Yes, I've seen the news about the icy midwest. My heart really goes out to those folks without power to even keep warm. Fortunately, it has all been rain in my part of the "eastern midwest". According to the weather channel we have had 7 to 8 inches of rain in the past week, with more on the way for the next few days. I normally hate dreary weather like this but in light of the drought last summer I am grateful for every bit of it. We had an incredible ice storm last winter. It took my husband 4 hours to drive home from his office which is around 15 miles away. Traffic was so bad he had to stop at a gas station to pee! After the storm it was sunny but stayed very cold and I lived in a winter wonderland for several days. Pictures can't so it justice, but my maple tree at that time: The neighborhood Karen

West, how large is your tree? Toni

Hello everyone. My dwarf Meyer in a large terracotta pot has/had a severe infestation of scale I caught later in the game rather than earlier. I thoroughly cleaned off the scale by hand and a toothbrush. The branches appear alive but ALL of the leaves appear withered and dried. I fear it went on too long unnoticed. I watered with a liquid fertilizer to encourage new growth. Should I remove all of the dead leaves? Would this encourage new leaves? I did not use a soapy solution nor did I use neem oil. It's been roughly one week. I do not see a reinfestation. I hope I didn't lose the tree and it can recover. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi.. New to the forums. I am a manager for a moderate sized lawn care company in central Florida. The asian scale has been around for roughly 15 years in Florida and we have found it to be one of the toughest pest to get rid of and control. the best way I have found is to treat the pests at 14 day intervals using Merit and Hort oil. After 2 or 3 treatments hose off as much of the pest as possible, wait 2 weeks then treat again. The way the pest infests the plant makes it very difficult to control but it can be controlled. I would disagree with a soil drench as it is impossible to fully drench the roots without contamination.Consistant treatment plan and keeping pups cleared from around it the best way to reduce reinfestations. I hope this helps and if you need more detail I would be happy to help more. My background is 20+ years in Southern tree and lawn care I am also a CPO in the sate of Florida.