupts the water cycle within the tree. Water carrying veins are clogged and water is not able to reach the crown of the tree, causing wilting and death. This fungus can be spread by the Elm Bark Beetle or similar pests. Fungus can also be spread through tree grafting. Leaves turn yellow and curl, eventually turning brown and dying. Inner bark (Sapwood) will turn brown to tan in color. A cross-section of the branches should reveal when disease started in tree.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	All Elm species	Yellow leaves	High
July-September (growth season)		Sections of dead leaves	Fatal
		Dark branches and

Emerald Ash Borer:

Agrilus planipennis

Evasive Asian beetle that infests Ash trees by laying its larvae on the bark of the tree and hatch-lings tunnel and eat the tree from the inside-out. Sapwood is consumed and the water cycle of the tree is disrupted. Infested trees cannot get water up to the canopy, causing that portion of the tree to die, and possibly killing the entire tree. Difficult to detect early on as Ash trees do not give off strong indications of infestation. Emerald ash borers are a flat-head, metallic, green-iridescent beetle with a yellow-brownish abdomen. They create D-shaped holes in the trunk of Ash trees and are commonly hunted by woodpeckers. Hatching larvae are a white worm with a dark spine.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Summer – lay eggs	Ash	Green beetles in Summer	High
May/June – hatching		D-shaped holes in trunk	Fatal
Fall		Woodpeckers pre-sent
		New shoots from lower trunk
		Leave discoloration

Elm Leafminer:

Fenusa ulmi

Insect that feeds on the leaves of most Elm trees. Its larvae form tunnels on the leaves causing blotchiness and discoloration to the leaves. In summer the larvae drop to the ground where they burrow in the ground in brown-papery cocoons and await spring to hatch. New hatchlings have white and light brown colored heads. Mining of leaves shows most in May – leaves will appear brownish with some holes.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
May-June (larvae feed on leaves)	Most Elms	Blotchy leaves	Low-moderate
Summer (cocoons)	Siberian Elm	Discolored leaves
Spring – hatching	Russian elm	Cocoons on ground
	Slippery Elm	Holes in leaves
	American Elm
	English Elm

European Elm Scale:

Gossyparia spuria

Insect with soft scales that produce honeydew as a byproduct, causing a sticky residue all over leaves, bark, branches, and the surrounding area. Mold will form over honey-dew. Eggs are laid at the end of spring and hatchlings come out in summer. Hatchlings feed on leaves, preferably the underside and then resort back to the woody parts of the tree in fall. Feeding stunts tree growth, causes dieback of branches, and leaves fall off sooner. Difficult to see as insect prefers high branches in tree.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring – mating	American Elm	Honeydew	Low
Summer – Hatching	Most Elms	Gray/black mold
	Hackberry	Thin crown
	Zelkova	Stunted growth
		Yellow leaves
		Branch dieback

Ficus Whitefly:

Singhiella simplex

Whiteflies start out as nymphs on the leaves of the Ficus tree and wonder until they lock onto a leaf and become immobile until adulthood. Whiteflies eat leaves, can cause wilting, yellowing leaves, stunt growth, cause early defoliation, and eventually kill the tree. Once an adult, the whitefly can travel to other trees and spread rapidly. Usually seem on the underside of leaves. They have 3 cycles per year. Swarm in white clouds of hundreds of flies to spread. Nymphs are transparent in color and difficult to detect early. Once swarming, the tree has been affected for several months. As they reach adulthood, the turn white with some yellow and red eyes.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
All year	Ficus	Swarming white clouds	High
	Weeping Fig	Leave yellowing	Fatal
	Strangler Fig	Wilting
	Fiddler-leaf Fig	Branch dieback
	Banana-leaf Fig
	Banyan
	False Banyan
	Cuban Laurel

Galls:

Abnormal growths caused by insects that carry fungus, bacteria, mite, fly, midge, moth, wasp, or beetle larvae. There are over 2000 different types of gall producing insects, with 1500 being either wasps or gnats. The insects lay eggs in the plant tissue and the larvae feed off of the in-side of the gall growth. Once they reach the adult stage, they exit the gall through a small hole, leaving behind the growth and a hole that damages the plant. Galls are most commonly found in the stems or leaves of their host plants, but are not limited to trunks, flowers, fruit, or roots.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring – hatching	Oaks	Abnormal growths	moderate
Summer – mating	Daisy	Insects emerging
	Rose

