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rookie

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
I found these "things" on the underside of my vista tree tonight, anyone have any ideas about what they are? When I squished one of them it had a sticky substance inside, kind of looks to me like some kind of egg? I took some pictures hoping someone can tell me what they are and how to get rid of them.

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jpeg vista_1.jpg (220.73 KB, 165 views)
jpeg vista_2.jpg (216.95 KB, 77 views)
jpeg vista_3.jpg (188.08 KB, 40 views)
jpeg vista_4.jpg (786.63 KB, 66 views)


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Scott, Long Island ,NY  
 All my figs have been exposed to  FMV,some have it, some don't. It doesn't seem to bother them so it doesn't bother me.

strudeldog

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
That is a scale insect I beleive
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Nichole

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Icky. Curious to hear what that is.
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daveturpin

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
I would second the scale diagnosis.  Could be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me.  Check out a google image search, cause I heard there are hundreds of different kinds. 
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Dieseler

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Thats scale insect and there so many different types its mind blowing some say in the 1000s.
There kinda prehistoric looking with that outer shell.
Tonycm

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
I also was thinking scale insects too.
Does it move or is it stationary?
If it is moving around then it's not a scale insect.because they become stationary and suck the sap from the plant while they build a waxy shield to protect themselves.
They also make a sticky mess which can cause a mold or mildew on the leaves.
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Bass

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
You can easily control it by using a q tip. And remove manually. If you have a lot you need to spray with horticulture oil.
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strudeldog

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Sorry, I left off the what to do. If you tree's are small enough just locate and squish them. I have never found them on my figs, but a different species I do get on my Japanese Maples.  I think sometimes dormant oil is used, but if a small number just detach and crush. With the coat of waxy substance they can be hard to hit with chemicals
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Phil N.GA. Zone 7 Looking for: De La Reina, Del La Senyora, Martinenca Rimada, Parfum De Cafards, Ponte Tresa,  Sangue Dulce, Emalyn's Purple, and on and on
HarveyC

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
I tried controlling scale on some heliconia with squishing and then with an oil but neither were effective.  I used malathion and the problem was taken care of.  Mine were a dark brown scale and maybe with a harder coat than the ones yours have.
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MichaelTucson

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
I had some that looked similar last summer.  I used Neem Oil (low dilution) and after a couple of weeks I didn't see any more of these.  

Mike 
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HarveyC

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Oil should work as long as you can reach them all.  Not hard on smaller plants with well-spaced branches.

I've been screwing around trying to spray some form of scale on a miracle fruit plant for about a year without adequate results and I'm now determined to use malathion since it worked so well on my heliconia.
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Harvey - Correia Farms
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JoAnn749

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
I have used Bayer tree and shrub something or another.  It comes in a blue plastic bottle for about $25. It is a systemic, so you dilute with water (follow directions) and water plant at the drip line if in the ground.  I had some kind of boring insect in a very large old tree I want to keep.  I kept seeing sawdust on the ground under a hole about 12 inches above ground.  Within 3 weeks or so it was gone!!  I am not sure if it does scale, but I know it does mealy bug and that boring insect. 

I DO NOT KNOW IF IT IS FOR EDIBLES!!!!!!!!!  CHECK THE LABEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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musillid

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
Their waxy cuticle protects them from topical applications. In immature stages it is less protective or absent, and so they are more susceptible to this kind of control.  This means it will take some persistence to control with several applications.
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bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
one of my fig nightmare. along with RKN, and mold/rot.
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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
rookie

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Thanks to all the responses, once I had an idea what to look up. I did find that they are definately scale. They don't move and the pictures that I've found match exactly. I gave the VISTA a bath in alcohol removing the scales that I saw. I'm going to give it my best shot in trying to get rid of these things since I really don't want to get rid of this tree, I got it from JON and hear so much about the vista that I can't wait to taste some figs so I have no problem putting in some time and making her into an alcoholic. This kind of gives me an excuse to have a cigar and a scotch with VISTA since I hate to see a tree drink alone,lol.
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Scott, Long Island ,NY  
 All my figs have been exposed to  FMV,some have it, some don't. It doesn't seem to bother them so it doesn't bother me.
bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
as long as it's a nice cuban cigar and a dram of highland single malt, i'm right there with you.
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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
rookie

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
lol Pete, A monte cristo cuban,,,,,,,,shhhh!!! and of course it's single malt, 18 year old Macallan, no self respecting kilt wearing scotsman would drink anything less,lol.

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jpeg kilt.jpg (705.43 KB, 24 views)


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Scott, Long Island ,NY  
 All my figs have been exposed to  FMV,some have it, some don't. It doesn't seem to bother them so it doesn't bother me.

bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
here is pix of me in my tartan. mcleod of harris. was given right to wear the colour back in 1984 while playing with clan mcleod pipes and drums. still wear it when i'm not playing with band.

