Are your plant friends crusted over and sucked dry by those odd creatures, scales? Some of my plants, particularly my house plants, have lived with me for years. They’re as old as my kids, but they didn’t move out. They did just die last year. I shopped for a solution AGAIN. Nothing I’ve bought worked in the past. And we were approaching a place were the scales were going to die for lack of food.
Last spring, out of creative desperation, I painted all affected leaves with molasses. This killed the scales but dripped and puddled the stuff all over me and my cats, but slowly the bugs died back quite a bit.
In the fall when the scales crept back, John suggested window cleaner. IT WORKS!!! It kills scales instantly, the plants don’t mind it, the dust collecting molasses residue is easier to clean away, and the Dollar Store window cleaner kills the ants that swarm over the scales like a farmer tending a giant dairy herd.  nancymauerman.com