Posted by Tom Broome on 10/30/2008, 10:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Asian scale"
205.188.117.67
--Previous Message--
: I got a call today from the ag
: inspector and they say scale is
: confirmed pending a definite
: analysis from the ag
: dept.entymologist. the revolutas
: have been isolated and now tracking
: shipments has commenced for
: containment.
:
: Well,this really scares me. No
: region is safe. I never thought this
: would visit me persoanally this way.
: I fear for my own collection now.
:
: Tom,any suggestions on preventative
: actions I can take for my plants?
: I;m going to apply imidicloprid
: right now.,but i'm sure you have
: ideas on more steps.
:
You may be getting a bit too paranoid, but on the other hand, it is good to be sure. Using the Imidicloprid the proper way is a good way to keep the scale off, but I'd just use the coffee as a muclh in your pots, or on the ground if you are worried. If you don't see the scales on your plants, then the only place they could be hiding would be in the roots and placing used coffee grounds as a mulch about twice a year is a good, long term preventative to keep the scale away. If you want, and don't mind using something harsh this one time to make you feel better, go ahead and spray all your cycas species with Orthene and drench with it in the soil. Not much survives Orthene if it is already on your plant. CAS is really very easy to kill, the problem around here is that it is all over the place, so new scales can get on your plants once you have cleaned them up, but for you, if there is not any scales around, you can treat your plants a couple of times with something like Orthene and you can be sure that your plants are clean. I remember many years ago, I made a trade for a couple of Cycas micholitzii plants with someone in Miami and when I got down there, the plants were covered with CAS. At that time, micholitziis were almost impossible to get, so I got them abd brought them back with me. I dug a big square hole and lined it with greenhouse plastic and filled it with water and poured a bottle of Orthene in the hole. Then I submerged the entire plants leaves and pot and everything in the water for an hour. Those plants never showed the first sign of the scale and they were fine. For me, my nursery is sort of isolated so there isn't any scale anywhere close enough for them to fly on any of my plants, so if I were to bring in a plant that was covered, I could treat it once reall good and it would stay clean. I am thinking you will be like that as well.
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