i searched the forum, but not finding any definite hit. one of my cutting has lot of bumpy things on it. they all look like part of the cutting and not something stuck on it like insect. it's not drying out. but how do you know if it's scale insect or just one of those normal bump on the cutting? there are more dumps on it then i'm used to.

i did read few thread on what it looks like after the infection has gotten so bad that a branch had to be cut off, but how do i identify it before it gets that far?

pete

You can use a magnify glass and get a up close look , you will know if you see scale bugs.

Scale will easily scratch off with your fingers. If you do have them then the thing to really worry about is the crawlers, which are the babies that are really too small to see but spread themselves out to cover a large area, then grow up all of a sudden.

i'll isolate it from rest of the trees and see what happens... now.. where did i put my kids magnifying glass..

pete

try a google search for images of scale insect
you will get a good idea what it looks like

I've never had much of a scale problem on figs, but I've only been growing them for a couple years.  Have others had much of an issue?  I know I had a heck of a time with them on my citrus trees.

Scale is a common problem for me and my orchids.  I get rid of them by spraying a mixture of:

1tbs Neem oil, 1tbs of kitchen dish detergent in a quart of water. 

spray in the morning and again 2 days later and again 3 days later.  You want to kill the bugs and also get the eggs as they hatch.

You DO NOT have scale if you can't crush the bump with your fingure nail.  They are soft and will crush easily.

Dennis

Dormant oil and sulfur also help with Euonymous scale in Ontario, but of course it is usually only applied once a year in the spring while still dormant..

Very, very clear pictures of scale. 

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Bark-falling-off-scale-hole-5095423?highlight=scale+hollier

Note that scale goes after sick or susceptible plants in many cases.  The presence of scale could be a sign that your tree is not in good shape.

Bullet here is scale from one of my young plants that was growing indoors. I took them off and put on paper for the picture back then.

From 2008.
Click to enlarge thumbnail

now i thnk what scale looks like and it's not what's on my cutting. i scrapped them with my knife last night and they were all part of the tree.

thanks everyone,

pete

This is what they look like on my lemon tree

It died, and I no longer have a Hollier tree.  I cut off the two small pieces that looked like they may be root-able, but had no luck with them.  My source was same as Gene's, and Gene had a lot of issues with his tree also, as I recall.

I treated my with alcohol, oil and soap mix as instructed here from an friend. The scale disappeared and the tree lived on but struggled. I planted in the ground in the fall of 2010. In the spring of 2011 it grew slowly for the first few months and with the heat of summer a sprout started from below the infected area and it grew like mad. The sprout is now about 7 foot tall while the remainder of the tree is only about 3 foot tall. The sprout has some beautiful looking figs but the main part of the tree has smaller looking figs. After this season I will top the sprout and prune off the original parts of the tree.

Jason, I'm sorry to hear that you lost yours. Maybe I can help you with a replacement.

"gene"

none of the bumps look like any of the bottom feeder shell.. and they won't crunch when i smush them. so.. i still let the cutting isolated from the rest of them, but not worried at this point.

i took a look at my fruit bearing tree and they all have this so.. i guess it's one of those normal things.

pete

Pictures Pete !

Some pix pf a bad infestation:

I thought these trees were pest free! Those are the nastiest looking scales I have ever seen, they look like little scallop shells.

Yikes!  That looks like scale with a small fig tree infestation.

[RE: Jon's scale bad infestation pic]

Not to mention my remaining hair wanting to stand straight end-up;

I just got goose bumps (together with some imagined itching)!

Picture... yes. I'll post some later. Was occupied with piping competition, and putting cuttings into 1 gal pots.

Pete

here is the picture. hard to see..



pete

Yeah. Hard to see.

My 2 cents, it doesn't look normal to me.  Could you just spray for scale in case?  Protection?  Better than hiring a body guard!
Suzi

lenticels