Thread: Scale
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Old 02-03-2003, 11:52 PM
Elpaninaro
 
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Default Scale

Is there a way to effectively & completely remove scale infestation from my
plants? I have lost about 80% of my orchids due to this pest. I also have 2
coffea trees that are just covered with them. I have tried multiple
applications of systemic on the trees, & spraying oils on the orchids, but
it only seems to slow them down for a while.

I'm getting to the point of just getting rid of all plants and starting
over.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sam


The link provided by another poster will be very helpful I think.

The only possible thing striking me from your question is the use of chemicals
on scale. If you use the same chemicals repeatedly, then scale can develop a
resistance over time.

So I would suggest switching around to a variety of things from time to time.
It is also good to try some homemade remedies interspersed with chemicals. I
use rubbing alcohol on a lot of my plants including pony tail palms to get rid
of scale and that works well as part of an eradication program.

Your use of the various oils is also a good idea- another nonchemical rememdy
to add to the mix.

In the big picture, if you have already lost 80% of your plants, it might be
wise to consider the total loss option. If it comes to that, I would suggest
removing any and all plants from the growing area- including a clean sweep to
remove any dead leaves or any other plant material.

Then clean the whole place out with a strong mix of bleach in water and let it
sit for a bit. Scrub down benches as well- top and bottom. Leave no surface
unscoured.

Then in a couple of weeks try a few new plants to see what happens.

One last suggestion I have is to be careful about mixing other plants with your
orchids. I keep my pony tail palms totally isolated from the orchids since they
are very prone to scale and it is very hard to remove from those plants. Having
a pony tail palm in the orchid area would be disastrous for me.

Hope this helps and best of luck to you going forward. 8 years ago I had to get
rid of all my plants for a failure to quickly and adequately address a mealy
bug issue, so I know the pain.

But the good news is that after cleaning the place out like I did and using
bleach to clean every surface- mealybugs have never been an issue since. I have
seen maybe 3 of them in the past 8 years, and all it took was a couple of runs
of Safer Insecticidal Soap to prevent an outbreak.

There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Tom.