scale insects

hugh · Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:16 pm

I bought my potted bay tree indoors for the Canadian winter. It appears to have attracted scale insects. Does anyone have any advice? I am a bit worried as 1) we use it as a herb so I am looking for something non systematic and not too obnoxious and 2) bays are a bit of a sensitive plant.

The rosemary that is next to it is also not looking to happy about life either.

Hugh Phillips,
Quebec

opabinia51 · Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:02 pm

Try giving it a weekly dose of Neem Oil. You can read about Neem Oil in the General Forum. It used to be a sticky but, should be near the top of the forum now.

The Helpful Gardener · Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:58 am

Neem would play with the flavor of the bay too much; I might just try olive oil to start (oil coats and suffocates the insects, so coat them good). I have saved my rosemary from many pests with just a squirt from the Misto...

HG

hugh · Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:04 pm

Thank you I had heard that suffocation was the solution. I will try the olive oil route

A friend has recommended Safer's soap spray but, as I said, I was worried as it was an edible plant about using any non 100% natural solution.

Thanks again.

The Helpful Gardener · Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:52 pm

Safer's is named that for a reason; their stuff is generally safer than everything else. Soap washes off pretty well, but not very effective against scale...try the oil...

HG

opabinia51 · Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:55 pm

Olive Oil? That'sa cool idea. I'll put that in my "bucket o nifty gardening tricks".

I know that you are fine with eating or rather ingesting the neem oil Scott, but given the effects of Azaradactrin (I'm not sure about the spelling there), I just assume wash it off. I know it's supposed to be safe, but, that's just me.

hugh · Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:38 am

Thanks the oil seems the ideal solution.

Hugh Phillips

The Helpful Gardener · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:51 am

The neem would be more effective Opa, but the bay is all about flavor. Taste your neem oil and get back to me...

Scott

opabinia51 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:08 pm

You know, something that just came to mind is the autoxidation of oils. When oils come into contact with light (and oxygen with light) well, not to get to technical, it leads to the spoilage of oils. So, that may be something to keep in mind.

Ie) The oil will spoil after being sprayed on the plant.

Another thing that can happen with oils undergoing autoxidations is that they can form very strong, hard coatings. (This is why linoleic acid is rubbed on wood as a protective coating).

Anyway, just something to keep in mind.