Have you heard of that nasty (bug???) called SCALE???

[Juneboarder]

Well, I think I have it.

I noticed one of my potted tomato plants was infested with ants about a week ago. I have some of this Chrysanthemum Pyrethrin spray stuff that I tried to use and it would kill ants on contact, but they would keep coming back. I then noticed that they were nesting in my soil.

A friend told me that they could be harvesting aphids, so I started googling and got nervous. Research led me to this bug called Scale and apparently it attaches to branches and stems and sucks out the life juices of my plant. Has anyone ever heard or dealt with such trauma as this. The only other thing I have done is sprinkle Sevin Dust on top of the soil and now the ants are gone!! Stupid mo-fo's!!

So, I guess my main question is... did I handle this properly and are there other ways to handle my problem? Should I have gone about this totally different? Are there effects that can pass on to my tomatos from the Pyretrin or Sevin Dust (even those I was told not)??

Any guidance and assistance would be most helpful...

[LiberalEsto]

1. Try a canola oil solution

Here's some info on various natural treatments

http://www.flowerpotheaven.com/insect-pictures-pests.html


The only time I had a scale problem was with some euonymous shrubs. The county extension center said to use dormant oil, and it seemed to help. Then we moved, and I live in an area where the deer eat euonymous bushes.

I think a solution containing a bit of canola oil might be helpful, but I don't know what proportions to use. I use Pyola, a canola-pyrethin mixture from GardensAlive.com for many plant pests.

[Juneboarder]

2. Thank you so much for the info...

It seems I'm on the right track. I can't to go home and see how my plants survived today...

I was also thinking about letting a bunch of ladybugs loose in my yard in hopes that they eat all the suckers.

[flying_wahini]

3. be very careful with oils this time of year....

make sure you are using the right one, I tried canola on some plants mixed with
my Organicide and it burned everything it touched. their is an oil you can
use this time of year (all season oil, I think) but here in south
Texas it will "cook" your plants.
check it out before you use it.