Inline image

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jpeg pete_the_piper.jpg (215.58 KB, 276 views)


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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****

BLB

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Pretty sure that Bayer product is NOT for use on food crops. I can't recall the spelling but if it contains something like imidaclore or something liek that it is highly poisonous. It is also one of the insecticides that is believed to be causing the problems with bee colonies, but it is a highly effective inscticide hence the wide spread useage. 

Great pic Pete!! I always wanted to try to play the pipes. I used to play saxaphone and clarinet and have been fascinated by the pipes. In my old days when I belonged to a string band here in Philly we won first prize in the Mummers parade and a bagpipe band was at the performance hall for their own show. They came by to where we were and serenaded us. It was an incredibly powerful and beautful sound. much more impressive live than in a recording   
pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
imidacloprid?
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Maro2Bear

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 

Greetings

After reading all the posts here this morning I went and inspected my newly acquired VISTA and lo and behold, this plant had about 15 or so scale critters on the two leaves and main trunk. I peeled off the ones that were on the trunk and completely removed both leaves since there was a lot of evidence of scale attack. Thanks for all the posts, I might not have inspected and found these nasty critters 'til the plant was worse off.
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hoosierquilt

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
Bayer Advanced Fruit, Citrus & Vegetable Insect Control is, indeed, imidacloprid.  This insecticide, which is pretty low-impact, is used at this concentration with fruiting plants. It is systemic, applied to the soil and taken up by the roots.  It will control scale as well as fungus gnats (one of our other topics, currently).  This product is widely used in the citrus tree industry (Merit), which is actually a higher concentration of imidacloprid than what you see with Bayer Advanced.  I would still manually remove any scale you see with isopropyl alcohol, but I would also tree with Bayer Advanced, to make sure you get rid of any of the earlier stages of the scale.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/insects-pests/products/fruit-citrus-vegetable-insect-control
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Patty S.
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USDA 10a/Sunset 23- "Best Weather in the USA"
hoosierquilt

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
And Pete, you look AWESOME!  I am a Fraser (of Lovat), was very active in Highland Games as a kid, was a Highland dancer, and did try my hand at learning the pipes.  I actually started to get pretty good, but then moved from Maryland back to California.  I need to start lessons, again, I kind of surprised myself, actually.  I play piano and guitar, and can read music, but had never played a wind instrument, and the pipes are the ultimate wind instrument!  What grade piper are you??  I am in awe.  Love the pipes, all of them. 
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rookie

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 

Last night I gave the vista a bath in the alcohol and when I got home today proceeded to peel off each one of the scales, they were all dried up, I guess the alcohol did that. I gave it another douse of alcohol and water with a sprayer and will be on the lookout for anymore of these little prehistoric looking critters.

Pete, I wish I was musically inclined, I did buy a practice chanter to try and learn the pipes but it never work out. You look great in the kilt, I love wearing mine and always get a ton of compliments, it's clan McGregor.
Thanks again to all who responded with this dilemma of mine.
Scott
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Scott, Long Island ,NY  
 All my figs have been exposed to  FMV,some have it, some don't. It doesn't seem to bother them so it doesn't bother me.
lukeott

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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
Wondering if someone sent out cuttings unknowing this critter was on them? How would you know. The reason I ask is, if the person sent out many cuttings to others, maybe give a heads up for others to keep an eye out. Even for there own. Everyone is so busy these days, so might not even check their plants for such. Please don't take the wrong way, not pointing any fingers or nothing like that. Just something to think about. Could be possible to already have on other plants at your location.

Nice pictures fellows, thanks for showing.


luke
pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
The scale do not take well to cold, so only survive winters where the plants are above freezing. Additionally, when the plant is dormant, and there is no sap flow, there is little for them to feed on, so they tend to die off. They are tended and farmed by ants, who consume their by-products. Controlling ants, goes a long way to controlling scale, as well as aphids, mealy bugs and a host of other critters.

