Greetings. I am still relatively new (less than a year) but very happy to have begun my bonsai journey. As a newbie I get nervous at the slightest change in the tree. Recently I noticed brown spots on the stems (see attached pic). Not sure what this is and how concerned I should be. Any help/direction will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
MIKE

Brown spots? do you mean, those things at the base of leaves, on the new growth. That belongs there, or was there something, that didn't show up?

Oh welcome, and your tree looks healthy, to me any way.

Hi,

Welcome to the forum, and well spotted. The brown spots on the trunk are scale, which is a type of aphid, and if the infection gets big enough, these cirtters can kill a tree. Spray with an insecticide specifically against scale (Typically, you need a systemic insecticide, because the outer shell is not easily penetrated by insecticides).
Alternatively, you could go the soap + alcohol route.

Samantha wrote: Brown spots? do you mean, those things at the base of leaves, on the new growth. That belongs there,

Not quite..

No. You've circled my areas of concern. Hadn't noticed them before. Only near the top of the tree. What are they?
Thanks for the prompt reply. Happy not to worry any longer.
Mike

Corkins246 wrote: No. You've circled my areas of concern. Hadn't noticed them before. Only near the top of the tree. What are they?
Thanks for the prompt reply. Happy not to worry any longer.
Mike

Read the other posts...

Please forgive me, sometimes I always say the wrong thing, but I typed in 'aphids on ficus', saw none of those brown spots, just the white spots all over the leaves. Guess, it can extend further. If those things showed up here, what should I do about it?