how do you get rid of green scale? ( scale )

[FlyingFoxFruits]

what do you like to use for green scale?  (or scale)

I have a plant that's itching to get hit with some merrit or something!

[PedalaiMaster]

Ugh, those are so annoying! What I did to get it off my Cinnamon is taking a All Natural Disinfectant sheet and slathered it over the parts with it, worked like a charm, you can also take a cloth with some rubbing alcohol diluted with 2 to 3 drops of water and rub it on the parts most infested with it. I am sure there are better methods but these work. regards-PM

[Hollywood]

If it is a very young tree and is an isolated problem case, I quickly go over it with a toothbrush and then hit it with a soap mixture. I come back a few days later for stragglers. Using this method, I do this about twice a year for my guava and for my smallest abiu. The other trees don't have much of a problem.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

thanks for the tips!

does anyone have pesticides (not organic) they recommend?

[PedalaiMaster]

I don't know of any because I grow all of my plants organically, someone else may have a better answer. Regards-PM

[bsbullie]

Venom (does not say for scale on the label but I can tell you from first hand use, it works) or Safari

[PedalaiMaster]

Venom (does not say for scale on the label but I can tell you from first hand use, it works) or Safari

There you go ASaffron, bsbullie already has a good answer. Regards-PM

[Pan Dulce]

Alcohol might get em drunk, then you get lucky and they will start fighting and kill themselves off. 

Neem or fish oil sprays have worked for me in the past, but agree with the above, if its a small area or tree do it manually with a brush or just scrape them off.  Guava are notorious as the trees that get hit the hardest by everything.

[harveyc]

I had a miracle fruit that almost got killed by a bad infestation of green scale that I had tried to first control with oil several times.  I sprayed it once with Malathion and it was fast and very effective.  Wish I had sprayed it much sooner but it's making a comeback.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I had a miracle fruit that almost got killed by a bad infestation of green scale that I had tried to first control with oil several times.  I sprayed it once with Malathion and it was fast and very effective.  Wish I had sprayed it much sooner but it's making a comeback.

Thanks Harvey...I think I'll go the malathion route...just not sure when.  I've been reluctant because I'm scared to kill the plant I'm treating.

[harveyc]

Adam, I don't think it will have any impact on the plant other than some toxicity for a couple of days.  I guess I would just suggest not spraying it in direct sunlight but it should be fine once the spray has dried.  My miracle fruit was in a pretty sorry state when I sprayed it and it finally has lots of new shoots emerging.  Sure wish I had used the Malathion sooner.

[bsbullie]

I had a miracle fruit that almost got killed by a bad infestation of green scale that I had tried to first control with oil several times.  I sprayed it once with Malathion and it was fast and very effective.  Wish I had sprayed it much sooner but it's making a comeback.

Thanks Harvey...I think I'll go the malathion route...just not sure when.  I've been reluctant because I'm scared to kill the plant I'm treating.

Not that any insecticide is good to "ingest" however Malathion is classified by US EPA as having "suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential."  The tests were with rats/mice.  Independent tests were also done with tadpoles and the outcome was not favorable for the tadpoles either.

[harveyc]

Malathion is fairly harsh so it's worthy of paying attention to safety when using it but it's fairly easy to apply safely and loses its toxicity fairly quickly.  As a farmer, I use some restricted use pesticides so I learn to apply them safely.  Isopropyl alcohol was mentioned above and is also something that has caused serious health problems for individuals.