Armored Scale Insects on Schefflera Plant

[AmandaTweetssen]

hi!
I have a question about Armored Scale insects.
I had a Schefflera plant that was VERY infested (got it from a grocery store) and I had to get rid of it. so sad.

My question is...will the bugs survive elsewhere in my house once the plant is gone? I've got the creeps since cleaning up all of the sticky honeydew and am now paranoid that they will still be in my house. lol (can you tell I am new to the the plant world?) lol I have looked everywhere for an answer to this question but only found resources on how to kill them from your plant. Not whether they get into other surfaces and survive there. Thanks!

[tomc]

Buy some insectisidal soap ( stress soap not detergent) or make your own with 1 teaspoon of Dr Bonner, or Ivory liquid per quart of water in a spray bottle. it will dry out the scales and they will drop off. Expect to spray daily for a week or more to get all and eggs.

The other scheme is to use a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol and daub scales.

These little bugs and white fly are everywhere. Get used to it. Sorry.

[rainbowgardener]

But if the question is now that the plant is gone, can the scale insects still be in your house , the answer is no . Not unless you have other house plants anyway . Scale insects can spread from plant to plant . But they're plant juice suckers. They can't live very long away from plants .