I am very novice when it comes to plants and flowers. I decided to try my hand this year with a few potted flowers. I water them regularly and they get plenty of sun. All of them are in pots with proper drainage, but they all have tiny white spots on the stems and leaves and seem to be struggling. All of the flowers seem to be dying very quickly and in some spots the stems are dying as well. The white spots look like they are tiny pieces of cotton and not actually the leaves that are spotting. Any advice?

When you brush the plants with your hands, or shake them, do you get a cloud of white bugs flying everywhere?

robynanne said:When you brush the plants with your hands, or shake them, do you get a cloud of white bugs flying everywhere?

Possibly they are whiteflies? I've had a big problem with them recently. Safer Soap works, or just hosing off the plants daily will work if it is the whiteflies.

They look like they could be shed aphid skins, compare with this picture:

https://www.google.ca/search?q...

That does look like shed aphid skins to me, too. Look under the leaves and in the areas where the leaves meet the stem for the tiny green vermin.