Killing and controlling methods for scales

[RichardN]

I use GardenTech Seven to kill scales and it work quite well at a rate of 2.5 ounce to 1 gallon for my citrus and mango trees. Please share your methods  on controlling the scale population using pesticides or organic.

[Tropicaliste]

I have tried Neem, Earth Raid, and the only thing that worked has been scraping scale off using a business card. Lol. I will look into what product you used. Thanks

[FlyingFoxFruits]

for small plants, you can drown them....just submerge the plant for a day or two...

some plants might not like this treatment, but I find most can handle it quite well.

[Tropicaliste]

Drowning? It's interesting, I used to use a candle lighter, but felt "I wouldn't want to be burned alive", and stopped. Lol, drowning would probably make me equally as queasy. They love attacking moringa. I may try drowning them on moringa.

[xshen]

I was given a cambuca that was infested with scale and I got rid of it by squishing them with my fingers with no gloves for smaller sized trees.  Check every other day to make sure they are completely gone.  You're bound to miss a few of the smaller ones.  Squish them before they are able to reproduce again.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Drowning? It's interesting, I used to use a candle lighter, but felt "I wouldn't want to be burned alive", and stopped. Lol, drowning would probably make me equally as queasy. They love attacking moringa. I may try drowning them on moringa.

lol...u picked the one plant that I think might hate being subjected to inundation!

but I think for one day it should be fine!

I wonder how many hours it takes to actually drown them??

my guess is about 4-8?

[RichardN]

I have tried Neem, Earth Raid, and the only thing that worked has been scraping scale off using a business card. Lol. I will look into what product you used. Thanks

Years ago I use Neem oil but work extremely slow to the point that those booger produce faster then Neem could kill them.

[TnTrobbie]

Horti oils worked for a while on my over ran Alano sappo, but for some reason young scale wasn't affected anymore by it. Reluctantly, one application of Sevin killed em all (ants and scale). I'm a believer and plan to use it as a last resort...reponsibly.

[FrankDrebinOfFruits]

Horti oils worked for a while on my over ran Alano sappo, but for some reason young scale wasn't affected anymore by it. Reluctantly, one application of Sevin killed em all (ants and scale). I'm a believer and plan to use it as a last resort...reponsibly.

Sometimes its better to use Sevin and have the tree survive, than have the tree die a slow organic approved death.

[Tropicaliste]

I've left plants in the cold too, that got rid of scale. Nearly kills your plant though. My preferred method is scraping them off. I don't like to use my finger but a card or tip of shears works.

Moringa is like catnip to them. I even pugged a plant in the past to rid it of scale.  I need to look into the seven product, but would that ruin moringa? It's moringa leaves that we eat.

[Mark in Texas]

If temps are under 90F when you apply and 24 hours thereafter, a mix of dormant oil and malathion is the ticket.  Just got rid of soft scale on a blood orange.  Wouldn't have notice it if I hadn't seen the soot.

Also, keep control of ants.

[bsbullie]

I wohld not be using oils in temps above 80 and not in full sun.

[skhan]

Here my first success story on defeating scale (for now)

In the past I've used sevin with great success on scale but this time i wanted to try something that wont kill everything beneath the drip line.

I have a purple Caimito in my front yard. It hasn't been looking that well but after taking Cookie Monsters advice and applying sulfur it looks great. (also added peat and mulch to the topsoil)

I noticed in August while in mist of a new growth flush there was green scale on most of the young stems.
The first thing i did was apply Neem oil in the evenings, maybe 2 or 3 times that week. (I have no idea if Neem is good for scale, but its all I had)
One week later i stared noticing assassin bugs crawling around. I applied some diatomaceous earth to the base, sprayed it one more time and left.
The next week I saw a whole bunch of assassin bugs and a few white crawling things, which i later found out was the assassin bug larvae. Scale was down to about 40%
The next week i didn't see and adult assassin bugs but a few of the larvae was still present. Scale at 10%

Last time i check caimito is scale free and haven't seen any assassin bug on it recently

This is by not means a scientific experiment, just a few of my observations.

[Cookie Monster]

Yep, I think neem oil is effective against soft scale. Hard scale (eg, lobate lac) seems to be more of a challenge.

I definitely wouldn't use sevin :-). That's like using a stick of dynamite to kill a fly. All of your beneficials will go belly-up. Its great if you need a sterile soil medium (for shipping across state lines for example), but not so great if you like worms, millipedes, etc.

AzaSol and BotaniGard have worked well for me, and neither product contains oil, so there is no risk of burning. The only drawback (beside cost of course) is that both products degrade pretty quickly. AzaSol has a lifespan if about 2 years, botanigard 6 months to a year.

And with the above in mind -- neem oil's active ingredient (azadirachtin) can degrade fairly quickly, especially if stored in a hot garage. You should store them in a a/c controlled environment.

[onur]

Yep, I think neem oil is effective against soft scale. Hard scale (eg, lobate lac) seems to be more of a challenge.

I definitely wouldn't use sevin :-). That's like using a stick of dynamite to kill a fly. All of your beneficials will go belly-up. Its great if you need a sterile soil medium (for shipping across state lines for example), but not so great if you like worms, millipedes, etc.

