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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > newbie scale - hopeless or try to save......
 
 


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dolo918

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
I had a young plant that was leafing out really well - no fruit this year which I attributed it to being young.  I believe it to be around a year and a half.  Recently got a bad scale infestation.  I used insecticide soap - not too effective at that point, malathion once - really wanted to stay away from the chemicals, neem oil - hard to tell if they were dead or alive and finally alcohol wipe down which got them off.  I cut off the branches that seemed the most diseased.   Not sure if it is too late and better to dump plant and soil and start over in spring.  I am in Central Florida.  Below are before and after pictures.


before.jpg 


after.jpg 
Aaron4USA

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Take the poor thing outside and plant it in the ground. You'll be fine.
Grasa

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
it is small, I would put a grocery bag on the soil to hold it in place and submerge  the top in dishsoap water for a few minutes. that should kill the creatures... then give it a good rinsing.  This year I noticed a few of these weird looking creatures on my large tree. I pressed them hard with a soapy sponge.  no effect on the branch, only with the creatures. I have not seen them  after that one time.  Taking it outside will help.
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Grasa
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dkirtexas

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Scale is actually an insect, planting it in the ground will not help.  Check your email.
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jdsfrance

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Hi Dolo98,
Change your pot .
That pot will not allow the roots to breath.
Regardless of scales, that tree should have sent shoots, and I don't see them.
So something is displeasing your tree.
I would keep the tree. Scales can be removed by hand and crushed on a stone - for such a small tree, that shouldn't be hard .
Once you removed the most, apply alcohol , go again to it  the next week.
To ease the task, once the tree is dormant, you could cut ALL the trunks at soil level and just keep the roots.
Scales live and feed on wood and normally not on the roots .

If you don't want to..., throw everything pot+dirt+tree in the trash and try again next year with a new tree.
But first, look around if scales is present on the outside trees. If your neighborhood is infested with scales, sooner or later they'll be back.
I once lived in a flat where outside trees would at some point in the year become brilliant mushy sticky and ugly ... Scales were there ... I had a seedling lemon tree ... Bad combination, I lost the lemon tree.
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dolo918

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Any suggestions for leaves that have not fallen off but have those black spots, black in the veins...

You wound not know it by looking at it now, but it did send out shoots.  The tree was so full i picked them because I had so many branches coming up off the main.
jdsfrance

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Hi,
Now cut the leaves and burn them or trash them away - do not compost.
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Rob

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Personally I think scale is the least of your concerns.  Here's my $.02

1. Looks like that thing is growing inside.  Why?  It will not be happy there.  Even if the window is fairly sunny, that's not enough light to get any amount of fruit.
2. Like someone else said, if you are in Central FL, there is no reason not to plant it in ground.  It should thrive there.
3. The growth habit of that plant looks like one I used to have.  Notice I say used to have.  Got rid of it.  It is throwing off so many branches it will never develop into proper structure to fruit.  Mine looked like that and none of the branches ever got any larger than a pencil. Maybe if you continually removed all but one you would have a chance.  Or maybe plant it deep in the ground so that it is forced to grow roots on the suckers, then you might get a bushy thing you could prune into something more desirable.  Some folks have said it happens sometimes when plants are grown from tissue culture.  I don't know why, but I think it is going to make it a challenge to get anything out of it.
4. Scale is just an insect that you can squish.  Skip all the insecticides and just keep rubbing them off/squishing them until they are gone.  Often times there are ants that feed off a substance which these scale insects secrete.  That can make the problem worse because the ants will keep some of the eggs underground and it is much harder to get rid of them.  But if it's growing inside, you probably don't have ants.
5. Yes, it needs a bigger pot, but better in ground.  See #2 above.
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americanfiglover

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Putting the tree outside could help actually. Scales will be attacked by natural predators. They should also dry out. It seems many people get the infection once trees are moved inside or put in a greenhouse.
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dolo918

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Thank you all for the suggestions and help.  I will mull it over the next month if I will start with something new in the spring.  It is outside but in my screen enclosure.  Thought that would make managing pests easier.  No visible scale at this time.  It does have a strange branch growth pattern - many small branches at ground level.  I have cut off many of them.
pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Scale is controlled/killed by suffocating them. There hard outer shell makes them impervious to most chemical treatments. You would need to spray with some sort of horticultural oil that will suffocate them.
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