Question
I was reading one of your earlier answers to scale on the sego.  I believe that is what we have although right now I have just found numerous brown "bumps" on the fronds.  Is this in fact scale and if so, what should we do.

Thank you,
Nanci

Answer
Dear Nanci, You definitely have scale on your sago palm.  Regular pesticides won't work on scale, because the hard shell covering protects the insect from most pesticides.  The trick to killing scale (on anything) is to spray with a lightweight horticultural oil - SunSpray is a good one.  Spray the plant thoroughly, top and bottom of fronds and spray well in the center of the plant.  Spraying on a sunny day is most effective with horticultural oil because after a few hours in the sun it will lift up any honeydew residue left behind on the plant by the scale isects, (and it will also lift off powdery mildew off crape myrtles).  Just don't spray flowering plants with oil in the sun as it is bad for bees.  You will need to spray several times about a week apart.  You will know the scale is dead when it washes off easily.  The heavier the infestation, the more times you will need to spray, but this is very effective and you will have your sago bug free long before summer.  Good luck, Melissa