Are these what i think they are?!?!?!?!?!

eeiko321

hi guys

i was looking around in my garden......and there is a lemon tree.......

looking at the leaves...........YUK.................are these what i think they are?
(scale?)
because of that im chopping the whole tree down this weekend

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nfimb

where is your garden?

chansen

In my experience scale tend to congregate on stems and branches, not leaves. Scale are sap suckers, so you're not likely to find them on leaves.

I'd be hesistant to chop a tree down for something yet unidentified.

AndyWilson

Post a clearer picture. Cutting down a tree because of a few pests is a bit daft IMO.

Scale like most bugs are easily treatable (if it is scale)

october

Hello eeiko321.....Yes, it is almost definitely scale from the pics you showed. I battled scale for 3 years on my bonsai and finally won the battle a couple of years back. They are one of the worst things that can happen to trees.

I have read hundreds of articles and did 3 years of research into this pest.

I would like to warn you that this can become a real serious issue. Scale is one of the hardest pests to eradicate, sometimes, impossible. Scale nests on every part of the tree. How it works is, the babies are born with legs..they crawl around and find a nice spot to settle down. Then they lose their legs and begin sucking on the spot they are in. As they feed. They keep secreting a fluid that keeps building up a protective shell. If you have ever seen oyster shell scale, it is the worst kind, they look like little oysters on your trees and are immune to most pesticides because of this protective armor like shell. Scale have a peircing structure that they stick into the tree to suck the juice from it. You'll notice that they are so stuck on the tree that if you try to take them off, they may actually tear in half and leave part of themselves on the tree. Live scale smear and bleed, if they are dead, they just flake off.

In time, the adults lay their eggs underneath the protective shell. So even if you pic them off, you must spray a form of hoticultural oil or a systemic in the soil to kill the remaining eggs. Also, they tend to keep coming back. You would need to pick off all the scale you see, then spray...then wait about 4 weeks, pick all of them off again, then spray again. If they persist, you can add a systemic instead of the spray during the 4 week cycle. However, since this is a garden tree. I don't know if I would use a systemic. Don't want it getting into other root systems of near by trees.

What is happening now with your tree is a bad infestation. In the beginning phases, the scale migrate on the bark, crevaces and branches and undersides of leaves. As the infestation grows, they begin making there way to the tops of the leave along the middle vein of the leaf. They basically suck the tree until its dead.

I also must be the bearer of more bad news. Scale is extremely invasive and spreading, they will jump from tree to tree until they get almost every one. However, they tend to go for fruiting and flowering trees first. Sometimes, they will leave the others alone.

There are many kinds of scale, juniper white scale, oyster shell scale, soft brown. Yours don't look like oyster, however I would need a close up pick.

Depending on how big and how expensive the tree is. Cutting it down may be a good option to consider. If it is extremely infested. However, if it is not a big tree, try using a horticultural oil spray on it. However, you must read the label. These oils cannot be used in extreme cold or extreme heat. Also, read the label for species that it should not be used on. If the scale is on the tops of the leaves, you have a full on infestation. Also, if it is cold in your area and the scale are that abundant, that is even a worse infestation.

You will need to check all, I repeat, all your trees. Bonsai, landscape everthing. Normally the first step when scale is discovered is to isolate it immediately from all other plants. If no other tree in your home or landscape have it, getting rid of it might be a good option I wish you luck

Rob.

Repotter

Thats like saying "the bridge needs a coat of paint, I'll just tear it down instead"

You can control scale with a good dormant oil spray.
Follow the directions and repeat as often as allowed.

Don't kill a tree because of bugs.

__________________
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The original Four Seasons Bonsai Club of Michigan.
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"Anything is possible when you don't know what you are doing"................someone famous I think.

susieq

I have had scale on my tropicals once or twice.... I did not find them hard to get rid of once I found them. They will spread quickly if you are not paying attention. Though it is not available everywhere, we are lucky to be able to buy and use Cygon insecticide here. I usually go to one of the do it yourself pest control places to buy it as the big box stores rarely have it in stock. Two teaspoons in a gallon of water in a pump up sprayer and give everything a good soaking in it. Gets rid of aphids, scale and that nasty girdle beetle that junipers get sometimes. Those are the main pests that I have to deal with. I spray about 3 times through the summer on the junipers just as a precaution. I spray the tropicals only when I see a problem.

Cygon will not harm anything that I am aware of. I have used it on Fukien Tea, malpigghias, junipers....oh, I forgot, my elm didn't seem to care for it so I don't spray the elm trees with it. But boxwoods, anything else I have named, especially pine trees for Pine Tip Moth...very bad here....kill a pine before you know it's infected. Cygon is great stuff.

eeiko321

heya rob thanks for that advice, i have posted a newer picture.....the other was too blurry and it was getting dark so the flash made it worse...
this pic is the best i can get it, i dont have a hi-tech camera.

anyways, YOUR RIGHT.............as you can see from the pics, they actually all hang on the STEM vein of the leaves.... well when i pulled one off i squished it and there was guts and liquid so its DEFINATELY some sort of scale. they have no legs....but this type doesnt actually mould itself into the leaf as some do. u can peel them off.
its a purplish pink.

i got Confidor, a systemic spray........i tested it.....(not that i would waste any on my lemon tree) it didnt work........none have died.

well it isnt close to my bonsais......its around a good........6 metres away.
i never wanted that tree and thought of excuses to cut it down. it affects my lawn mowing. but the neighbours said they loved the lemons off them etc.
but now........scale.......and chance to spread ........ mate the tree is GOING!

im borrowing a CHAINSAW TOMORROW!

not that i like being destructive.....its just that i dont wana bother to treat that tree that i dont need.

eeiko321

picture

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