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Scale

  • Thread starter dewy
  • Start date
How do you get rid of scale? Some of my non-cp have scale on them. I have sprayed them with Orthro several times, but the scale just won't die. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
PS- Some of the Orthro drifed on my moms tomato plant. Is it ok to eat the tomatoes from it or will it be too dangerous?
Thanks,
dewy
 
Scale is a hard one.
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I've been there. I got scale on my cephs...and they are back on my one remaining ceph. I used a systemic spray. It seemed to work and didn't hurt the plants. You can also hand pick them off but the babies are hard to see and can hide all over. That's what makes getting rid of them so hard.

I don't know about eating things sprayed with insecticide. It should tell you on the label. But if you are talking about drift, I'd say a good washing would make it alright.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (PlantAKiss @ July 14 2006,12:03)]Scale is a hard one.  
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 I've been there.  I got scale on my cephs...and they are back on my one remaining ceph.  I used a systemic spray.  It seemed to work and didn't hurt the plants.  You can also hand pick them off but the babies are hard to see and can hide all over.  That's what makes getting rid of them so hard.

I don't know about eating things sprayed with insecticide.  It should tell you on the label.  But if you are talking about drift, I'd say a good washing would make it alright.
The label said not to use it on anything that might be used as food.

These scale just won't die
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No matter how much systemic insectide I use, they just keep coming back.
dewy
 
Does scale do any damage? I see them all the time on phyllodia - they seem to leave new pitchers alone.
 
Scale will suck the life out of your plant.  Not if its a large plant and there are only a few...but they spread (breed) pretty rapidly. I've seen some books recommend just pitching your plant if its heavily invested.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Alvin Meister @ July 14 2006,1:32)]Does scale do any damage? I see them all the time on phyllodia - they seem to leave new pitchers alone.
They are not on my cp, they are in some other plants I grow. I would like to stop them, though, before the spread to my cp.
dewy
 
they are like aphids but harde to get rid of. i had just 2 or 3 adults(cemented to the leaf) on my nep and just scraped them off...nevr returned.
Alex
 
Merit works good on scale, but is expecive. Since you say its only on a few plants there is a cheaper alternative. Go to Lowes and look in the insect spray isle. Bayer makes an insect spray for rose and flowers. It contains Merit, a systemic insectacide. Its the same stuff frontline is made of for dogs. Its premixxed and costs about 5 buck or so. There is a three in one that has fertilizer, and one that doesn't just read carfully. Word of warning though. This stuff does not kill mites but will kill other preditors that feed on mites and keep mites in control. So if there are mites you may kill the scale, and allow the mites population to explode.

An alternative would be to hand pick off the scale with rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip. It just takes persistance to get them all as they hide easily.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Does scale do any damage? I see them all the time on phyllodia - they seem to leave new pitchers alone.

Scale is like armoured aphids. The adults plant themselves down on a spot and tap in to the plants vascular system, pulling out sugars. Much like aphids, they create a dew, but it's black and can prevent light from reaching leaves if it falls on one. The youngin's are free roaming so they can move wherever they like and settle down.

They're both interesting and disgusting. While they're sorta like barnacles for plants (in appearance,) the organism under the hardened shell is quite odd in that it seems to be made of hairy, stringy stuff.

As for danger: it depends on the development of the infestation, the size/strength of the plant, the environment, and probably on the species of scale. I get a few scale here or there on my plants outside- no big deal, I just scrape them off. But if you have plants inside a greenhouse or other controlled environment, you want the scale fully and completely dead.

Scale... Yuck. When I think of it, I feel like making a disgusted face much like Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) would make when facing a plate of his mom's "dinner."
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  • #10
I don't have a problem with scale when the plants are outside.  Any adults already attached seem to survive for a while, but no replacements appear.  I think natural predators, such as the red (not spider) mites feed on the baby scale insects.  I spray Neem or Organocide or some similar stuff before bringing them back in for the fall and spray again within a couple weeks when there's warm enough weather for everything to go back out.  I keep an eye out for any recurrence, which I handle with alcohol on a q-tip.
 
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