1mm white pods on juniper leaves, pest?

froufrou

Found some <1mm white dry pods on my shimpaku juniper leaves. Should I be worried? Fingernail removes them easily.

Not sure if it's alive or some dried paint. Oval in shape, pod like.

A common pest?

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waltr

A picture would help.
Where are you located? That would help as will.

OK, guess #1. I occasionally get what likes like a growth on Junipers. In mid-spring when its warm and get a long rain they split open and a gelatin glob expands out. This is one stage of Cedar Apple Rust, a fungus. It does seem to hurt the junipers, just ugly for a few days.

Guess #2. They are Juniper berries, the forming seeds of the Juniper. They take about a year to ripen and will turn a dark blue color. They can be used in cooking to season meat.

walt

froufrou

Thanks for the details man I'll keep an eye on it and see.

I'll try and take pics, probably difficult with their small size.

Maybe I have been overmisting them and it is the fungus you say.

BarbaraM

Could it be scale? There is a white variety. http://www.yates.com.au/ProblemSolver/ScaleInsects.asp

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froufrou

Thanks for the pics Barbara.

It kind of looks like the white scale in the photo, but not as irregularly shaped. More like an oval dome. I've looked at other scale photos online, definitely could be scale.

Think it may be a type of armored scale.

Not that numerous, just a few here and there. No concentrations.

Tried to take pics but my camera can't focus so close.

I gently scaped the white pod off two of them and found a brown item under it. Doesn't move though, so not sure if it's a pest or scarring.

The article says 3-5mm, mine are definitely about 1mm. Basically a little less than the width of a leaf.

Any non-plant-harmful measures I can take in case it is scale? Will manually scaping them off help a little? There's not much really. How likely to spread to other junipers and pines?

I'll bring it to my bonsai club meeting and ask them what they think.

anttal63

white fly watch to not overwater and spray.

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PatArizona

"...I'll bring it to my bonsai club meeting...".

Very good move, Frou...

Pat

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MyTau

It is scale, the white "cocoon is a queen, the attaches her sucker to the needle and the stuff you find when you scrape your finger nail over it is usually the eggs that start to hatch in May. Do your fingers turn purplish from squishing it? My mugo pine I planted 4 summers ago has it. I'm trying to fight it by scraping them off, but there are a lot. Down the line I had planned on using it as a Bonsai (it is still in the ground), so I'm glad it is still pre-Bonsai. I'm going to prune it way back. It's hard to kill them at this stage the best time is when the eggs start to hatch, first in May, then they have another hatching cycle later in the summer, July I think. Wind spreads them, birds, so if you have any other conifer near it move them. I don't like to use chemicals so if you start now and keep using your fingernails then you may get it done before they hatch. Also do any of your needles have some little light green spots on it? They would be about the size of a half grain of rice, and a little skinnier too. Just google scale and you will get all kinds of information on it. Unfortunately I have uninformed neighbors all over the park who have it, and it keeps spreading.

froufrou

I used the recommended homemade spray twice (3 days in between), and scraping, and haven't seen anymore. May come back later, not sure. Hope not.

Did bring it to my bonsai club, they said it was scale. They recommended just using Q-tip and alcohol and dab on each one.