My olive tree needs help!

[Saraeve]

Hello everyone! I’m new on here and I urgently need your precious help! I’ve purchased an olive tree in July. It was doing great, had new growth on it but something recently started attacking it....We’ve noticed three weeks ago that leafs were drying and falling off....some branches at the bottom of the tree were loosing leafs, drying and there was a sticky residue on the floor around the plant. We’ve researched the internet and we believe that the olive tree was attacked by scale and possibly some sort of cochineal? I’ve sprayed the tree a few times with a mixture of black soap, alcohol and water(1L of water, 1 tea spoon of black soap, 1 tea spoon of alcohol). It’s not getting any better...it’s actually worsening... I would appreciate any advice you guys may have! Is it too late to save this olive tree...? Thank you!

 

[Chuck]

Hello everyone! I’m new on here and I urgently need your precious help! I’ve purchased an olive tree in July. It was doing great, had new growth on it but something recently started attacking it....We’ve noticed three weeks ago that leafs were drying and falling off....some branches at the bottom of the tree were loosing leafs, drying and there was a sticky residue on the floor around the plant. We’ve researched the internet and we believe that the olive tree was attacked by scale and possibly some sort of cochineal? I’ve sprayed the tree a few times with a mixture of black soap, alcohol and water(1L of water, 1 tea spoon of black soap, 1 tea spoon of alcohol). It’s not getting any better...it’s actually worsening... I would appreciate any advice you guys may have! Is it too late to save this olive tree...? Thank you!

Yep, its scale, both hard and soft. Start a spray regimen of Neem Oil. It will kill and remove the white scale but the hard scale is stuck to the tree and just about impossible to remove. It is dead but stuck like a barnacle. I doubt if it is cochineal unless when you squish it between your fingers it leaves a blood red residue. Cochineal is normally found on cactus. The stick stuff is called honeydew which is the insects excrement.

 

[Saraeve]

Great, it’s not cochineal since it’s not red when squished. Can I spray neem oil indoor? If so, I will go to the gardening store tomorrow and I’ll try that! How often should I spray my tree? Also, should I trim off the dead and dried out branches at the bottom of the tree without leafs? Will the leafs ever grow back on the other branches? I had no clue about the honeydew. I will clean my floor nicely!! Should I keep an eye on my other house plants? Thank you so much for the advice!!

 

[Chuck]

Great, it’s not cochineal since it’s not red when squished. Can I spray neem oil indoor? If so, I will go to the gardening store tomorrow and I’ll try that! How often should I spray my tree? Also, should I trim off the dead and dried out branches at the bottom of the tree without leafs? Will the leafs ever grow back on the other branches? I had no clue about the honeydew. I will clean my floor nicely!! Should I keep an eye on my other house plants? Thank you so much for the advice!!

Yes you can spray neem oil indoors. Most formulas require 2 oz per gallon of water. The neem oil does not "kill" the scale outright but smothers it. You should spray every 5-7 days for about 3 weeks. If the leaves and limbs are truly dead remove them as they will not come back to life. Slightly scratch the bark and if it shows any sort of green color it is still alive, but if brown it is dead. The leaves will eventually grow back on the living limbs. And yes, spray ALL of your indoor plants. Once scale gets established it is very difficult to control.

 

[Saraeve]

Thank you so much for your advice, Chuck! I really appreciate your help! I will spray all of my plants with neem oil today.