Question
On several of our saga palms a thick dusting of a white powdery substance is on the leaves.Small gnat looking bugs are flying about. What should we do to treat this infestation?

Answer
Hi Anne, what you have on your Sagos are Aulacaspis Scale, its an insect that will eventually kill your Sago if you don't take the proper action; this action is two fold, first you need to spray the entire plant with a Horticultural Oil (ie: Ultra-Fine Oil...Organocide....or Soluble Oil Spray (Ace Hardware carries this one)..if your Sago is growing new fronds, then also use "Bayer Flower and Rose systemic" but this only works if the plant is actively growing, let me explain, when a Sago is actively putting out new growth, it will uptake the systemic, which is a drench that goes into the ground, but if it is in a non growing stage, it won't uptake the systemic and would be a waste of time and money. when the systemic is taken up into the plant, it kills the scale because they are sucking the juices of the plant and the systemic poisons them. The oil that you will be applying suffocates the scale; when you prepare the oil (per instructions) make sure to add a teaspoon of dish soap, this helps the oil solution adhere better to the scale. This procedure will be done twice, applied in the late afternoon, allowed to work overnight killing the scale, and then sprayed off the next morning, washing off the residual oil and dead scale, then again that afternoon and washed off again the next morning, this procedure will need to be done on a monthly basis to keep the scale under control. Nick