Scale attack

[dejpep]

I recently noticed that the palm in my home is been attacked by scale, and also there is some thing that I can not recognise. It looks like small white dashes on the back of the leaves. The palm is not the only plant that is being attacked. I checked all my other plants and I found scale on the ficus and it was full with them.
Can somebody give me advise what should I do. So far I did not notice any scale on my orchids, by I said so far. So what should I do. Do you think is a good idea to take the palm tree and the ficus outside, so I can protect my orchids. I live in New Jersey(08234), and the temperature start to get warmer, but still the night temperatures are below freezing(28-32), and the day temperatures are 45-50. I think that the palm will be alright for a short period of time, but the ficus will freeze immediately. Do you think that the cold weather will kill the scale too?
I attached some photos so you can see the insects.

[Rocinante]

Unfortunately, cold weather will not kill the scale. You need to try spraying with an insecticidal soap. Or depending upon the degree of infestation, maybe even a systemic insecticide, which is always a drastic measure on any plant. So try the insecticidal soap first. You can get it in Lowe's or Home Depot. And keep your orchids on the other side of the room. They should be alright there. Good luck...

[msh1]

hi there
on the scale bugs insects each one with a cotton bud soaked in methalated spirits they will die and fall of in a couple of hours the white fluff could be wooly aphid try to take the fluff apart see if there is a bug in there then spray with weak washing up liquid solution
hope this helps

[msh1]

that should have read DAB each one with meths
oops

[tizzycat]

I have used the Methylated spirits/cotton bud method on an orchid with success.

If the infestation is significant this could be a long process. A friend used Provado Bug Killer with success. I would think you can get this in your part of the world, it comes either as a ready mixed spray or as a concentrate to dilute.

Good luck.

[11Orchid126]

You might try spraying with a mixture of equal parts of alcohol, Formula 409, and water, perhaps one cup each.

[dejpep]

Thanks guys. I solve the problem. I used “Bayer Advanced - Soil & turf” and it worked pretty well. Cynthia had very good explanation in the thread “Scale kicking my butt” and I took her advice. Thanks for the help.

[jerrymeola]

Scale on a palm is a terror in Florida. Millions of sago palms have gone to the burn pile. There is a new scale called Asian scale that has infested this year. Unfortunately all the techniques recommended here will not eliminate the scale since it lives in the trunk and roots of the plant. You did not mention the type of palm.

You have killed the scale on the leaves and if you have common scale you are OK, but if it is Asian scale it will return in a couple of weeks as new scale hatches out of the pot.

The Florida Dept of Agriculture does not have a recommendation for destroying the scale, hence the burn pile.

We have found the scale can be eliminated with worm tea. The ceitanese in the worm tea dissolves the skeleton of the scale. Treatment is a concentrated solution (20-1 for OurVitalEarth brand) sprayed three times over the course of a week and then repeated if the scale is not dead. (scrape one off with a fingernail and when crushed will be drown rather than green if dead. Then it is necessary to soak the trunk and the ground (pot) as well to kill what is in the soil.

Hopefully, you have the more common type. BTW worm tea will kill common scale in one spraying. Regular spraying is a great preventative.

[pitik101]

BTW, how would I know if the scales are gone? Do they fall off the leaves? any signs to look for, other than they are not there.

I asked this since the last I went home (Phils) for vacation, I saw some scales on my plants. I sprayed a generous amount of malathione to all my plants to make sure no cross contamination. Now that I am back to work site, I dont know how to describe to my wife what to check to see if they are gone.

Also, that methylated spirits...by that you mean vodka types of alcohol? If like that LOL...my plants will be drinking some of it even though i dont.

[Andrew]

pitik101,
The scale shell will stay on the leaf after treatment regardless of weather the insect underneath is dead or not. You need to look for new scale to assess whether you've solved the problem. If in doubt, remove the shells by wiping them off BEFORE spraying so you can easily see if new ones appear.

Dejpep,
If you have scale it's worthwhile checking to see if you have an ant problem in the area. Ants will farm scale and herd juveniles so, if there is an ant problem, use an ant bait as well to prevent the scale moving back in.

[sandra]

Uh oh. I noticed a big patch of white in the leaf crevice on one of my orchids that I have hanging on a palm tree. I'm not sure if it's aphids, mites, scale but I used Bayer Advanced and so far, seems to have eliminated any more from coming back.

Since scale is so insidious and if this is what my plant has, do I run a risk of infecting the palm tree it's on, not to mention the other orchids?

[NancyG]

I also use the Bayer 3 in One systemic to eliminate scale which is rampant in my yard. The scale on some of the larger trees can't be controlled but I can keep them off my orchids and gardenias. I do sparay my orchids on a regular basis with worm tea.

NancyG

[MARYANNA]

Nancy post that she used worm tea spray for scale. May I ask what is worm tea thanks Maryanna

[articuno75]

Hi Maryanna!

Worm tea is the run off from worm castings, or poo.

There are a bunch of threads here on the forum about wormtea and what it has done for the orchids. Just do a search on it and you'll see a mess of them pop up.