How do I know if the scale is dying?

[personalparadise]

I treated one of my palms for scale 2 days ago with horticultural oil(coated the plant top and underside until it ran off like directions said). IT doesn't appear that the scale is dying, and in fact I am finding even more scale on it! Does it take a few days to notice them dying off? It is not a large palm, but insects creep me out, so sitting there and picking off each and every one grosses me out so I want to avoid it if possible, so hoping there is another suggestion?

(No, It isnt usually kept near the others, I have it quarantined off, That was just the day I treated it for scale and it sat outside for a few hours)

[Tilto]

Even after the scale is killed it will stay on for a long tme.You might have to wash it off with hose.

[DoomsDave]

Squish some of the scale with your fingers, or rip it up with a gentle fingernail.

If the slimy stuff under the "scale" is bright green, bright orange, or some other bright color, it's probably still alive.

If it's muddy brown, pukey dull green, or fecal-dull-red, it's dead.

It sometimes takes more than one shot to whack scale.

My honest suggestion is, next time, just let the ladybugs do their work (they're predators that eat scale, voraciously!)

Let us know what happens, and hope everything works out well.

dave

[personalparadise]

Ok, good to know that they stick on after they are dead. I barely touched a few (eeeewwww) and they detached easily, the underside is darkish, so hopefully they are all dead. I am going to give it a soap and water misting just in case, at least until family leaves and I can take it into the shower and give it a good wash and check it over better.

I wish I could have used ladybugs I would have preferred them over chemicals, but this time of the year, no one carries them and it is below freezing every night and pretty darn cold during the day so I cant use the ones that are naturally here. I am using the coffee grounds idea to try and keep them from coming back if some of them hide in my soil.

[Mark Heath]

I would be carefull w/ the soap and water misting. You could do more harm than good.

I would wait and see what the results are of your last treatment before applying more

pesticide. If you have too much soap in your mixture you can fry the fronds, and your palm looks great right now!

Let's give it some time before you do any more treatment. I think you got them good the first time!

Please keep us updated w/ pics.

Mark

[Zayin]

for scale I normally use about 4 tablespoons of regular dish soap and mix it with about 4 litres of regular water and spray the $%^&&# out of the plant. Never had any adverse effects and it kills scale and even aphids. Scale usually dries up and falls off. If its squishy, normally its not dead. ( course I live in a rain forest and the rain washes the soap off the leaves pretty often)

[Tyrone]

A few applications may be necessary to kill off new youngsters that were eggs in the first application. You need to break the lifecycle up, and those that may have been missed or are more resistant than their neighbours.

Best regards

Tyrone

[DoomsDave]

YIKE!

PERSONAL PARADISE!

YOU'RE IN KANSAS!

Egad, I feel like a fool. :blink: :blink:

Obviously, ladybugs won't help you much.

Sorry.

One way to see if you've gotten rid of them is to scrape off as many as you can, and, if they don't come back, you've whacked them. If they reappear, re-treat.

Keep trying, and forgive my earlier mistake.

[AggiePalms]

I agree; wait; be patient; don't do anything else yet. Scale coming off is good, being able to rub them off is good, they have millions of years of developing a defensive coating, so it may take a few days/weeks to kill them all. Yes, you may ultimately need to use a multiple treatments...but remember what you have done is very effective, and there is progress happening, even if you don't notice it. Scale insects aren't like birds that when they die lie on the ground wrong side up; their dead bodies can stay on the plant for quite a while and look just like living scale. Follow Dave's good advice on whether they are likely dead. And yes, you may be able to "pressure wash" the dead scale off of the plant. Don't get too panicky unless you start to see rapid increase in the number of insects. And remember, you are rare in having a living tropical palm tree in Kansas in winter!, so some problems are to be expected. Just keep the palm as healthy as possible, a healthy plant can withstand parasites much better than can weak plants.