Hello Bonsai Empire forum,

I have found this gray looking mold stuff at the base of the ficus golden gate. There is also some white looking stuff that looks like the stuff mealy bugs produce. This ficus used to have mealy bugs, but I believe we're consumed by centipedes in my soil, I repotted the plant and removed all of the soil, sprayed the roots and everything. It is also an indoor plant so how mealy bugs came back if they did mind boggles me. Any help in identifying what this is would be helpful, thank you.
Michael

Looks like some mold, as you've said yourself. You might want to clean it from soil and then wash the mold away with water and a soft brush (a toothbrush for example).

Good luck removing it!

Looks like some mold, as you've said yourself. You might want to clean it from soil and then wash the mold away with water and a soft brush (a toothbrush for example).

Good luck removing it!

I could of course be mealy bugs; The eggs may take a few weeks to hatch an you could have a new infestation. I doubt it however.

The idea that it would be mould.. I doubt it. Mould on a tree is actually a lot rarer than some would make you believe.

What do you use for watering? If the water is calcium rich and you have poor soil that do not drain, and the trewe does not get rain you can get these white lines: Water evaaporates and leaves calciumcabonate deposites. Nothing to worry about at this stage, but you do need to make sure it does not accumulate too much; Your soil acidity slowly drops and many plants will evetually start having trouble with nutrient uptake.