Are there ants in the soil ? Is that scale I see at the base of the new growth flush ? If so, that is a rather heavy scale outbreak and I would treat it chemically (though you will see I may get "attacked" by some antichemicalists who may not agree with me).

Rob

I thought that there were a lot of those hahaha I picked most off but those ones evaded me. That new growth is ontop off the tree( I was going to cut it off anyway when it got warmer) has always looked funky. Mystery solved. Is there a natural way to take care of this? Besides tweezers and a loupe...

I am here to attack your pro chemical stance bsbullie.

brandon00warden,
Ants are a problem because they feed on the honeydew produced by scale and aphids. The excess carbohydrates from the honeydew can cause problems like sooty mold on your mango tree while the sucking insects themselves can cause damaged mis-shaped new leaves. It would be best to get rid of both ants and scale. The ants will protect the scale and aphids from predators.

There are a few ways i've gotten rid of ants and scale without needing strong pesticides. The size of your tree will determine if my methods are possible. If your tree is large and touching other trees it will be difficult to get rid of the ants as they will find another way onto your tree. You can use something like tanglefoot pest barrier to stop the ants from climbing your tree. I've tried it and it has worked. If your tree is small and in a container you can create a moat of sorts around the container with another container flipped upside down(its a lot of work but if you have only one or two trees its worth it). If you would like to go that route I can explain the process better, just let me know.

I would like to know! About the moat and anything else. I scraped a bunch of scale off. Boooooo ants

I've had good luck with Horticultural oils for scale. It's best to do any pruning first because complete and total coverage is a must. If your tree is big, this may not be feasible. You'll still have to stop the ants another way though.

Yah, Sheehan is right. The ants, scale, tiny black flies, and sooty mold are all part of a neat little ecosystem fed through scale excretions. I've never tried the tanglefoot barrier. Sounds like a good idea though.

Jeff

So I got this stuff

That should work for the scale but the ants may just bring back more bad insects. I have to see if I can find a picture of the moat I made for container plants. I don't think I will be able to describe it adequately. If I can't find a pic of what I did I will have to go to HD and recreate it.

As for tanglefoot, that is easy to describe how to use. You do not apply it directly to the trunk because it is extremely sticky and is a pain to remove. It is much easier to wrap some low tack painters tape to the trunk in a band a few inches wide and then apply the tanglefoot to that. No ant will be able to cross your tanglefoot barrier. The reason I use a low tack tape is that once I used a stronger tape and when I peeled it off it took some of the bark with it. You may have to redo the tape and tanglefoot every few months but it is worth it.