Q.Spots on flowers
My birds of paradise are blooming like crazy but the flowers have brown spots on them and a brown sticky looking stuff looks like it is oozing out of the flower near where the stem is. The green leaves are not affected, just the flowers, with brown dots all over, especially the orange colored part. Thanks so much.
Sticky stuff can be a tip off to scale insects, which secrete sticky honeydew. If you can scrape the brown spots off with your fingernail, that would be scale (or possibly even aphids.) Here are some suggestions for dealing with that: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/what-is-honeydew.htm
If you can't scrape off the spots, the most common disease that affects flowers in a fungal organism called botrytis blight. There is no cure. You should remove and destroy the flowers to prevent the fungus from spreading.
You can also take some samples of blooms to the county extension service for analysis.
This link will help you find the nearest office:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/what-is-extension-service.htm
