Gary Flynn writes:
Should I look forward to having to scrape it off once a week
for the rest of the winter or will multiple applications of
horticultural oil eventually take care of it.

If a plant keeps getting scale that's probably an indication that the
plant is weak or not in good condition.

And speaking of horticultural oil, I used it after really getting
disgusted at the "syrup" the bugs were producing on my plants and
increasing population of scale. I read where one state OKed its use
for edible herbs but I have yet to actually attempt to eat anything
I've sprayed. One source says it evaporates but that seems
counter-intuitive...for an oil to evaporate. Should this stuff
actually be used on culinary herbs? If not, what can get rid of
the scale?

The oil evaporates after a few days, or so. (Most of the oil spilled
from a shipwreck evaporates off the ocean surface, hopefully before it
gets washed to shore or to bird populations. This evaporation leaves just
the heavy molecular fraction to sink to the sea floor. Things might be a
bit different in Arctic waters, but you get the idea.)

You *can* make your own white oil using edible vegetable oil from your
kitchen cupboard. If you do a google groups search of "white oil" and
"John Savage" you will turn up previous posts I've made on the topic.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)