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 This is a continuously updated archive of the Aroid-L mailing list in a forum format - not an actual Forum. If you want to post, you will still need to register for the Aroid-L mailing list and send your postings by e-mail for moderation in the normal way.

  scale insect
From: "Sherry Gates" <TheTropix at msn.com> on 2009.08.29 at 18:46:59(19866)
Hi everyone,

I have encountered a problem I haven't had to deal with.... SCALE insects. This past Spring, we moved from Beaumont, Tx (zone 9) to the Woodville, Tx area (zone 8), about 55 miles north. I've noticed on a couple of plants(Aroids) that scale are getting on them. Affected so far were Anthurium Big Bill and Monstera del (variegated). Just a couple have been slightly infested and I've immediately taken them to the bathtub and removed them by hand. What's the best way to kill them and prevent infestation without harming my plants? I try so hard to use organic methods for insect control & fertilization, but I'm ready to break out the big guns on this, if necessary. I've never had this problem, so I'm kind of at a loss. What's safe for Aroids, but lethal to the little *%$!!!#$!? I'm keeping a sharp eye out for any of the obvious ones, but I'm guessing that I need to treat the soil as well. What's my best bet?

Thanks for any advice, Sherry Gates

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From: brian lee <lbmkjm at yahoo.com> on 2009.08.31 at 20:57:28(19878)
Dear Sherry,

Aloha.

I use Orange Guard, a distilled orange and citrus peel product. It kills scales and does not harm the plants if you spray early in the morning or in the evening. It is a contact only spray and has no residual or systemic effect. It works by dissolving the exoskeletons of insects...works ants, I use it as spot spray before you have large infestations.

Aloha,

Leland

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From: "John Criswick" <criswick at spiceisle.com> on 2009.08.31 at 21:56:06(19879)
You can’t gosafer than imidacloprid, marketed under names such as Pronto. Google it. Yourgarden centre should have. It is systemic, absorbed through leaf surfaces. Theyhave yet to determine the lethal dose for a rat, I understand, and plantstolerate it very well. It controls sucking insects for a month, so that wheneggs hatch, the larvae will feed and die also.

From:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Sherry Gates
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 20092:47 PM
To: AroidSendMessage

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From: Leslie Georgeson <skinnychick2 at yahoo.com> on 2009.08.31 at 22:00:32(19880)
Hi Sherry,

I had the same problem on my ficus trees after moving from California, though I had never encountered scales before in my life. They are a very frustrating pest to get rid of. I used an alcohol/water solution (per info I found via the web) and wiped/scrubbed clean every single leaf and stem, which was a painstaking process. The alcohol did not harm the leaves (not even the variegated ones). The scales disappeared and I thought I was rid of them. A couple of months later they were back. Interestingly, they have not spread to my aroids. They seem to prefer the ficus sap. At the time, I did not think to treat the soil, but I'm thinking about pouring a Neem oil solution into the soil (this worked for getting rid of mites on my giant philodendron, and I'm curious to see if it would work for scales). I too would be interested to hear if someone has an effective solution for getting rid of scale.

Leslie

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From: Ken Mosher <ken at spatulacity.com> on 2009.09.01 at 00:49:08(19881)
Hi Sherry,

Horticultural oils are effective on scale insect. If it were me I'd
probably use that AND Imidacloprid, but the second is not organic, of
course. Don't put the oils on any Crassulas you might have.

-Ken

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From: Sheldon Hatheway <sfhatheway at yahoo.com> on 2009.09.01 at 02:18:58(19882)
Hi, Sherry

I don't have scale infestations very often (except on one pesky Anthurium andreanum and my Monstera deliciosa variegata) but they have always responded to the old "dish water" treatment. Fill a bucket with lukewarm water and add just enough original unscented Blue Dawn dishwashing detergent to make the water feel slippery. Put some of the solution in a spray bottle and completely drench all leaf surfaces, petioles, stems, etc., paying special attention to any areas where the smaller scales might hide. The soap in the water breaks up the surface tension and allows the water to move in under the scales and they drown (what a pity, ha ha). After that is done, submerge the pot in the bucket until the entire planting medium is completely saturated (a few minutes). This does quite a number on anything lurking in the pots. I do not rinse the plant, but allow the soap water to dry on the leaves while the pot is draining. This works so well for me that I've started treating all of my "outdoors for the summer" plants the same way. I've noticed a marked decrease in the number of "unauthorized personnel" when I move the plants back into the greenhouse in the Fall. Now if I could only figure out a workable "assembly line" for the procedure. As it is now, it takes me the better part of a week to get all my plants treated and moved inside. It's a good thing I'm retired!

Hope this helps.

Sheldon Hatheway

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From: <exotics at hawaii.rr.com> on 2009.09.01 at 04:45:53(19883)
Hi Sherry,

I have been using a fairly new product put out by Bayer called '3-in-1 Insect, Disease, & Mite Control', and have purchased it at Home Depot.

