EntangledPearMar 4

I need pest help 🙏 Does anyone have an effective way to get rid of scale insects? I didn't really find anything that would eliminate all stages. I saw a recommendation for tobacco "tea", but before I go search for tobacco, I'd like to hear other people's experience. The bastards are almost invisible on the plants, and are killing my poinsettia 😭 (it's easier to see them on citrus plants, and scrape them off). I'll take something that will make the sap toxic for them, too.

#gardening #pests

Show threadLionelBMar 4

@EntangledPear

They are quite soft. I scrape them off with a fingernail.

Show threadEntangledPearMar 4
@lionelb I do that, too, and it works great on most plants, but they seem to be even more "invisible" on the poinsettia. They leave the sticky residue, which helps find them, but I never get all of them 😭
Show threadLionelBMar 4

@EntangledPear

External treatments can't get at them through the shell, so systemic is the only treatment solution.

Unless you have very specialised light, temperature control and watering, poinsettias are not suitable for use as houseplants.

For the coloured bracts, I would buy fresh each time and treat them as cut flowers.

Show threadEntangledPear
@lionelb I had this one for several years, from a very small one, then munched on by cat (no problems beside throwing it up for the cat, since it was so small), surviving that and even flowering for the previous two years. Producing the red leaves, too. I was quite surprised by how well it was doing.
Mar 4 at 4:35pmWeb
Show threadLionelBMar 4

@EntangledPear

Good to hear. Being in the right latitude must help a lot. They are notoriously difficult.