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scale insects on citrus trees
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Author:  JPV315 [ Sun May 23, 2010 12:02 pm ]
Post subject:  scale insects on citrus trees

I was out inspecting my Mexican lime tree (named Lazarus, after returning from the dead) today and noticed a lot of scale insects. As far as I could tell they were all soft scale (no armored), and they were being tended to by ants (collecting the "dew"). One of them pretty much exploded when I was scaping it off w/ a bit of cypress mulch.

What is the best treatment to get rid of these scale bugs? I've read up a bit, and have found that due to their natural defenses (waxy coating), most sprays won't touch them (short of drowning the entire plant). Would physical removal (scraping/wiping) be best? I've been using some garlic-pepper tea (added a bit of concentrated plant wash for "sticking") for an insect deterrent, but I don't think this will do anything with the scale bugs.

I haven't released any lady bugs this year.

Any suggestions? Orange oil? etc?

Below is a picture of one of the larger scale bugs. Most are found on the stems/branches with a few on leaves (both sides) and some on unopened buds. I wish I had a nice macro lens to put on the camera to get more detail.

Image

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