hi i have seen this fluffy stuff all over the trunk and branches of my magnolia susan bush i have no idea what it is or if its something i need to remove could any one help please
Mix 40 parts water with 8 parts of rubbing alcohol and one part dish soap.......spray and soak the entire tree. Wait 15 to 20 minutes and wash off with a garden hose (with some water pressure)....you will see alot of the scales come off and the remaining ones on the tree will be dead...... The alcohol in this mixture dissolves the scale's waxy coating, allowing the soap to kill the critter under the shell..... This works very well, getting rid of magnolia scale..... Spray on a cloudy day......You may have to repeat this in a couple of days if you missed any.
Thanks Ian66, I have seen this solution pop up in a few places now. One question - how best to spray that solution on a large tree! I have a Gilmour Dial-A-Mix hose-end sprayer, but the maximum setting is 60ml per litre of water, and if I have done my math right, your solution requires 225ml per litre of water. Any suggestions?
Ok, so far I have applied 500mL of horticultural oil at 100:1 through the hose-end sprayer, and followed up a day later with 2 L of the home-mix for spot treatments. How long do I wait before I can make an assessment of how successful and effective its been? If I have to give it another go in a few weeks, what do you suggest will allow me to apply the large volume required for the home-mix?? (approx 50L, based on how fast the horticultural oil went on.....)