Holly Leafminer:

Phytomyza ilicicola

A fly that lays its eggs in the leaf of the Holly tree and feeds on the leaves. Larvae feed between the upper and lower leaf surfaces leaving a tunnel in the leaves and damaging them. Females poke holes in the leaves, causing fluid to drip form the leaf. Leaves become distorted and disfigured by the holes and tunnels, and eventually stunt growth. Early defoliation can occur if tree is severely infested.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Early Spring	Most type of Holly	Holes in leaves	Moderate
	American Holly	Tunnels/mines in leaves
	English Holly	Disfigured leaves
	Dune Holly	Early defoliation
	Yaupon Holly
	Deciduous Holly
	Winterberry
	Japanese Winterberry

Honeylocust Plant Bug:

Diaphnocoris chlorionis

A light green to yellowish flying pest that feeds off of the new buds and leaves of the honey lo-cust plant. The pest injects a toxic saliva in to the leaves when they bite into the leave with their piercing-sucking mouthpart. This toxic saliva kills the surrounding leaf parts causing that area to turn yellow and die. Feeding can cause leaf rolling, disfigurement to the leaf, stunt growth, and/or Chlorosis. Infestation can weaken the tree and lead to a secondary pest infes-tation.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Honey locusts	Discolored leaves	Low
Fall	Black locusts	Leaf rolling
		Thinning canopy
		Stunted growth

Honeylocust Spider Mite:

Platytetranychus multidigituli

A mite that causes a bronzing of the Honey locust tree during the warm summer months. Trees that are stressed are most susceptible to this mite. Once mites hatch, they spread rapidly and feed on new growths, stunting the trees growth. Yellowing and whitish patches appear on the leaves of the tree and can turn brown and fall with heavy infestations. Mites are difficult to see with the naked eye, but can be found gathering on the underside of leaves.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Honey locust	Tree bronzing	Moderate
Summer	Black locust	Yellow leaves
		Early defoliation

Laurel Wilt:

Raffaelea lauricola

A fungus disease of the Red Bay, Avocado, and other trees that stops the water flow within the host tree and causes the leaves to wilt and die. The disease is spread through the ambrosia beetle and can easily kill the host tree. Laurel wilt is spreading rapidly throughout Florida. Small white tubes extent from the bark of infected trees and bark will begin to fall off host trees.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
All year	Red Bay	White tubes ex-tending from bark	Severe
	Avocado	Bark that falls off	Fatal
	Camphor	Bark that falls off
	Pondspice	Wiling tree
	Pondberry	Beetle presence
	Sassafras

Lecanium Scale:

Soft-shelled scaled egg sacks that are semi-circle shaped. These insects hatch from the sacks and feed on the foliage of the host tree. Honeydew is produced as a by-product of these pests and will make the branches and leaves sticky. A black mold will grow over the honeydew and leaves will fall early. Ants, bees, and wasps are attracted to the honeydew and are a sign that the tree is infested.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring (hatching)	Most trees, especially:	Brown nodules on branch of tree	Moderate
Fall	Oaks	Honeydew/sticky resi-due
	Maples	Black mold
	Birch	Early defoliation
	Linden	Stunted growth
	Elm	Ants, bees, or wasps
	Hickory

Magnolia Scale:

Neolecanium cornuparvum

An insect that removed fluids from its host tree by piercing holes in the plant. Females lay egg sacks on branches as white dome-shaped scales. Insect releases honeydew onto branches and leaves, which is sticky. Honeydew gets covered by a black mold on leaves and branches of host plant. Infestation leads to branch dieback, early defoliation of leaves, and eventually death to the plant.

Time of Year	Affected Trees	Symptoms	Risk
Spring	Star Magnolia	Honeydew on branches and leaves	Severe
Summer	Saucer Magnolia	Black mold	Fatal
Fall	Lily Magnolia	White dome-shaped scales
	Cucumbertree Magno-lia	Gnats
	Virginia Creeper	Ants, bees, wasps on plant
	Tulip Tree	Dead branches
	Daphne Spp.

Hope you like our guide. If you ever need best tree service call panorama tree care services. 

If you’re experiencing any of these common tree problems or need professional assistance, feel free to contact us. Our team of experts is ready to provide comprehensive tree care solutions.