Last year my little lemon trees were attacked. A trip to the local
nursery with a trimming in a zip lock bag got me a diagnosis and a
bottle of spray. I had to spray weekly and seemed to just keep the
critters at bay. They went away for the winter but now are back.

Anyone have any recommendations for a solution? What I was using last
year was a spray for scale by "Safer" brand for fruit and vegetables.
One tree lost quite a few leaves and I'm thinking I need something a bit
more effective.

marcella

Marcella Peek wrote:

Last year my little lemon trees were attacked. A trip to the local
nursery with a trimming in a zip lock bag got me a diagnosis and a
bottle of spray. I had to spray weekly and seemed to just keep the
critters at bay. They went away for the winter but now are back.

Anyone have any recommendations for a solution? What I was using last
year was a spray for scale by "Safer" brand for fruit and vegetables.
One tree lost quite a few leaves and I'm thinking I need something a bit
more effective.

marcella

Certainly there are stronger insecticides. Some are systemic (absorbed
by the plant) and work well on scale BUT, if you (or others) ever
consume the lemons from those trees, you don't want that!
The spray you used before may have worked but the trees just got
infested again. The reason for the repeated sprayings is that the adult
scales are not killed easily. The adults just finish their life cycle
and die off as they always do. The spray is to kill the new young ones
before they get their protective shell. If you are too late with a
spray, some will mature and survive.
You might try an oil spray. Oil smothers the scale and can even smother
most of the adults. You'll still want to spray a few times. I have
experience with killing scale but I live a thousand miles from the
nearest outdoor lemon tree. I would think a light oil such as ... wait a
minute, I'll run down to the basement and find out for sure ... Yes, my
bottle of "SunSpray Ultra-fine" oil IS labeled for killing scale on
lemon trees. That might be a really good choice.

Steve

In article ,
Steve wrote:

Certainly there are stronger insecticides. Some are systemic (absorbed
by the plant) and work well on scale BUT, if you (or others) ever
consume the lemons from those trees, you don't want that!

Yes, my dad suggested something systemic but it would be nice to eat the
lemons. That is the point of the trees for us.

I would think a light oil such as ... wait a
minute, I'll run down to the basement and find out for sure ... Yes, my
bottle of "SunSpray Ultra-fine" oil IS labeled for killing scale on
lemon trees. That might be a really good choice.

Thanks, I'll look for that.


marcella

g'day marcella,

over here we us an oil spray called 'white oil' (it's a petrolium
bi-product a like product)available not sure could be wrong here but i
think you call it dormant oil, but any good nursery will be able help
you with the product name. best applied after the heat of the sun has
gone for the day, you might need 2 or 3 sprays.

also look for ants they and the scale share a symbiotic relationship,
so if you find ants then you need to move them along so you don't get
reinfested.

there is a recipe for a homemade version of the oil on my remedies
page.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send.

In article ,
len gardener wrote:

g'day marcella,

over here we us an oil spray called 'white oil' (it's a petrolium
bi-product a like product)available not sure could be wrong here but i
think you call it dormant oil, but any good nursery will be able help
you with the product name. best applied after the heat of the sun has
gone for the day, you might need 2 or 3 sprays.

also look for ants they and the scale share a symbiotic relationship,
so if you find ants then you need to move them along so you don't get
reinfested.

there is a recipe for a homemade version of the oil on my remedies
page.

len

snipped

Thanks, I will look for dormant oil spray. I've heard of it, but not
used it before.

marcella

g'daty marcella,

make sure i got the name right hey?

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send.

Marcella Peek wrote:
..................
Thanks, I will look for dormant oil spray. I've heard of it, but not
used it before.

marcella

Read the label before you buy. I believe products labeled as dormant oil
are for use on trees while they are dormant. It might be used on an
apple or plum tree in the early spring just before the leaves start to
grow.
I doubt that it is labeled for, or safe for, use on trees with leaves.
Some formulations might be. Read.

Steve

In article ,
Steve wrote:

Marcella Peek wrote:
.................
Thanks, I will look for dormant oil spray. I've heard of it, but not
used it before.

marcella

Read the label before you buy. I believe products labeled as dormant oil
are for use on trees while they are dormant. It might be used on an
apple or plum tree in the early spring just before the leaves start to
grow.
I doubt that it is labeled for, or safe for, use on trees with leaves.
Some formulations might be. Read.

Steve

Ok... so what can I use for scale infestation on cactus?
San Pedro cactus...

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

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tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
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Katra wrote:

.......................................
Ok... so what can I use for scale infestation on cactus?
San Pedro cactus...


I had to look up a picture of San Pedro cactus to see if it was covered
with spines or not. I see there is space between the rows of spines.
If you have it in a pot, and it's not too huge, you can do it the easy
way. Take some rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab and rub off every scale.
Spray, or otherwise wet the plant with alcohol about twice a week to
kill the microscopic young ones. Inspect the plant closely every week
for a while to watch for new scale. Get them before they have time to
reproduce.
If you live where you are growing this cactus outside, you'll probably
have to spray with something stronger.

Steve

Marcella Peek wrote:
Last year my little lemon trees were attacked. A trip to the local
nursery with a trimming in a zip lock bag got me a diagnosis and a
bottle of spray. I had to spray weekly and seemed to just keep the
critters at bay. They went away for the winter but now are back.

Anyone have any recommendations for a solution? What I was using last
year was a spray for scale by "Safer" brand for fruit and vegetables.
One tree lost quite a few leaves and I'm thinking I need something a bit
more effective.

marcella

You didn't say how little your lemon trees were
but after using horticultural oil on my kaffir
limes last year, this year I just scrapped them
by hand when I saw the first couple scale bugs
when I brought them inside and haven't had any
problems since. Might've just been a good
year though.