Safe to save rhizomes from scale infested plant?

9 years ago

Hi everyone,

I've got a neglected Philodendron Xanadu (Winterbourne) plant here that I discovered today was infested with little brown scale insects.

I read that propagation with this plant is really only possible by division if you can separate an offshoot rhizome.

So, I cut off all the leaves and stems and dug out the root system and separated a few chunks that had roots of their own and some stem remaining from where I cut the leaves off.

My question is, can I safely keep these parts and try to grow a new plant, or will there be scale insects infested in them as well?

I can see the adults quite easily, but I don't know if there are invisible babies I might not notice, etc.

I was thinking about doing a thorough visual inspection and using an alcohol soaked cotton swab to remove any insects I may find around the rhizomes (and maybe even rubbing alcohol around stem areas where I don't see them) then spraying the whole mess (roots and all) with Safer's Insecticidal Soap (since that's all I have), letting it all sit for an hour or so, then rinsing everything thoroughly with water before planting the bits into new soil. At that point I was thinking I'd spray the above soil stem portion (and surrounding soil) with more of the insecticidal soap and place it somewhere to hopefully re-grow.

That's all I can come up with to try to start some new scale-free plants. Does anyone think it would work? Is it risking more scale?

If I have to biff the entire plant into the trash, I'm totally fine with doing that as scale freaks me out.

Comments (2)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
I don't feel qualified to give you advice, but couldn't pass this by without offering all sympathies!

Winter before last, I thought I saw scale on one of my palm trees, which was confirmed by putting pics in palm forum. I spent a few hours with q-tips and alcohol, cleaning the stems and petioles. IDK if I happened to catch it at an opportune moment for that to be successful, but haven't seen any more scales on that tree. I hope you are equally successful finding a way to keep your plant, but not the scales. Sending good vibes!!
summersunlight
9 years ago
Any part of the plant could potentially have scale on it.
Taking a rhizome from it probably will make it easier to fight the scale than trying to fight scale on a huge plant just because that means there is less surface area for the scale to hide.

My approach to pests is to take a "Nuke them from orbit" approach to try to stop them since they can be so insidious. It's not at all unusual that it will look like they're gone but then they pop up again shortly afterwards.

You have to be prepared to repeat your treatments every few days for a while, because multiple generations of scale will pop up and you can't be sure that one treatment will catch them all.

If I were you, I would get a spray bottle and SPRAY the plant with rubbing alcohol (yes, there are probably tiny invisible baby scale you can't see - you want to thoroughly soak it).
I really like using Neem Oil on my plans. I find that Dyna Gro Neem Oil seems pretty effective, so if you can afford it, I would also order some Dyna Gro Neem Oil and mix it with dish soap and water as the directions advise. I would alternate between days of spraying/soaking with rubbing alcohol and spraying/soaking with the Neem Oil mixture.
You should spray it after the sun goes down to make sure the plant leaves aren't burnt by the mixture.

I would do that every few days for a few weeks to catch those new generations.

Scale isn't easy to get rid of and some people say that once you have it, it never goes away - although I suspect that MAY be because a lot of people do not commit to treating the plant every few days for several weeks, and just treating it once or twice won't necessariyl get rid of all the scale.

If this plant isn't all that meaningful to you then it might be easier to just throw it away and start over with a new one.
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