Hi I live in s.w. Florida. Today I found these on the bottom of the leaf's of one of my Desert Roses. Anybody know what they are or how to get rid of them? All help is greatly appreciated.
While that is an excellent article on scale control from the U of C, it does miss the very best treatment for hard scale on houseplants. It's just a very sharp spray of water. If done right it is more effective and faster than every method listed there, even if you put them all together. That is not at all an exaggeration. Use one of those common 7-way hose end sprayers you see at every home center and use the "flat" setting at max power and blast them off, tilting the plant so you don't just send them back into the soil. Get them from under every leaf and all along the trunk. Also spray all across the soil surface, on the pot and even under the pot. Make sure the pot has a tray to help separate it from nearby plants, and rinse/scrub that too. Wear your strongest glasses or use a magnifying glass to make sure you get them all. Keep doing that at every watering for awhile. After the second or third time, you won't ever see one again if you keep that style of watering up for at least a few months, then maybe once every three months for the rest of the year to make sure you break the life cycle from every stage. Keep this plant as far away from other healthy plants for as long as possible, but don't scrimp on sunlight for those Adeniums. In the future remember your plants, even many succulents, need their leaves and trunk rinsed occasionally. :)
