Re: Brown Scale on ferns

Does anyone have a picture of the crawlers?  Brown
scale is my WORST Platy pest.

RV

--- Betty Hamilton <bkhamilton@earthlink.net> wrote:

> 	Bob, you don't have to wonder about the horrid
> suckers, you can point 
> a warm to hot light at the adults, they are
> reputedly sedentary, and 
> with your loupe watch them pick up their skirts and
> head for cooler 
> climes!  In fact, it is a horrifying show.  Then
> there is the mobility 
> of the crawlers, which I'll bet is a lot greater
> than you might 
> imagine.  They are nothing except a little blob of
> body, antennae and 
> long, long legs.  They would be great airfoils, as
> Louis suggests.
> 	There is an insecticide called icpricorde (not
> spelled right - I'll 
> check in morning) that is a root absorbed systemic,
> and will kill any 
> bug that eats the the tissues of a plant that has
> been treated with it. 
>   It is found in a rose food made by Bayer, along
> with a systemic 
> fungicide, and as the sole active ingredient in
> GrubX to treat lawns 
> for ......TADA.......grubs.   Probably other
> products as well.  Anyway, 
> I am going to treat my houseplants while it is still
> warm here, and try 
> to clear all the fungus gnats out while I have the
> chance.  My guess is 
> that it will do a number on scale, too.  The
> treatment should last for 
> a week or more, and one would hope that the various
> chewing and sucking 
> pests would come out in that time, and if not  a
> second treatment 
> should do the trick.    Has anyone else tried this
> stuff?
> 
> Betty in South Bend IN,
> where summer was long and mild, and the fall is just
> around the corner!
> 
> 
> 
> On Sep 9, 2004, at 8:29 PM, Bob Needham wrote:
> 
> > ferns@hort.net,
> >
> > O.K., before I nuke my plant collection to sve the
> planet, I figured
> > that I need to learn a little bit more about the
> enemy. That's right,
> > I'm talking about the terrorists of the turf, the
> Taliban of the fern
> > world, SCALE!
> >
> > As soon as I notice scale, I take the infected
> plant to a separate 
> > room, "The Hospital".
> > It's about 50 feet away, and if I was a bug their
> size with their
> > (probably) short lifespan, I figure that's like me
> trying to walk from
> > California to New York without food or water over
> terrain like the 
> > Grand
> > Canyon (carpet). So that should work, right? I
> fastidiously wash my 
> > hands after touching infected plants. I have been
> treating them with a 
> > Pyrethrin (0.02%) and Piperonyl Butoxide (0.2%)
> commercial spray that 
> > claims to kill both thrips & scale. I have been
> diluting it to 50% 
> > with water (adding a drop of liquid dish soap as a
> surfactant) because 
> > it seems to really whack the ferns.
> >
> > When I treat an infected plant, I spray, then
> hand-inspect all 
> > surfaces with a 10X loupe, scraping up and
> disturbing any scale I see 
> > with an X-Acto blade, letting my Witches Brew do
> it's deadly task! 
> > BWAAA-Haa-Haa! This does seem to be effective.
> Plants are then 
> > inspected every few days, and treated again if
> necessary. If the plant 
> > shows no more signs of infection after a week or
> two, it goes to a 
> > separate "Recovery Room" for another week or two
> for observation. 
> > Plants in these rooms do not touch, and I do more
> handwashing than a 
> > doctor. If the plants then seem to be "clean" they
> are then allowed to 
> > return to normal civilian life, providing Oxygen
> for my few remaining 
> > brain cells.
> >
> > O.K., here's the questions:
> > 1) I've already figured out that Thrips can fly
> (I've swatted a few 
> > and put their sorry little mangled remains under
> the ferocious glare 
> > of a stereomicroscope). It's a little like trying
> to figure out what 
> > kind of a watch it was before a truck ran over it,
> but if you get 
> > enough samples (and learn to swat gently), one can
> figure it out 
> > eventually.
> > 2) Here's the main question: All the scale I've
> seen leads me to 
> > believe that they are pathetic little feeble
> slimebutts with brains 
> > the size of DUST-MOTES, SO WHY ARE THEY
> OUTSMARTING ME!@!!!!!!!O.K., 
> > O.K., I got a little carried away there...
> BREATHE!  O.K., I'm better 
> > now. But seriously, folks
> >
> >
>
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