On a mature tree, they can usually be hosed off with some high pressure water, and an organic solution to the problem. They are particularly fond of citrus, as well, in part because they are evergreen and provide a source of food all year long.
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needaclone

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
They do look like scale.  This came up in another tread recently:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/spray-6118813
    FYI, I received two trees in December that ended up being pretty heavily infested with scale.  I ended up using a combination of horitcultural oil mixed with malathion to combat both the stationary scales and any mobile "crawlies" that may have been around.  The malathion and horticultural oil (ingredients: ~99%mineral oil and ~1% surfactants) were both from HD.  Both were intended to be diluted down to various concentrations depending on the problem being addressed.
  I was not able to use high pressure water, but I started out with the other "organic" solution of picking them off by hand.  I brought the trees outside, squirted them down with the oil/malathion mixture using a spray bottle, and let them sit out for a few hours to dry.  (Temps were in the mid 40's).
  It seems to have made a big difference.  The trees had been covered here and there with sticky sap, which is mostly not the case anymore.  (This may be in part due to the treatment, or it may be in part due to the tree going into dormancy, as Jon alluded to.)  There were initially some fresh drops (e.g. due to fresh puncture wounds), but they've mostly closed/dried up.  I've come across some scales that seem to be dried and flake off easily, but there are a few that still seem "fresh" -- so I think I have to treat the trees again on some warm day this January.  (It is my understanding that this is not unexpected -- it's hard to get them all the first time.)
    But, long story short, the treatment seems to have helped.

Jim
P.S.  The woman I got the trees from grew some fig trees in pots on her patio and brought them into her sunroom for the winter.  She did the same with some lemon and orange trees.  I suspect that one of the trees had some scale and they basically spread around to all the trees.
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bullet08

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Posted Reply with quote  #28 

last time i competed.. that was more than 10 years ago.. i was grade 4. i'm inconsistent. on good days, i can pass as grade 2. but one bad days, i can't even finish a tune without choking. i'm a better competition piper than a solo piper. with little bit of pressure and having to carry my own weight, i do better. and with good drum section, i can just ride out the whole set without any issue. have competed with grade 3 band.. have been around with quartet with open pipers.. with kids, it's really hard to keep that up. piping take daily practice.. and the beast requires regimented feed schedule.
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Pete
Durham, NC
Zone 7b

"don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill
"the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher

***** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. *****
***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
hoosierquilt

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Posted Reply with quote  #29 
Well, I am a great admirer of anyone that can play the pipes.  They are extremely challenging, but oh how I love the sound.  Reminds me of when I was a little girl.  Just love them! 
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Patty S.
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Nichole

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Posted Reply with quote  #30 
I found some of these on some cuttings I received. Gave me the hebejebes. I manually removed and gave them an alcohol bath. Hopefully that won't kill the cuttings.
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twobrothersgarden

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Posted Reply with quote  #31 
This makes my skin crawl just looking at them.
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noss

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Posted Reply with quote  #32 
They look like tiny barnacles and act like them, as well.

One of my trees had a few a couple of years ago and I still see them now and then, but only a couple here and there.

I sprayed Nature's Miracle on the first scale I saw because I thought it was a fungus.  I thought I was spraying Nolvasan onto the fungus, but Mike had put Nature's Miracle into the Nolvasan bottle.  I smelled the alcohol and thought I'd harmed the tree, but that won't hurt the tree and it starts to kill the scale.  I then sprayed Safer Brand Insect Killing Soap on the tree.  Before long, the scale was dead.  I removed the affected leaves and new ones grew in their place.

The soap has oil in it, so I kept my tree under the carport where there was shade, as this was in hot weather.  The scale had been so bad it deformed the tiny tree, but as soon as it was killed, the tree started growing nice, healthy wood and leaves.

I don't think I'd spray Malathion on fig trees before checking to make sure it's all right.  Did you?  Is that stuff systemic?  I know people use it on citrus trees after the buds are done, but fig trees are semi-succulents and a lot of products that can be used on other fruit trees shouldn't be used on fig trees.

noss
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mgginva

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Posted Reply with quote  #33 
Scott,
As a general rule I send all my questionable bugs to the insect ID lab at Va Tech. I'm sure you guys up there have a land grant university. If you find --- ah I looked it up -- Cornell is the Uni that has an insect ID lab and extension folks. If you get stuck on a bug and don't get the needed help here just go on Cornell's website and look up how to submit bugs or pictures of bugs. As I still haven't figured out how to add a link I'm not including one but I found the right page in 3 clicks. start with entomology.cornell.edu then insect ID lab -- you'll get there.
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Maro2Bear

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Posted Reply with quote  #34 
Greetings all,

since i live just a few miles away from the US Dept of Agriculture's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, I thought I would include this link for their insect identification service. They have some very helpful and knowledgeable folks that are more than happy to assist.

try this link. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9353

Here's the Introduction/Overview:

The Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) routinely provides specimen identification assistance as a free service to both governmental and private entities, including federal research and regulatory agencies, state departments of health and agriculure, university researchers, and private citizens. This service is coordinated by SEL's Communications & Taxonomic Services Unit (CTSU) and relies on the expertise of SEL scientists and collaborating specialists. CTSU maintains a relational database allowing for the efficient management of identification assignments. Upon completion, CTSU is responsible for reporting identifications to the submitter and returning specimens when requested.
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