Well, that didn't last long!

[DaveW]

"Try a needle jet of water from a sprayer, Dave. It's difficult to get rid of, but this does help."

My normal method of removing mealy infestations Diane, but it does not get rid of the black staining on the spines. Something like battery acid, or toilet lime scale remover might shift it but I don't think the plants would survive that!

It really needs something that would dissolve it but not affect the plant. Anybody tried meths on it or something similar?

DaveW

[lenbell]

Once at a neighbouring branch meeting the speaker asked if anyone had any bright ideas about cleaning the felty pads on Feros. Someone called out milk, to a few chuckles, but two others backed him up.
I tried it on a T setispinus, with no apparent improvement. I've also heard mild or baby shampoo advocated, but havent tried that. I have tried meths, but reckon water would be as good. (Not very)

[Liz M]

I've always found brushing meths on mealy bugs very effective to get rid of them but I've never had the sooty mould, so would not know how to get rid of that.
Does anyone know what to use to remove scale insects, permanently? I find meths makes it easier to remove them from leaves but it's very hard to remove all of them. What is the life cycle of scale insects, anyway? It might help to know.

[DaveW]

I found these Liz:-

http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info ... le_insects

http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0801/scale.asp

http://www.thenaturalgardener.co.uk/arm ... C%5C%5C%5C

http://www.defenders.co.uk/pest-solutio ... ntrol.html

Sooty mould removal seems more of a problem. There are a few recipes on the internet for removing it from plastic garden furniture etc but you could not use these on plants. The only other I found is:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooty_Mold

DaveW

[Liz M]

Hi Dave, thanks for that, I feel much better informed now. Still very annoying pests but not for long, I hope.

[Phil Hocking]

Here's a vine weevil playing possum. It was inside my front door when I got home. I saw something drop and land with a small thud and knew instantly what it was. I stamped on it twice but they are built to survive that. Scooped up into a plastic pot it lay like this long enough to have its photo taken.

Somerset Phil
[attachment 14082 vineweevil_1a.jpg]

[Phil Hocking]

And this is it just prior to its demise. By now it had given up the possum trick and was trying speed as an alternative.

Somerset Phil
[attachment 14083 vineweevil_2a.jpg]

[iann]

Scale insects have a very similar lifecycle to mealies, but they are usually more strict about the phases. "Crawlers" are produced, often just once a year but maybe more often in a greenhouse, the mobile nymph form. The run around for a few weeks and find a nice spot, then they settle down and grow some armour. After that they move very little.

Scale adults are easy to find and you can spend a while scraping them off outdoor plants. Once they are dropped on the ground, whether they have been killed or not, they probably won't bother you again. If you know the timing of the crawler stage, you can intercept them with stick bands or a contact spray. Dormant sprays are good for deciduous plants. Probably none of these techniques will 100% eradicate the scale, but you never will on an outdoor plants and knocking back the numbers by maybe 90% will do wonders for the plant.

Inside a greenhouse, I'd recommend using a systemic insecticide and get rid of the whole lot for good. Otherwise, just like mealies, you'll be dabbing meths on them for the rest of your life. Of course, that's unless you like playing with meths