I got a wild hair and built a light frame at the end of the
season to bring all my containerized outdoor herbs in for winter
cooking. Of course, I brought the bugs with them. Some hard sprays
of water and a some dilute horticultural oil seems to have taken
care of the aphids and white flies but my Basil and Kaffir Lime
trees seem to be attracting scale that won't go away. It just
keeps reappearing after manual removal.

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.

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?

Most of the stuff is growing pretty well under flourescents next
to an east facing window so I'll have plenty of herbs if I can
get rid of the bugs.

thanks,
gary

Hi Gary,
I use an oil called sunspray (or is it just sun oil?). I'll go look if
it matters to you.
Anyway, I have used that oil to kill scale and mites. It does actually
seem to evaporate. On one really nasty mite infestation, I sprayed every
week for 5 weeks (probably more than was needed). The plants were sort
of greasy for a while after that but soon, there was no evidence of oil
left at all.
I use it on indoor ornamentals but it is also labeled for garden plants.

Steve

Gary Flynn wrote:
I got a wild hair and built a light frame at the end of the
season to bring all my containerized outdoor herbs in for winter
cooking. Of course, I brought the bugs with them. Some hard sprays
of water and a some dilute horticultural oil seems to have taken
care of the aphids and white flies but my Basil and Kaffir Lime
trees seem to be attracting scale that won't go away. It just
keeps reappearing after manual removal.

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.

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?

Most of the stuff is growing pretty well under flourescents next
to an east facing window so I'll have plenty of herbs if I can
get rid of the bugs.

thanks,
gary

hi! i don't know if this is of any help but i've got excellent assistance at
http://www.koppert.nl/e0218.shtml. (i'm just a regular gardener & have no
connection to the koppert company....). they offer a wide range of
biological (not chemical!) products, and have provided excellent advice at
several occations when i have had problems - for the greenhouse as well as
for indoor plants. worth trying, maybe?
:-) nina

"Gary Flynn" skrev i melding
...
I got a wild hair and built a light frame at the end of the
season to bring all my containerized outdoor herbs in for winter
cooking. Of course, I brought the bugs with them. Some hard sprays
of water and a some dilute horticultural oil seems to have taken
care of the aphids and white flies but my Basil and Kaffir Lime
trees seem to be attracting scale that won't go away. It just
keeps reappearing after manual removal.

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.

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?

Most of the stuff is growing pretty well under flourescents next
to an east facing window so I'll have plenty of herbs if I can
get rid of the bugs.

thanks,
gary

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)

Thanks for all the replies. The oil seemed to tame the
problem after the second application. However, a word
of advice:

Do not take Kaffir limes outside to spray them and then
get distracted and forget them. Two nights out in December
will make you kick yourself. It was a beautiful tree.

John Savage wrote:
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.

Gary Flynn wrote:
....................
Do not take Kaffir limes outside to spray them and then
get distracted and forget them. Two nights out in December
will make you kick yourself. It was a beautiful tree.


Well Gary, unless you live a little farther south than I'm thinking, you
won't be bothered by bugs again on that one.

Steve
PS Wondering where jmu.edu might be. James Madison U in Virginia?

I'm wondering why this would be true? Would a strong plant have something in
it's leaves to repel /discourage scale?
Eileen

John Savage wrote:


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

Steve wrote:


Well Gary, unless you live a little farther south than I'm thinking, you
won't be bothered by bugs again on that one.

No bugs but no leaves either.


Steve
PS Wondering where jmu.edu might be. James Madison U in Virginia?


Yup on the JMU. Too far north. We had 7" of snow the night before.

Eileen Gregory writes:
I'm wondering why this would be true? Would a strong plant have something in
it's leaves to repel /discourage scale?
Eileen

John Savage wrote:


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

Apparently, yes. Healthy plants are able to fight off most of the
organisms and microorganisms that would like to make a meal of some
part of that plant, and to do this a healthy plant uses chemical or
physical methods. It is when the plant is stressed or in poor
condition that opportunistic invaders are able to get a foothold and
overwhelm the plant's defences.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

"John Savage" wrote in message
om...
Eileen Gregory writes:
I'm wondering why this would be true? Would a strong plant have
something in
it's leaves to repel /discourage scale?
Eileen

there are very many species of pests parasites, microorganisms, etc. some
are
very host-specific. I doubt there is any plant species that lacks pests, etc
(in its native location).

John Savage wrote:


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

Apparently, yes. Healthy plants are able to fight off most of the
organisms and microorganisms that would like to make a meal of some
part of that plant, and to do this a healthy plant uses chemical or
physical methods. It is when the plant is stressed or in poor
condition that opportunistic invaders are able to get a foothold and
overwhelm the plant's defences.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)






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