Aulacaspis scale

[Alicehunter2000]

Has anyone ever tried briefly burning a cycad that has been stripped of all its infested leaves?

Don't some cycads undergo wildfires in nature.....might this be a "natural" control mechanism for scale?

[Pedro 65]

Has anyone ever tried briefly burning a cycad that has been stripped of all its infested leaves?

Don't some cycads undergo wildfires in nature.....might this be a "natural" control mechanism for scale?

David, "when" we had Cycas revoluta growing here , I burn't them to rid to 1000s of moth larvae, it cleaned the cycas wonderfully and they looked great with their new flush, till the moths arrived, so "out" went the C revolutas and we dont see the moths "anymore".

If your cycad is a "cycas sp" and the caudex isnt tiny, put a heap dry leaves underneath it and "light it up" and if your caudex is still small and @ ground level cover it with sand before you "light up" Pete

[Alicehunter2000]

Interesting....so it would probably work....never heard it suggested as a control mechanism before.

[Kostas]

Its much safer and easier to just spray coffee made from used coffee grounds, as well as apply used coffee grounds around the cycad. Works fast and like a charm Don't have CAS here but cycad growers from Florida say its highly effective against it too and it also works great against the scale they get here(not aggressive at all on cycads, but can build up slightly over several years and a single coffee application gets the cycad rid of it)

With CAS, regular sprays are needed so that its never allowed to build numbers due to the devastating effects it has on cycads, so you need to keep spraying at regular intervals to keep it free(once monthly? Not sure). Complete eradication is difficult as reinfestation occurs from other cycads in the general area.

Fire can't kill all the scale either as the individuals hiding between the leaf bases and those hiding underground won't be harmed by it and will cause a population explosion again sooner or latter. Its also not viable long term as it kills the leafs too, which may be ok every some years but not annually. And CAS can weaken a cycad in months, in a full year it would be in awful condition

[Pedro 65]

David and Kostas , I "burnt" the whole mature Cycas revolutas that where laden with moth larvae and yes of course the leaves get burnt and then they need to be cut off so just the trunk is left, the "moths" returned the following yr so I removed "all" Cycas revolutas here and now we have no moth problem.

Now, re Scale on Cycads and Palms for that matter, Scale, mealy bugs and such are Very much "attracted" to plants getting "too much" Nitrogen from their fertiliser they are being fed..

Pete

[edbrown_III]

spray em with mineral oil to soften p the shells and heap a few shovels of fire ants on the crown this really knocks them back !

I havent had that much luck with coffee grounds IMHO

Best regards

Ed

[Alicehunter2000]

Yes, unsure about the whole ground coffee effectiveness. Definitely does not work for mealy bug as was also stated in the article. The fire ant trick is interesting. Are you saying the ants will eat the scale? Why use the oil besides softening the shell....does it also keep the ants interested.....interesting