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[fuzzdecay]

I picked up a "mallsai" ficus from the home depot two days ago, because it was hidden away on a table with all the cacti near the ant/roach spray. when you touched it, leaves would fall off. i felt bad for it and it was only $10, so i took him home to try to nurse him back to health

Comments

[blashamma]

the oily spots on the leaves may be the water they use. The water may have impurities or fertilizer that once the water evaporates. the impurities or fertilizer is left behind. There are two ways to figure this out. One, you already cleaned off the leaves. If the spots some back, it's either a disease or your watering habits. The easiest way is to go back to the home depot and look at thier other plants. Do the other plants have the same spots? yes? then it's likely to be the watering habits because most diseases will not affect EVERY type of plant.
Also, the poor condition may simply be due to the treatment the plany got while from the store. My aunt got hired by the Home Depot and was stuck in the plant department eventhough she doesn't know a thing about plants, and she was given very little training.
This is what I would do. I'd make some insecticidal soap (a crop or two of dish detergent into a spray bottle of water) and spray it down. it shouldn't hurt the plant if there aren't any insect problems. Then I'd do what you already did. Take care of it for a few weeks as if nothing was wrong and then reassess the situation.