I posted earlier about my little lemon tree...I think after reading other forums that there is indeed a bug called scale eating on my plant! I saw something that looked like a gnat but just assumed it was just that. HOW DO I KILL IT?! Is there something I can get locally like at miejer or Wal-mart? I live in Michigan. I have little bachelor button sprouts near my lemon tree....will scale eat that too? What about my aloe vera, amarylis, and others? I have only one citrus. Thanks for any Help!! Hannah
Scale certainly does not look like gnats. Scale looks like very small scabs that are PERMANATELY attached to the bark or leaves (especially along the underside of the leaf near the mid rib). Scale is also commonly found attached near any protective indentation and crevice on a branch, and on the trunk of the tree. Myself I would NEVER EVER purchase anything from a wal mart. I think you first need to correctly identify what the tree's problem is BEFORE you take any action to properly correct the situation, then go to a good garden center. Hope it all works out for this tree. - Millet
Thanks millet, From reading other forums I knew that the actual scale on the plant was a kind of scab looking thing...but from reading about what the male scab looks like is what made me suspect scale infestation. This description came from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG005 Some adult female armored scale shapes are shown in Figure 4 . Male covers are generally more elongate and smaller than that of females ( Figure 5 ). After molting, adult males are tiny, winged, gnat-like insects and are rarely seen. Armored scales do not secrete honeydew.
As your tree is in MI, and if your tree indeed has scale the chances are very high that the scale is soft brown scale. Anyway, for the control of any type of scale purchase some horticultural oil (either Ultra Fine or Volk oils). Make a 1 percent spray solution (1 percent oil and 99 percent water) and spray the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves plus the branches and trunk. Spray early in the evening, NEVER spray during the heat of the day. You can also use a soap spray such as Safer Soap spray, but with soap sprays you will probably have to make repeated sprays. Both methods are completely safe and non toxic. - Millet
paladin16. if you only have a few tree's go with the Safer Soap do it a few times to rid the problem can't go wrong with it. Horticultural oils may be good on a large scale application by reducing the cost if not mix properly they can also kill the tree I live in Ohio, I would like to know your growing capacity and types.
Thank you isaac and millet, Well, I took another look at my plant...there were indeed male scale flying around it...which I squished as many as I could. I looked under the leaves and scraped off any thing that looked like a scab. I noticed that there was tiny tiny little white things (almost like white dust) under the leaves...mostly attracted to the middle vien. Could this be the female scale? I'm planning on making a mixture of corn oil, water, and dish soap to put on it just in case it is. I will apply it every week. Will that also kill any crawlers in the soil or do I put malathion in the soil...or is malathion just for leaves? Also, should I spray him everyday with just water or will the corn oil mixture once a week be enough to give him humidity? Thanks everyone, Hannah Also, For Isaac, My growing capacity? Well, I have a plant by every south facing window. One window is in my room...so it only gives light to my Lemon tree and Bachelor button sprouts. In the living room there is two windows next to each other on the table there is a sage plant that I brought inside that is now trying to die on me, an ivy plant that I got at miejer that has never done well, an aloe vera plant that is doing great, and an amaryllis plant-my mom got me the bulb for christmas but it won't bloom this year because the stem and bud were shriveled when I got it, but, the leaves look healthy. In the summer I have my own little garden. I won't be able to tend it in August since I will be going to a four year college next year. But I will be able to take my house plants with me. Maybe my mom will watch after my garden for me. I have no idea if I've answered your question or not...if there's other information you would like please ask Hannah
If you are seeing white bugs on the leaves and buzzing around, that is white fly, which is easily eradicated using insecticidal soap. For any scale that may be present, i find that bonide systemic poison is far more effective than any spray. Bonide is safe for edible plants, as it is non-poisonous to humans.
Scale protect themselves. Safer soap is about useless. As has been stated use a oil such as Ultrafine to smother the scale to start with. If the tree is not of bearing age, use a systemic that is watered in & taken up by the roots. I use Bayer tree & shrub treatment which rids the plant of all insects.
I used Safer soap on scale worked great killed em off. I do not use any systemic treatments in my container trees can be transfered to the fruit Would I buy Safer Soap again yes I would. but I would do a test in using liquid dish soap with a mix of water in a sprayer. Do a test spray on a window one being clean water. the other with a liquid dish soap mix mixed with water. It will do for many insect problems. isaac
Take it from someone who has been growing citrus in the ground & in containers for many years. Safer soap might kill young "crawler" scale, but will not do anything to adult scale. Take Millets advice and use Ultrafine oil. I have over 75 differnt varieties of citrus as well as many palms & cycads & have experienced scale problems many times. isaac (Dale) reading is fundamental... I said if trees are NOT of bearing age... Now tell me how the systemic is transfered to the fruit if the tree is not of fruit bearing age ?
