Q: What can I do about scale insects on my sago palm?

A: Insect specialist Gretchen Pettis says:

“Catharine Mannion at the University of Florida has done a significant amount of research with the Cycad Scale. It is devastating the industry down there and unfortunately there are not a lot of options. Many growers simply have stopped producing cycad. Catharine has done research with both biological control agents and chemicals.

“I attended an Entomology meeting where she presented some of her data from this research. From what she presented, four applications of horticultural oil two weeks apart and with THOROUGH coverage did as well as the currently recommended chemical products in Florida