Royal trunk - ants, mealy bugs and mystery dots

[Breaktheory]

Hello Royal Friends

My big Royal is chugging along but it seems under each boot is a layer of mealy bugs as well as a ton of these brown dots - every time a boot comes off I find the trunk beneath earn covered although they do wipe off - there are also tons of ants crawling up and down the trunk at all times - is any of this this cause for concern?

 

thank you muchly

jon

 

 

[Billy]

Anytime I see ants, I know there's scale or some sort of infestation. What I do is spray Windex. Not sure if this is a rookie move but I'm a rookie so it very well could be. I go with the Windex cause my uncle who has decades of palm growing experience suggested it claiming it will never hurt the palm and I trust his advice so that's been my approach. I'll wet a paper towel and clean the leaflets on any palm that's within reach. Once they get too tall you have to attack the problem systemically which I've yet to attempt. I think these infestations are completely normal this time of year with the increase in humidity. Made me feel better when I noticed the same thing on the undersides of the fronds on a nearby Cyphophoenix grown to perfection by none other than the IPS director himself. Almost relieving to see others (with lightyears more experience than me) going through the same battles.

[96720]

Get rid of the ants they move the scale to other palms then treat with zylam or some other systemic insecticide 

[Breaktheory]

42 minutes ago, Billy said:

Anytime I see ants, I know there's scale or some sort of infestation. What I do is spray Windex. Not sure if this is a rookie move but I'm a rookie so it very well could be. I go with the Windex cause my uncle who has decades of palm growing experience suggested it claiming it will never hurt the palm and I trust his advice so that's been my approach. I'll wet a paper towel and clean the leaflets on any palm that's within reach. Once they get too tall you have to attack the problem systemically which I've yet to attempt. I think these infestations are completely normal this time of year with the increase in humidity. Made me feel better when I noticed the same thing on the undersides of the fronds on a nearby Cyphophoenix grown to perfection by none other than the IPS director himself. Almost relieving to see others (with lightyears more experience than me) going through the same battles.

Thanks I’ve been able to wipe it off with just water - is windex a better solution for prevention?

What is a good spray insecticide?

[96720]

The brown spots just wipe off? Usually scale takes a little bit of pressure 

[Breaktheory]

26 minutes ago, 96720 said:

The brown spots just wipe off? Usually scale takes a little bit of pressure 

Yah I had to put a little force into it but nothing more than cleaning a countertop and they wiped off…

I’ve been spraying the trunk all summer since it’s been in the high 90s - could this build up of moisture have attracted the scale and white stuff?

[Billy]

On 8/6/2022 at 2:03 PM, Breaktheory said:

is windex a better solution for prevention?

Not sure, I'm still a rookie, just took that advice from an uncle who has decades of palm growing experience. As far as spray insecticide I'm not sure. Perhaps someone with more experience than me will chime in. Regular spraying of the trunk could definitely create or encourage a scale issue, but with those high temperatures you should be fine as long as you make sure they have plenty of time to dry before it gets dark. The humidity and overnight moisture is what seems to cause it around here.

[Breaktheory]

Thanks I ended up spraying it in the areas where I saw scale and ants which dramatically improved the problem (not surprised)

[Merlyn]

The ants will "farm" scale and mealybugs for the honeydew they secrete.  Ants have been observed carrying mealybugs from plant to plant to spread them around.  So an ant bait will help reduce this and future infestations.