AzaSol and BotaniGard have worked well for me, and neither product contains oil, so there is no risk of burning. The only drawback (beside cost of course) is that both products degrade pretty quickly. AzaSol has a lifespan if about 2 years, botanigard 6 months to a year.

And with the above in mind -- neem oil's active ingredient (azadirachtin) can degrade fairly quickly, especially if stored in a hot garage. You should store them in a a/c controlled environment.

Jeff, do you use both AzaSol and BotaniGard against scales? Or  AzaSol is enough?  Would you recommend spraying all of my plants with sulfur to get rid of scales and mold?

Thanks
Onur

[bsbullie]

Lobate Lac is a pain in the ass to control and can be a plant killer.

[LaCasaVerde]

If temps are under 90F when you apply and 24 hours thereafter, a mix of dormant oil and malathion is the ticket.  Just got rid of soft scale on a blood orange.  Wouldn't have notice it if I hadn't seen the soot.

Also, keep control of ants.

Second this. 

For hard scale- credit card scrape (pia) then malathion sprayed two feet in either non infested direction. Reapply after rain as it will wash off.  Also circle trunk at base to stop ants.  After several applications no further hard scale.

[roblack]

I spray them off my tree with a high pressure setting on the hose nozzle. Works great on small trees. Repeat every couple of days, and they seem pretty well under control

[onur]

If temps are under 90F when you apply and 24 hours thereafter, a mix of dormant oil and malathion is the ticket.  Just got rid of soft scale on a blood orange.  Wouldn't have notice it if I hadn't seen the soot.

Also, keep control of ants.

Second this. 

For hard scale- credit card scrape (pia) then malathion sprayed two feet in either non infested direction. Reapply after rain as it will wash off. 
Also circle trunk at base to stop ants.  After several applications no further hard scale.

Does it work against the soft scales too?

[LaCasaVerde]

If temps are under 90F when you apply and 24 hours thereafter, a mix of dormant oil and malathion is the ticket.  Just got rid of soft scale on a blood orange.  Wouldn't have notice it if I hadn't seen the soot.

Also, keep control of ants.

Second this. 
Has for me. Saw Marks post and responded as Ive used same mix and it worked. Only used it a couple times on soft scale and it stopped them. I use it every year on  black scale on Olive trees and it works for them as well, but these need to be scraped first as the malathion spray only kills the young ones before the shell hardens. Be carefull though on young trees without canopy shade protection as oil can burn as bsbullie referenced. Ive never had that issue though as I try to spot treat  areas not the whole tree. Like to hear what Marks opinon is. He may have more soft scale issues .

For hard scale- credit card scrape (pia) then malathion sprayed two feet in either non infested direction. Reapply after rain as it will wash off. 
Also circle trunk at base to stop ants.  After several applications no further hard scale.

Does it work against the soft scales too?

[LaCasaVerde]

I use GardenTech Seven to kill scales and it work quite well at a rate of 2.5 ounce to 1 gallon for my citrus and mango trees. Please share your methods  on controlling the scale population using pesticides or organic.

Im assuming for soft scale? Will Sevin kill hard scale? Id like to try this if so as Ive got an Olive tree that gets reinfested every year with hard back scale. My current method works for hard scale but it does get tedious scraping them off first.

[Saltee]

bayer systemic insecticide for fruit/vegs worked well for me. I only had a scale problem with my NDM. No other tree had them

Also a bowl of water and a wet rag to get off the majority. After I scrubbed them off, they kept coming back for a while until the tree got the systemic poison up to the top leaves, then they dried out flaked off and haven't been back since.

[Mark in Texas]

Sometimes its better to use Sevin and have the tree survive, than have the tree die a slow organic approved death.

Bravo!  It never ceases to amaze me how many will let their organic (religious) beliefs get in the way of controlling a pest the sure and safe way using approved and legal pesticides.  Having said that......

One or more apps of a horticultural oil with malathion will get them.  Best control is during the soft crawling stage but it will get the hard scale ones too.

If someone knows and has any "beneficials" I'd be glad to try them.   I rarely if ever spray veggies, rarely have any pest pressures but if and when I do I won't hesitate to use a pesticide.  Permethrin is one of the best.

Mark

[onur]

Sometimes its better to use Sevin and have the tree survive, than have the tree die a slow organic approved death.

Bravo!  It never ceases to amaze me how many will let their organic (religious) beliefs get in the way of controlling a pest the sure and safe way using approved and legal pesticides.  Having said that......

One or more apps of a horticultural oil with malathion will get them.  Best control is during the soft crawling stage but it will get the hard scale ones too.

If someone knows and has any "beneficials" I'd be glad to try them.   I rarely if ever spray veggies, rarely have any pest pressures but if and when I do I won't hesitate to use a pesticide.  Permethrin is one of the best.

Mark

Mark, is this the pesticide you are talking about? Does it also work against hard and soft shelled scales?

36.8 % Permethrin SFR 32 oz Pest Control Insecticide

https://www.amazon.com/36-8-Permethrin-Pest-Control-Insecticide/dp/B003IMO3I2/ref=pd_sbs_86_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003IMO3I2&pd_rd_r=BCWY94Y99W63YTXD4QYZ&pd_rd_w=Aa6uU&pd_rd_wg=rREAC&psc=1&refRID=BCWY94Y99W63YTXD4QYZ

[Vernmented]

How much of scale infestation has to do with ants? Control the ants, control the scale?