Scale insect

[vivi]

Does anyone know if cold weather affects scale insect?I 'rescued' a sad looking Butia last year from a local nursery.It was badly infested,I've tried everything to get rid of the scale insect,but the new leaves are emerging with it still,so do I risk planting it out with protection and hope the cold kills the infestation??

[simon]

Hi vivi, I don't know if the cold will kill off the scale insects but if the palm has been weekened by the infestation it may be more susceptible to frost so protect it well this winter. I would keep spraying it regularly with Provado and eventually you will get rid of them.

Make sure you use Provado because it is systemic, so it gets into a plants system for a few weeks and kills any insects that suck the sap rather than other insecticides that rely on direct contact with the bugs. Also give the top of the trunk a real good soak with it so that it runs down into where ther spears emerge. That is always thier last refuge and is why the new spears keep emerging with them on.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Had this have been spring, you would've had a longer period of time to kill off these very persistant pests. I've had some citrus plants that no matter what I use, systemic or not, scale insect always return. That may not be the case with your Butia.
Cold weather isn't likely to kill 'em. They're tougher than your palm.
Cheers, Barrie.

[Rootball]

With these kind of pests you have to fight them on all fronts.

• Repot the plant in fresh soil
  Use a new pot
  Carefully go over the plant and search all the nooks and crannies
  Tidy the surrounding area and check table surfaces, mats, materials
  Use Provado and spray into soil - or
  Encourage beneficial insects and buy biological controls

Hope that helps

[billdango]

Speaking from experience i have never saved a palm or any other plant from scale insect.
You can spray,prune or whatever but they will destroy your plant in the end.
If you wish to risk the rest of your collection try to save it but whatever you do don,t put it near any other palm or you will have to kiss them goodbye as well.
rgds Billdango.

[Vic]

vivi, winter will have no effect on scale no matter how severe it is unfortunatly.

You can completely eradicate scale its just a longer process that some might think. The scale penetrates quite deep into the growing point out of sight, so you may think you have got rid of them but a few will remain and therefore reproduce, ou just have to persist.

7 years ago i bought a very cheap butia from Mulu that was cheap because it was a sickly yellow colour due to a large infestation of scale. I used a product called eradicote back then which worked a treat, it is an organic product but is no longer available unless you are a commercial grower. It took about 18 months to clear the blighters and has been clear ever since and has in fact flowered the last 3 years!!


I have heard very good results in removing scale that is a very cheap, not done it myself but apparently a solution using used coffee grounds sprayed all over the plant ad even the used grounds spread around the base of the plant works well, it has no ill effect to the palm so i would suggest you give this a go.

Good luck

[turtile]

They aren't killed by cold. Now is a good time to spray with systemic insecticide to kill the last of the population before they overwinter.

[vivi]

Thanks to everyone for their valuable advice,I will persevere and try the coffee too!

[Nigel]

yes coffee does seem to work , you can also let it ferment a couple of days with water before spraying the fermented water.
There was a product called Buzz Off that also worked very well on both scale and Red Spider Mite.