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Mr.Piriyakul

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Hey everyone, 

I know I pretty back to back, but I just trimmed my coonties because I think scale is starting to die back from a months long battle with the pests. I sprayed neem and scale specific oils for a month, daily.  The plant was still healthy and a hard cortex gave me some hope for a bounce back. I picked scale from the cortex with my girlfriend. I hope you can give me advice on if the scale will die back and leave totally with continued treatment, plus ground coffee. I know its not proven but why not try. Will the flush come back ? Did I do a dumb thing? IMG_0829.thumb.PNG.9b722fed80365c54e0b61ad223c2fe69.PNGIMG_0836.thumb.PNG.46191ce2c3109960146b178120155608.PNG

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10 minutes ago, Mr.Piriyakul said:

Hey everyone, 

I know I pretty back to back, but I just trimmed my coonties because I think scale is starting to die back from a months long battle with the pests. I sprayed neem and scale specific oils for a month, daily.  The plant was still healthy and a hard cortex gave me some hope for a bounce back. I picked scale from the cortex with my girlfriend. I hope you can give me advice on if the scale will die back and leave totally with continued treatment, plus ground coffee. I know its not proven but why not try. Will the flush come back ? Did I do a dumb thing? IMG_0829.thumb.PNG.9b722fed80365c54e0b61ad223c2fe69.PNGIMG_0836.thumb.PNG.46191ce2c3109960146b178120155608.PNG

Yes, as long as the Caudex is solid ( looks solid in the picture ) should flush again as if nothing happened. Might keep it moist, but not wet until it pushes new growth though.  These things are tough as nails.  Even survive brutal low desert heat and my lack of regular water.  Keep an eye on the Scale.. You'll likely have to treat a couple more times until you have broken the lifecycle. Eggs/ hard to see " crawlers " ( Nymphs ) can live at/just below the soil level before they crawl up onto the Caudex.  Coffee grounds + Neem will help.

If you have one around, might use a 1/2" wide artist's Paintbrush to carefully brush back the soil around the base to be sure there are no scale insects huddled just under the Caudex itself.. Remember battling these while in FL. Woul get rid of the ones hanging out where i could see them, just to later discover they'd colonized the roots/base of certain things.. Hard to keep under control issues w/ Big headed/ Crazy Ants were the most obvious sign there might be scale hiding below the soil surface.

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The treatment depends on the type of scale:

Regular white scale/soft scale/NOT armored asian scale: used coffee grounds are a good low level systemic but won't cure a serious infestation, there's not a lot of caffeine left after brewing.  But it makes good high nitrogen mulch anyway.  Malathion or Acephate sprays if the plant is outdoors.  Imadicloprid soil drench systemic will kill off any infestation, but won't work on CAS/ACS/Sago scale. 

Asian Cycas Scale (Cycad Aulacaspis Scale or CAS) is a hard armored scale.  Coffee grounds will help reduce infestations and keep new ones from appearing, but as above isn't a complete cure.  Neem oil isn't effective in my experience.  The treatment method I use is 1) Spray them off with medium pressure nozzle on a hose, 2) Spray the fronds with Malathion or Acephate at label rates, 3) soil drench with Dinotefuran after it's dried out a bit from the hose (you don't want to wash away the systemic).  

Coonties are pretty tough, the local bike trail maintenance people drive over them with a brush hog every spring (for no good reason) and hack them to pieces.  And a few weeks later they sprout right back.  :o

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1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

The treatment depends on the type of scale:

Regular white scale/soft scale/NOT armored asian scale: used coffee grounds are a good low level systemic but won't cure a serious infestation, there's not a lot of caffeine left after brewing.  But it makes good high nitrogen mulch anyway.  Malathion or Acephate sprays if the plant is outdoors.  Imadicloprid soil drench systemic will kill off any infestation, but won't work on CAS/ACS/Sago scale. 

Asian Cycas Scale (Cycad Aulacaspis Scale or CAS) is a hard armored scale.  Coffee grounds will help reduce infestations and keep new ones from appearing, but as above isn't a complete cure.  Neem oil isn't effective in my experience.  The treatment method I use is 1) Spray them off with medium pressure nozzle on a hose, 2) Spray the fronds with Malathion or Acephate at label rates, 3) soil drench with Dinotefuran after it's dried out a bit from the hose (you don't want to wash away the systemic).  

I have the red looking scale (is that the Asian boys?) I don't have pictures because I haven't seen any. I found one on a leaf I trimmed, but other then that I have seen as many as there were. I go by If I see one them there is ten I don't see. They were every where in the cortex and all. I picked it and drowned it in a scale oil product from lowes. Coffee grounds are right on the top of the cortax so finger crossed.

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2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

If you have one around, might use a 1/2" wide artist's Paintbrush to carefully brush back the soil around the base to be sure there are no scale insects huddled just under the Caudex itself.. Remember battling these while in FL. Woul get rid of the ones hanging out where i could see them, just to later discover they'd colonized the roots/base of certain things.. Hard to keep under control issues w/ Big headed/ Crazy Ants were the most obvious sign there might be scale hiding below the soil surface.

I'm freaked now but when I repotted them the roots look great and the plant was hard as a rock. No ants, but I'll watch for that boss. Thank you!

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1 minute ago, Mr.Piriyakul said:

I'm freaked now but when I repotted them the roots look great and the plant was hard as a rock. No ants, but I'll watch for that boss. Thank you!

:greenthumb:  I don't remember root Mealys effected any of my Cycads so you should be good. Biggest issue w/ those was with seedling stuff, esp. some Palms.

 

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1 hour ago, Mr.Piriyakul said:

I have the red looking scale (is that the Asian boys?) I don't have pictures because I haven't seen any. I found one on a leaf I trimmed, but other then that I have seen as many as there were. I go by If I see one them there is ten I don't see. They were every where in the cortex and all. I picked it and drowned it in a scale oil product from lowes. Coffee grounds are right on the top of the cortax so finger crossed.

CAS scale is small white dots that are basically stationary and fixed on the plant stems really hard.  I haven't heard of CAS scale going after coonties.  So if you have plain old mealybugs then it should be relatively easy to cure.  I use Malathion or Acephate on my outdoor plants.  One spraying is usually enough, but occasionally they come back.  Acephate is partially systemic, which helps.

I wouldn't put coffee grounds into the top of the caudex.  The caffeine is a systemic (similar to neonicotinoids) and is absorbed through the roots.  Putting it in the caudex won't help, and could promote fungal rot.  It's not likely to be a big deal, because coonties are understory plants adapted to having leaf litter fall on them from trees and rot.  But I'd brush it off the caudex anyway.

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