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Scales
Soft scales are a problem of woody plants here in Cambria
California.
Scales appear as crusty bumps on bark and leaves. Soft scales are related to mealybugs and armored scales. Many soft scales look like mealybugs as they are
covered with a white, powdery wax during part of their life. Soft scales feed on
plant tissue and excrete large quantities of undigested sap, called honeydew.
Soft scales develop an external skeleton that looks like a shell. Female scales
lay eggs or produce living young beneath their bodies. The egg-laying females
die and shrivel and the skeletons protect the eggs until they hatch. The young
scales, now called crawlers, move away from the protection of the skeleton and
find a new place to feed. It is at the crawler stage (usually in spring and
summer) that the scales are more
susceptible to insecticides. To check for crawlers you can wrap double-sided
sticky tape around branches, if you find crawlers trapped on the tape, you know
it is the right time to apply insecticide.
Suggested solution
The suggested solution for scales here in Cambria California
is to spray with horticultural oil and treat the area around the base of the
plant with ant stakes or granules. The horticultural oil eliminates the scales
and the ant stakes stop the ants, which bring new scales to the area. In extreme
cases. rubbing alcohol can be applied to the scales.
How to prevent Scale
Products we sell at Cambria Nursery & Florist to control Scale
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Horticultural oil
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Ant stakes and powder
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Cambria Nursery and Florist