I agree with Laaz 100 percent. Safer Soap might work on aphids with repeated applications, but it would be my last choice to control scale. - Millet
please keep in mind that certain systemics can stay in the root system of a plant for up to seven years, meaning that if you were to use Ortho systemic, or many others that are for non-edibles, even though the tree is not currently of bearing age, you may still ingest the poisons later. Make sure before using ANY systemics that it is non toxic to humans, and meant for edible plants. Once again, Bonide works well on Scale.
squirrelmaniac that is a good point. Bayer tree and shrub is listed for many fruit trees. Bayer Admire Pro is listed specifically for citrus and most citrus nurseries use it & will tag the plant with a warning of it being used and how long to wait before letting it produce. Both products use Imidacloprid. http://www.bayercropscienceus.com/export/sites/bcsus/bcsus_resources/products/product_bulletins/ADMIRE_PRO_Fact_Sheet_Citrus.pdf
This is a brief on Safer Insecticidal Soap. A totally safe and natural product proven to solve insect problems. It will control a variety of insects including aphids, mealy bugs, spider mites, soft brown scale, psyllids, rose or pear slugs (sawfly larvae) and earwigs. Safer's Insecticidal Soap can be used on houseplants, roses, flowers, vegetables, fruits, ornamentals, shrubs, trees or greenhouse plantings. Soap has been used for centuries as an all-purpose pesticide. When sprayed on insects, insecticidal soap breaks down the insect's protective coating and causes it to dehydrate and die. Insecticidal soap is very different than dish water soap. It is specially formulated with fatty acids to kill insects. Dish washing soap on the other hand contains perfumes and dyes and in a concentrated form can be harmful to plants. Safer's Insectidical Soap is natural and safe to use on shade trees, fruit trees, shrubs, houseplants, flowers and ornamentals. When using Safer's Insecticidal Soap spray it directly onto the insects when they are first sighted on buds, shoots, stems, bark and the underside of leaves. It should be applied weekly for 2 to 3 weeks. .
Dale (isaac) use what you please... BTW why do you keep joining forums with different names ? When did you move to Ohio ? Looking at your post above I don't see scale listed...
Soap will kill bees and ladybugs if you spray it on them-- the benefit of soap or oil is that it does not leave a toxic residue that will kill things that come along later. I agree with Lazz and Millet that oil is the better product to use on adult scale-- or you can scrape them off one by one and squash them--just be aware they often hide in cracks and crevices.
This post is getting beat to death, I will add this one further point. In the citrus industry world wide, absolutely no one, (NONE) that I am aware of uses safer soap to control scale, white fly, aphids, nor any other insect problem. The number one spray used is Heretical Oils. Bayer Admire Pro is heavily used by the citrus nursery industry. Horticulture oils today are highly purified, totally NON TOXIC, environmentally safe, environmentally friendly, very thorough in control, insects never build up an immunity to it. and lastly does not hurt the bee population in the groves. Of course Canada and the United States are both still free countries, and any one is free to use whatever they wish, but there is a reason no grower uses soap sprays, and that reason is it takes repeated sprays to get the job accomplished. Soap sprays leave a coating on the leaf surface with each spray and should not be applied if repeated sprays over a short period of time . Issac, (Dale) your free to spray soap on your tree if you wish, actually I would use plain water sprays before I would use soap. - Millet
How about Murphy oil soap??? reading all of this make me wonder if I'm going to die from 8 of my key limes that i used Murphy oil soap...
Ok, everyone, I added a bunch of pine bark to the soil, I made a mixture of corn oil, water, and palm olive soap to kill the bugs, and I bought bottled water to water my plant. Here's what happened.... * I haven't seen any white flies flying around for like five days. *It seemed fine and I moved it closer to the light--it started to try to make new little sprouts. * I was gone one day and the little sprouts fell off. * It kept making little sprout buds *last week it didn't get watered in time and one of the little leaves at the base turned completely yellow and fell off. *However-- One of the new sprouts has shot off --its like three inches long and the leaves are getting bigger * I still seem to be having problems with salt burn though--So I added more pine bark and flushed it with bottled water last night. * I haven't used any fertilizer yet besides the spikes--I haven't had the money to spend on what I want-- But tonight I'm going to meijer to find something--I think I saw one for gardenias that had the 5-1-3 ratio needed.
You can use a year round fruit tree oil which just smothers bugs verses pesticides which are ingested.
Hi Hannah, It sure sounds like a scale problem to me. It can be cured by all the means mentioned by the previous responders but I might be able to save you a few bucks and give you a formula to make your own spray. This is on a per gallon basis. 2 tablespoons of a light cooking oil such as Canola or vegatable. 2 tablespoons of a liquid detergent ( I recommend a "No More Tears" baby shampoo. Reason: no antibacterials or degreasers included). All the big box stores make their own product so you don't have to get "Johnson & Johnson." As an option you can add a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol which acts as an emulsifier between the oil and soap. spe1793
Hi, I'm not sure I'm following your thread properly or not since it was under a scale problem. If you are looking for a fertilizer for the gardinia, you can use the same fertilizer as azaelas & camelias. I'm not following what your mix is trying to do. spe1793
