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Scale treatments

10 years ago

What is the best way to rid your plants of scale? I've been scraping them off and spraying my plants with a rubbing alcohol solution but they always seem to come back. It's on a few of my aloes and my orange tree. Please help!

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Comments (5)

pelargonium_gw
10 years ago
Scale is not the easiest pest to get rid of. Try scraping off as much as you can, and rub the scale you see with alcohol on a Q-tip. You can also buy pesticide tablets to stick into the soil. Worth a try... personally I toss pesty plants out in the bush behind the house.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
Scale in the crawler stage responds to topical treatments of various insecticides and rubbing alcohol, but the adults are protected by their shell. The least noxious effective treatment is a light horticultural oil, sometimes referred to as summer oil, perfect oil, or all season horticultural oil. The fastest and surest remedy is a systemic insecticide that is proven effective on scale. One of those is Bayer 3-in-1 Insect Disease and Mite Control. It is approved for use on houseplants, but should not be sprayed indoors. Read & follow directions carefully if you use it - as we should with any insecticidal remedy we use in/on our plantings.

Al
gour
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for the very good information. Will the Bayer 3-1 spray be ok to use on an orange tree you think?
gour
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for the very good information. Will the Bayer 3-1 spray be ok to use on an orange tree you think?
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
It will work well, but do not use it if you intend to eat the fruit. The label advises it's not to be used on plants for food.

Al

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