Question
Water Oak Bumps
I live in GA. I have a water oak that has small, dark, reddish-brown bumps about the size of a pea all along it's branches. The bumps are clustered along the entire branch. They appeared sometime last year. This spring I noticed also that the tree was producing small water droplets which fell like rain and covered the leaves with moisture. I'm not sure if the two are related. Can you tell me if the tree has a disease, or does it have an insect problem? How do I treat it? Thank you so much!
AnswerThese are scale insects. The insect lives under the "bump" and sucks the plant juices from the plant. They secrete a substance called honeydew which is high in sugar content and sticky. I would treat the tree with an insecticide called Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub Insect control This insecticide is applied to the soil around the tree and the roots will pick it up and carry it to the twigs and foliage and when the scale insect feed on the plant they are killed. This is a slow process and will take a week or so to effect the scales. It takes time for the insecticide to get into the trees system. This product will protect the tree for the whole season. Here is a web link to more information on this product. Check with your local garden type store for this product. http://www.bayeradvanced.com/tree-shrub-care/products/12-month-tree-shrub-insect...
There are also products that can be sprayed on the tree but for larger tree the soil applied works best since it can be hard to reach all branches when spraying..
