Re: [Aroid-l] Scale Insects

From: brian lee <lbmkjm at yahoo.com> on 2009.09.03 at 14:29:09(19919) Dear Sherry, Aloha. I use all natural or organic controls for pests. It is possible to control your scales using Orange Guard or if you are energetic...you can distill your own citrus peels. I have been using distilled citrus peels for all sorts of insects and it kills all on contact. You have only a few plants involved so control of your scales should be a piece of cake. Read about the Cycas scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui. That is the worst scale I have ever encountered. It kills the formerly iron-clad, Cycas revoluta and other types of cycads. That is the only pest I prefer not to deal with as I will not spray or treat my plants with more toxic chemicals. Orange Guard will work to kill this scale, but the infestations are so large and the scale so prolific, it would require constant applications. I had many dozens of Cycas revoluta on the border of my lot...now I have none. There is a biocontrol in Hawaii...a predator insect, but the numbers are too low at the moment for effective control. Well, I would recommend the most benign solution to your problem before you resort to the "big guns". Aloha, Leland HTML +More --- On Wed, 9/2/09, michael kolaczewski wrote: From: michael kolaczewski Subject: [Aroid-l] Scale Insects To: "Discussion of aroids" Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 7:05 PM Greetings Again Sherry, and to everyone else... My apologies, I neglected to include the info on the oil I use. There are now several types of Horticultural oils on the market, with different viscosity's, that allow for use All Season. One that would available "over the counter", would be Cotton seed oil. I think you can find at gardensalive.com and other places on the web. You are right, in the old days around here, we didn't dare spray oil, when the temperature was over 70 degrees. If I may get off the subject briefly, Here in the Midwest, Gardeners and Grounds keepers used to spray a light coat of oil on Baltic or Boston Ivy, or other groundcovers, to give a shine after a garden cleanup, or before a party or garden walk. Jonathan made an excellent point on the crawlers. It is possible to have hundreds or even a thousand or so of those little buggers, sneaking about if you are not careful. That was why I mentioned the addition of an insecticide with the oil. As John pointed out, Imidaclopird will do an excellent job when incorporated into the soil or potting mix. Several variations of Imidacloprid I have used are Merit® 2.5 G granular insecticide, and Coretect®, systemic fertilizer "marbles". Both of these are from Bayer. The Merit is applied either on the surface, or worked into the surface with a trowel, and watered in. The Coretect looks like a small marble, and incorporates the Imidacloprid, at 20% ingredient content, and slow release fertilizer in one product. You can use one of these fertilizer marbles for a 1, 2 or 3 gallon container. With larger size pots, several in a container, will last for many months. Like Devin, I have used Azamax, that seems to works well on Spider mites. For me, here in Illinois, Spider Mites start showing up, when we have hot, dry weather, from Mid June onward. These can be tricky to control. Another product which is excellent for all types of mites and Whiteflies, Is another Bayer product. Forbid®. the active ingredient of Forbid 4F is Spriomesifen 45%, and is a newer product available to professionals. The product has translaminar action, but to completely effective, Bayer recommends spraying all plant surfaces. But don't rush out for this one, it comes in a pint, and can run over $250.00 dollars. I use about 1.8 milliliters per gallon of water. I use it sparingly. However, saying all that, I have eliminated mites and Whitefly from many different types of plants. Bayer suggests 3 applications, spaced 14 to 18 days apart, often I have obtained control after 2 treatments. Like most infestations, the sooner you see those rascals the better control you get. My apologies for the long winded post, I hope this has been useful to you all. Michael Kolaczewski Elgin, IL -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --0-641067299-1251988149=:61604----==============h09789149889657396=

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