The label says it is for use on 'Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs', and it 'Cures and prevents disease'.
It is a systemic and it works for about 30 days with one application.
It comes two different ways, one being in a container that you can attach directly to your hose and it mixes as it sprays with a trigger attachment. It's very easy, no mixing, no measuring. You can use as much as you need then unhook the hose and save the unmixed portion in the container for another time. I use it in my greenhouse when ever I notice mites, mealy bugs, scale or anything else.
This product also comes in a smaller ready mixed spray bottle, and can be used whenever it is necessary. If you only have a few plants this is great. I keep it on hand for emergencies or when I pick up something new that might need a little clean up.
I have used this product 4 times since I first discovered it and have never had any plant react badly to it. I have even used it on delicate Maiden hair ferns(Adiantums) and have never seen any burn. It works fantastically on aroids and wipes out mites with one application. Besides aroids and Adiantums I have also used it on Nepenthes, palms, epiphytic ferns, Calatheas, gingers, orchids,and other tropical shade plants without any toxic reaction.
It doesn't have a bad odor either like the other products I used in the past.
Being that it is a systemic I would not use it on anything edible though.

Hopes this helps you and brings your plants back to a healthy state,
Windy Aubrey

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From: michael kolaczewski <mjkolaffhbc at sbcglobal.net> on 2009.09.01 at 07:32:24(19884)
Greetings Sherry,

Here in the North, Scale is a problem on a number of temperate woody plants.

You may also encounter scale sometimes on perennials and tropicals kept in containers,

or outdoors.

Around here, a horticultural grade oil, sometimes in combination with an insecticide,

is applied via can sprayer, or a trigger sprayer. If you would want to use organic products,

combining Rotenone with the oil, or using Rotenone alone, I believe would work.

The oil obviously smothers the insects, and the insecticide, if any were used

in conjunction, would hasten their demise. I myself have not had any issues with

phytotoxic reactions, when applying oil to exotic plants, for an insect control issuse.

There may be someone else in the forum, who is from a warmer climate, who

may have more info, regarding oil spraying treatment in warmer climate zones.

I have used this method before, on some larger Aroids, purchased from a wholesaler,

which had the critters on them, when they arrived at the greenhouse.

I have never treated the soil, in my experience, scale is almost always found up on the plants,

not at the ground.

What we also encounter up here, is that ants can be associated with the scale, and the ants

are drawn to the plants, because of the "honey dew", that the scale may produce.

Indeed, the largest scale we see here in Illinois, is the scale Neolecanium cornuparvum,

which is usually only seen on Magnolias. It can get to be as large as, and looks

like a yogurt covered Almond!

I have to use a picture id to figure out which scale is which. An excellent reference book to use,

"Insects That Feed on Trees and Shrubs," from Cornell University Press.

This is a remarkable book, which has incredible photographs

of the many types of insects that can infest plants across the United States.

I myself do not know of any book, that would deal with tropical scales,

if the scale infestation you have would not be a "local" scale.

I hope that this posting will be helpful to you.

Michael Kolaczewski

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From: "Brad and Natasha O'Reilly" <trijaz at bigpond.com> on 1970.01.01 at 00:00:00(19886)

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From: STARSELL at aol.com on 2009.09.01 at 15:28:43(19889)
Hi All,

I'm not so sure about how "safe"... see the study below.

We have known that using systemic insecticides
won't help with spider mites.
But did you know it can increase them?

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/0022-0493%282002%29095%5B0729%3AFITSMA%5D2
.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=ecen

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From: Jonathan Ertelt <jonathan.ertelt at vanderbilt.edu> on 2009.09.01 at 19:57:00(19894)
Be aware that if you wipe the scale away with your finger(s) and
don't wash your hands right away, and/or don't follow up that "wiping
away" with an oil, soap, or alcohol product, you might well be
spreading the infestation rather than curtailing it. To see what I
mean by this find a couple of older looking well attached scale
insects, wipe them with your finger and then use a 10x lens and look
at the plant or at your finger tip. What you will see will generally
be dozens of very minute crawlers, the early stage of the scale
insect. I would suggest that rather than using your finger that you
use a q-tip, or some other similar soft-tipped wiping tool which you
have soaked with a soap, alcohol, or oil solution. Even with this
you will likely need a follow-up cleaning in another week to ten days.

I have recently been reading extensive posts about utilizing used
coffee grounds as a top dressing on the soil for cycads, and also to
make a weak coffee "tea" for spraying the foliage on cycads, but I do
not yet have personal experience with this and have not yet tried it
on any other plants, though I fully intend to do so.

Jonathan

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From: "John Criswick" <criswick at spiceisle.com> on 2009.09.01 at 20:07:39(19896)
Thanks Alison. But the link led to anerror. It said the requested article was not available on that site.

I have used systemic insecticides, mainlydimethoate and imidacloprid in my nursery for over 20 years and do not have asignificant mite problem.

John.

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From: STARSELL at aol.com on 2009.09.02 at 19:05:36(19906)
Very sorry about that John.

The whole url in that long, long address did not copy for

you. (You have to copy the whole thing : (

Try this: http://tiny.cc/zvIWW

I 'tinied' it for you!

Alison

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From: piaba <piabinha at yahoo.com> on 2009.09.03 at 18:21:12(19921)
would this product (or any of the others mentioned) be approved for indoor use?

=======tsuh yang

--- On Wed, 9/2/09, Devin Biggs wrote:

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