I hate scale insects. I battle them on most of the citrus I have. Palms are fine though. 

10 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Basic pesticide sprays will take care of it.  But babies will hatch and will need repeat treatments. 

Agreed.  If it looks like your plants are being overrun then I recommend malathion spray on the foliage and liquid imidacloprid, a systemic that gets watered in.  This has been very effective for some hard to find palms I was losing to scale, but the warning labels do say some scary things.  Also consider whether pruning away damaged fronds will remove a lot of the infestation.

Thanks all. This is very helpful, much better than AI...:). I will use both spray on the affected fronds and drench on the roots. What frequency/concentrations do you recommend for each? I am a chemist so quite comfortable with PPE (personal protective equipment) and measuring out active ingredients for water dilution.

“Regular I” answer:

With a background in chemistry or biochemistry, it’s like fertilization…. You can go deep in there, go on DoMyOwn, order some stuff and get as nutty as your heart desires.   

Without a giant grove and yard though, you can make it quite simple too.   Get some Bioadvanced 3in1 spray or concentrate (has imidacloprid) and spray the spears and leaves.  Then get some ortho home defense (bifenthrin and cypermethrin) and hit with that.  You have to repeat every couple weeks for a few times, as new crawlers will hatch over time.  That will do it.  

You can also just get some Bioadvanced Complete Insect Killer liquid for a similar effect with 1 product.  It’s just a few pots.  Won’t take much.    

Concentrate on the spear, new leaves, and undersides of the leaves.  

You can get these at local stores or online in small quantities conducive to condo living.  
 

 

 

Thanks. Doing exactly that. I will also hit it with a gallon per palm (they are potted) of drench water  containing 0.5 oz 2F imidacloprid. AI says once a year will do. I guess everything grows well in Florida, even bugs...I love my pygmy dates and won't let these bastards eat them.

It is bad, though. Drenched roots with imidacloprid yesterday, will start spraying today. 

 

It’s pretty common here.   I’ve got about 20 different kinds of sucking insects on everything in the yard.  They will kill small palms and crotons, and damage larger plants severely if not kept in check. Good news is they die easily, but always come back given enough time. 

Blast that fuzzy away with a hose or wipe it off.  It acts like a waterproof fuzzy covering. 

Thanks for all the info. I have another question for the group. I will be leaving for 3 months and don't have anybody to water the potted palms and no time to set up a proper irrigation system with a timer and emitters. What I could do is a simple continuous drip from an old garden hose with very small (1/16-in) holes in it. I could try to control the drip rate from a ball faucet. AI says about 100 drops/min per opening will be equivalent to about 0.5 gal per day continuously for 3 months. I don't know if I can accomplish that rate using just faucet and small openings, but if I can, will this processs rot the roots? The pots are well-drained with multiple openings on the bottoms.  It is either that or leaving them unwatered for 3 months.

On 5/5/2026 at 12:01 PM, Voytek said:

Thanks for all the info. I have another question for the group. I will be leaving for 3 months and don't have anybody to water the potted palms and no time to set up a proper irrigation system with a timer and emitters. What I could do is a simple continuous drip from an old garden hose with very small (1/16-in) holes in it. I could try to control the drip rate from a ball faucet. AI says about 100 drops/min per opening will be equivalent to about 0.5 gal per day continuously for 3 months. I don't know if I can accomplish that rate using just faucet and small openings, but if I can, will this processs rot the roots? The pots are well-drained with multiple openings on the bottoms.  It is either that or leaving them unwatered for 3 months.

Perhaps, although I would use a faucet (sillcock) after the PRV. Also, I would move the pots into the shade

Thanks. To lower the pressure, I put a restrictor washer in the line, and a couple of inline ball faucets, both set to minimum. By drilling 1/32 in holes in the hose, I got the drip rate I wanted. Still, this is very inaccurate, and if the plants survive, I will set up a proper watering system with timed emitters. Fingers crossed!