Thanks for the response. I am not so sure they are Cicada Killer wasps. I looked at pictures of the Western variety. My wasps are smaller (about 1" long), and have more yellow than black. Also, a 'season' is mentioned that is from mid July to early August. These wasps have been around for 3 - 4 months. Lastly, there are photos of burrows showing a U-shaped trench with piles of dirt around it. I have many, many small mounds under the grass typically around 1" diameter. These don't seem typical of what I have read on the web about their egg burrows. Supposedly Cicada Killers like dry, sparsely vegetated areas to nest. These small mounds are deep under the grass. I have not seen any wasps carrying prey back to their nests, either. Are Cicada Killers the only explanation? What about another wasp variety eating grubs of some sort in the lawn?

Scale is ubiquitous in nature, and exist everywhere, no matter what plant you have when you bring it indoors there will be no predators to eat them, so don't worry about good/bad plants, bugs like them all! The life cycle is something like 2 weeks , so spraying at 2 week intervals, 3 times with neem oil should take care of most of them. The hard outside is to protect them from desiccation and predators. the alcohol dries them out and the neem (or any oil) smothers them. The neem oil has the added benefit of disrupting the reproduction cycle, so used 2-3x at 2 week intervals has great success. I started when I brought them in, and once after for most, and 3x for a few more susceptible ones.

For wasps, take a bar of soap & rub it across the inside of the top & back of the box. That's supposed to keep them from building nests. As far as ants go, grease the pole with something like petroleum jelly to keep them from climbing up pole. One of the best things to use for insects is Diatemaceous (sp?) Earth powder once the problem occurs. Don't use any sort of insecticide spray. It will often kill the babies (that includes lawn pesticides). Go to Sialis.org & search your questions. It will give you all the bluebird expertise you need to know. Good luck!

1. I would like to know how I can completely change out the soil for my Fiddle leaf fig? Generally speaking, a repotting session should include bare-rooting of most plants (conifers should not be fully bare-rooted), root pruning, and a change of medium. I'll refer you to a thread I started many years ago that focuses on long term care of trees in pots. I also wrote one about caring for Ficus over the long term, and another about good growing practices in general. Long Term Care of Trees in Containers Long Term Care of Ficus in Containers Overview of Good Growing Practices 2. Should I wait until June to repot? To change out the soil>?? Yes, please wait. I see nothing leading me to believe there is nothing emergent enough to justify repotting now (as opposed to waiting until June) if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm not suggesting a repot would jeopardize your trees viability, only that your tree will better tolerate the stress of repotting when it's energy reserves are high and its ability to make food (trees synthesize their own food [sugar/ glucose] during the process of photosynthesis) is about to peak. In the Northern Hemisphere, that occurs at the Summer Solstice (Jun 21). This means the tree's recovery time will be much shorter, and since your tree's natural defenses are directly related to its metabolic rate, the tree's vulnerability to insect herbivory and disease pathogens will also be very low during this period. Plant's have natural rhythms, during which the tree's energy levels fluctuate. Unless there is a dire reason to repot out of season, the best practice is to work to take advantage of the plant's strengths by doing repots and heavy pruning when the tree is most robust, and allowing for the trees 'down time' by being extra careful to avoid unnecessary stress. Not only is that practice better for the tree, it enhances your sense of being a good nurturer, the reason which underlies our desire to keep plants. As your journey toward a green thumb continues, you'll realize the plane on which you interact with plants is elevated, primarily by knowledge, and there is a great deal more personal satisfaction that comes with that elevation. 3. Will BioAdvanced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease and Mite Control Concentrate kill scales? Yes. It's what I prefer to rid plants of insects with rasping/sucking mouth parts, but be sure to purchase the product with a label which lists Imidacloprid as an active ingredient, along with Tebuconazole (ststemic fungicide) and Tau-fluvalanate, a miticide. They make 2 different products, same label - different ingredients, and only 1 contains the systemic insecticide Imidacloprid IMAGE. the product does not mention Scales at all? It lists them in the folder adheared to the backside of the container. or should i use : BioAdvanced Tree & Shrub Protect and Feed Concentrate - as it specifically mentions Scales? It contains the same active ingredient (Imidacloprid) and a fertilizer that will interfere with your control over the plant's nutrition (assuming you're using an appropriate fertilizer like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6). The product in the container of BioAdvanced Tree & Shrub Protect and Feed Concentrate is the same product manufactured and labeled as Marathon. I used it by sprinkling an appropriate amount on the surface of my indoor plants before bringing indoors for the winter, I had sever root issues with almost all of them and was fortunate they all survived. The reason wasn't due to the product being an abiotic pathogen, it was due to the fact that the granules migrated into the soil (gritty mix) and filled the pore space between particles. This might have been ok in deeper containers, but plants in the shallow containers I grow in demand superior drainage, which the granular product destroyed. It might be as bad for you, depending on the depth of the pot, but both products I originally suggested have the very same active ingredient and I know neither have the potential of damaging soil structure like the granular product did. Your call. If you decide to use the granular product, I have 5 lbs of Marathon I'll give you for the price of postage. That's about $75 worth of insecticide, but caveate emptor. Al