RE: Re: TBs: Cult: New pest

Hi Francelle,

I battle scale insects on my indoor plants.  The classic remedy is to spray
with a 50% alcohol solution.  However, I found that I needed to spray once a
week for three or four weeks if I didn't catch the infestation early.

Then I found a better solution.  I was using a solution of the lice shampoo
for thrips and figured since I had it made up, I'd try it on the scale.  It
works like a charm -- even better than for thrips.  Just put one teaspoon
into one quart of lukewarm water and spray all the surfaces of the leaves.
I only needed to spray once on my indoor plants.

Good luck.

Maureen Mark
Ottawa, Ontario (zone 4)

-----Original Message-----
From: FRANCELLE EDWARDS [f*@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 7:39 PM
To: iris-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-talk] Re: TBs: Cult: New pest


Hello, Iris-talkers,

This year I have discovered a new parasitic pest in my irises.  It is some
kind of scale.  The tiny, pink, soft bodied insects live in the hollow part
of the leaves.  They leave a white residue in the creases of the fans.
Inside the leaves they create a moist, dirty mess that can facilitate rot.
Ants are always present when a clump is infested.  I imagine they have the
same simbiotic relationship that ants and aphids do.  

I have been fighting this scale all summer.  Not wanting to spray liquids on
my irises in this heat, I first used a garden insect powder.  It slowed the
ants down for a very short time; then they were back and I'm not sure the
scale ever left.  Next I tried spraying with insecticidal soap, which
specifically states that it's for scale.  That worked better in that it can
penetrate the leaves and overcome the protective coating on the scale.  It
didn't faze that ants a bit.  Every iris rhizome I'm digging is getting a
bath in the Clorox solution, because that really seems to do them in.

Have any of you ever seen this problem?  If so what do you do about it.?

Francelle  Edwards   Glendale  AZ   Zone 9


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 

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