Question
Hi Darlene,
I read your post about what to do for a ficus with the scale problem and appreciate the help. We have had it for 9 yrs. and has occupied a spot in our family room here in Michigan. Unfortunately, my wife and I feel it's not worth the hassel to work on it this late in the season. As you suggested had it been spring we would have denuded it and had it outside in the garage all summer to get it back on it's feet but as we approach winter it would be difficult to work with because of other committments. So it will be moved to the garage to spend it's final days there.

My questions are: How does a tree that you have had for 9 yrs. and taken very good care of suddenly develope this kind of problem?

Also we have an Areca palm that we have set outside in front of our garage every year for the last 5 yrs. (the garage faces north and it grows beautifully) and then take it to the basement for the winter. It did develope the scale one winter too but it went away as soon as we took it outside in the spring. I had no knowledge of what the sticky residue was until I read your message here. If the palm were to develope the problem again can I treat it the same way as the ficus with the Neem oil and rubbing alcohol protocol?

Thank you for your time.

Gene


Answer
Gene,

Scale are insects and because of the warmer weather seem to be getting worse than ever before. I live in northern Indiana so i am not that far. If you want to try a quick fix for the ficus that is a little chancier but if you are keeping it in the garage anyway might be worth it. Go to your garden center and pick up a bottle of Malathion. This is a powerful chemical so you should never use it in the house, the garage is okay but if it is above 60 degrees I would even take it outdoors for a couple hours in the driveway. Mix the Malathion according to the lable directions then put it in a sprayer and spray the tree thoroughly getting the tops and bottoms of all leaves and the surface of the soil. Then leave it sit until it dries and take it in to the garage. Malathion is a strong chemical and will kill all the scale in one application including eggs. The tree may drop a lot of leaves after the application so I would not take it in the house immediately. In fact if it is warm enough (above a low of 50 degrees) to leave it outdoors for a couple of days I would do that, in it's normal outdoors location. You may still see the scale on the leaves because they do not fall off but they will be dead. The tree will loose a lot of leaves and replace them on it's own because of the infestation and the Malathion treatment but it should come back.

As for your palm question, yes the Neem oil and rubbing alcohol protocol will work in that situation and I would not use Malathion on a palm. As you found with your palm scale does have some natural enemies that sometimes find it when plants are put outdoors and it can disappear naturally. The only time I resort to Malathion is on a plant that my decision is okay, this is going to kill it or cure it and that is okay because it could go either way, malathion can be very hard on plants but very effective against insects. It is a strong chemical and I am normally angainst those unless a plant that I would really like to same is in jeopordy and I am feeling desperate. ONLY USE IT OUTDOORS! Good luck with your palm and your ficus.