Felt bush pest Identification

[MTNauert]

I just got a rescue plant. It’s a large felt bush. It has some mold and some strange pest or disease. I’m wondering if anyone can identify it and knows how to get rid of it?

 

[Chuck]

I just got a rescue plant. It’s a large felt bush. It has some mold and some strange pest or disease. I’m wondering if anyone can identify it and knows how to get rid of it?

Your plant has a severe hard scale insect infestation. Spray with Neem Oil @2 oz per gallon of water every 7 days for 3 weeks. The insects will be dead but they are permanently attached to the plant. The plant will eventually grow enough to shed the dead insects. There are literally dozens of species of this insect. Google hard scale insect and learn all about them

 

[MTNauert]

Your plant has a severe hard scale insect infestation. Spray with Neem Oil @2 oz per gallon of water every 7 days for 3 weeks. The insects will be dead but they are permanently attached to the plant. The plant will eventually grow enough to shed the dead insects. There are literally dozens of species of this insect. Google hard scale insect and learn all about them

Thanks for your help! This is great! I had different hard scales on another plant and had to get rid of the whole plant. Do you think I will be able to succeed in killing off all these scales? Or will this be a continual problem? since the plant is just a rescue I have it quarantined, but now I’m nervous to plant it in the garden.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for your help! This is great! I had different hard scales on another plant and had to get rid of the whole plant. Do you think I will be able to succeed in killing off all these scales? Or will this be a continual problem? since the plant is just a rescue I have it quarantined, but now I’m nervous to plant it in the garden.

Scale is not hard to eliminate. Just stick to the regimen and all will be well. Just remember that the scale does NOT fall off of the plant when they are killed. Also, Neem Oil has a short shelf life so get a fresh bottle. Once the scale is dead and you keep the plant healthy and happy insects are not a problem. Scale and other insects attack distressed plants before they attack healthy ones.

 

[MTNauert]

Scale is not hard to eliminate. Just stick to the regimen and all will be well. Just remember that the scale does NOT fall off of the plant when they are killed. Also, Neem Oil has a short shelf life so get a fresh bottle. Once the scale is dead and you keep the plant healthy and happy insects are not a problem. Scale and other insects attack distressed plants before they attack healthy ones.

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. Since these scales don’t fall off, is there any way to determine these scales are dead?

 

[Chuck]

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it. Since these scales don’t fall off, is there any way to determine these scales are dead?

Not that I know off. The scale is not poisoned by the Neem. Its oil smothers them and that is why it is imperative to have followup applications, to make sure that each and every scale is covered with the Neem. The Neem does poison the juvenile scale however.