How to treat cycad scale infestation when pest Oil not working?

Mud_Ok

Hi everyone,

I have a cycad that seems to have a scale insect problem. I’ve been using Pest Oil, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be working and I’m actually noticing more white scale appearing on the leaves.

The plant is still looking reasonably healthy overall, but I’m concerned the infestation will keep spreading if I don’t get it under control.

I’ve attached a couple of photos showing the white scale on the leaves.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Would you recommend a stronger product available from Bunnings, preferably something specifically for scale insects on ornamental plants or cycads?

I’m also wondering whether I should manually remove as much of the scale as possible before applying another treatment.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Andy

JacobZ

Hi Andy (@Mud_Ok),

Scale can be quite persistent, particularly once you have a well-established infestation. Pest Oil is designed to control scale, but because it works by coating and smothering the insects, getting thorough coverage is extremely important. When using it, make sure you are spraying both sides of the leaves, along the stems and into all the areas where the scale is congregating. You need to ensure it is smothered if you want it to be eradicated and one application is unlikely to capture everything, so some persistence over a few weeks would be worthwhile.

With this being said, I would certainly remove as much of the scale as you reasonably can beforehand. You can wipe or gently brush it from the leaves, and if there are individual fronds that are very heavily infested, it may be worth removing them altogether. This reduces the number of insects you're relying on the spray to deal with.

If you'd like to try something different, Yates Scale Gun would be worth considering. It contains both white oil and pyrethrum and is specifically designed for controlling scale and other pests on ornamental plants. Once again, thorough coverage, including the undersides of the foliage, is important.

Keep in mind that the white scale coverings won't necessarily disappear immediately after treatment, so their continued presence doesn't always mean the treatment hasn't worked, but you may need multiple applications and a bit of persistence to really eradicate things.

Overall, your Cycad looks to be in good health though, so it is well equipped to fight off any issues. Keep at it, and let us know how you go.

Jacob