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Old 02-03-2003, 07:39 PM
SamMan
 
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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


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Old 02-03-2003, 11:03 PM
DGiunti
 
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SamMan writes:

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

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search

is the holding area for everything that gets written to newsgroups. If you
enter this newsgroup in the correct field and the word Scale in search field
and hit the search key, you will be presented with lots of opinions on what to
do. I have seen several conversations in this area on the subject, but since I
never had a problem with them, I just remember where the talks happened.

I am sure that something will turn up that can help you!

David Giunti email: unity
What is the question? Gertrude Stein's last words
No one mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing. Alan Watts

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Old 03-03-2003, 12:52 AM
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.
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Old 03-03-2003, 10:53 PM
Diana Kulaga
 
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Default Scale

Sam,

Try Ray's site for excellent natural remedies:

http://www.firstrays.com/

Important to remember to repeat treatment after a few days, and it's good to
repot into fresh media, treating the whole plant. I recently found the
largest dark scale in the history of the world (okay, I exaggerate) all over
a favorite Bakerera.

Mixed Ivory soap, corn oil, alcohol and water in a bucket. Unpotted the
plant and soaked it - the whole plant - in the bucket of stuff. Wiped off
any remaining bugs, sprayed again, let it dry a bit and repotted. The
leaves did sustain damage, but the plant will be okay. Also paid careful
attention to all other plants in the vicinity, but there wasn't much of a
problem.

Don't give up!

Diana


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