Re: Beautiful day, but...

Hi, Daryl. The cycad gurus say the most promising control is the systemic "Marathon," which is not available to Harry Homeowner--and very, very expensive even to the pro guys. Most other stuff doesn't work worth dog poo. We've used Talstar for the last 2 years; it knocked it down but didn't eradicate it--apparently it migrates to the plants roots when the going gets tough and comes roaring back as soon as toxic treatments stop. Talstar is also expensive and not readily available to Harry. About $100 a gallon last time I looked--and you've got to really search to find a vendor who will sell a pint or two.


On Oct 28, 2005, at 4:52 PM, Daryl wrote:

Jim,

Are the injectable or soil-applied Insect Growth Regulators/Systemics of any use against the pest, or is the growth of the plant too slow to absorb the stuff?

Daryl
Zone 7a
Gardening on Heavy Clay


the sad news is our big, beautiful queen sago is going down. Asian scale, which snuck into Miami International from Thailand in 1998 and is now as wide-spread as Texas and California, nailed it a couple of years ago. We fought it and fought it, but this year it came back gangbusters. No more life support. You wouldn't believe how thick the scale is this year--it looks like snow and leave a sticky yellow mess on your gloves whenever you grasp the fronds to cut them off. I don't know what's to done about it. The good news--if there is good news--is that the scale seems specific to the Cycas species [goodbye king and queen sagos], but doesn't appear to attack other cycads; we have various Dioons, Zamias, and Encephalartoses close enough to be infected, but none have been [small favors].

Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.0 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]
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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.0 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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