Bump for more people to see it...it's all the way on the second page :(

These are Pilosocereus azureus. I had a couple that hit the ceiling indoors.

Christopher

Thank you everyone,your help is really appreciated. I'm off to a good start with these pilosocereus azureus and hopefully they'll have a long and happy life in my house.

Chris I think your correct I just want to double check something's fishy (the first is defiantly a philo) second might be a esposta if I spelled it right

Alyssa- I hate to mention this but in the first pic..the cactus on the right appears to have scale. It is difficult to remove without damaging the dermis of this cactus and the bluish coating will be disturbed.

Can you take a close-up shot of the area with the white dots...it would help to really see it as close as possible.

Oh no. I just quickly googled images and it does look like scale or mealybug? . It is in all of them except the tiny one in the midddle.

What can I do?

I am looking for a link for you to a previous thread about the same issue I had. I will post it as soon as I find it.

here is one link you may find useful

http://cactiguide.com/cactipests/

Here is a youtube video link describing what the guy did to remove it. His was a very severe infestation. You do not have that ...yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZcZ7xRngc

It's a scale insect infestation. I literally scrubbed them off with an old toothbrush and used a mixture of warm soapy water and 70% isopropyl alcohol. The guy in the video used lyme powder. I prefer my mixture. Hope it helps.

Alyssa- if you don't have many of them ...you can if you wish ..to remove them with a fingernail. I suggest this because this cactus has a beautiful powdery coating which makes it look blue. Try to preserve that if at all possible. It is my understanding from others on the forum that the coating will not re-generate.

I now treat all my plants with a systemic called "Bayer tree & Shrub." A small bottle from home depot is about $18.

you water the plants with it 2 times a year and it will prevent scale insect and mealy bugs plus lots of others too. Use 2 tablespoons for every 1 gallon of water.

I tried a couole things that website and the video recommendedm Cotton swab in alcohol won't dissolve them, picking with my finger nail or tooth brush is impossible, the spots won't come off unless I cut the entire section and I don't want to hurt my cactus that much. is it possible that it is snot scale? it doesn't react like scale is supposed to react.

The problem with scale is it could be dead scale. But if they don't flake off easily, then it is not dead.

if you are prepared not to water it for about a week,you can always take the very tip of a knife or scalpel blade and very gingerly pick the waxy scale off with the tip.

i use Sentry Dog flea and tick dip. It's ingredient is permethrin or pyrethrum can't remember which is which. I use ablut two arts water to one part alcohol and then just follow the directions for mixing up the dog dip and use it in a spray bottle. The alcohol helps it dry quickly, which is important to cacti and other succulents.

I'll try that tomorrow when I get the dog flea and tick dip. should I use it before or after I manually removing the scale spots?

also after removing them is it safe to bring to its regular spot again?next to the other cactus, or better wait a while.

and, just in case I cut the cactus what should I do to not hurt it much? I'll google all this, but if you have any advice I would appreciate it.

Well, with the dog dip, it makes the plant poisonous to the sucking insects, so I don't even remove scale, I just spray with the spray andaftera day or so, I check to see if the scale comes off easily, that means the spray worked. Without maiming the plant.

if you do decide to do surgery, you need to be sure to keep it DRY DRY DRY while the wounds are healing. You can go with manual removal, the spray I recommended or the systemic that Neil offered. It may even be betterthanthe dog dip which ibelieve still costs like 16 bux.

its also off label use, so use at your own risk, I don't recommend putting the plant outside while it is treated with the dog dip or the systemic, I believe they are both detrimental to the pollinators, I could be wrong though. I know the dog dip has risks associated with it

for sure.

and it kills spiders :( but is also effective against mosquito, almost any type of mite.

Alyssa- I agree with Laticauda. Try that first. The dog dip spray will also work..Caution though: do not use excessive amounts. And, do not spray the entire cactus. You will ruin the powdery coating which gives it its bluish sheen. If the scale comes off easily then what Laticuada suggests is correct, it may be dead. If they don't it means they're feeding off of the plant.

When the plant starts to absorb the systemic pesticide, which could take a while, the scale should release from it.

I am currently picking it with a scalpel. it is very attached but I am doing almost no damage to the cactus. I did spray the cactus with water completely this morning because I read pressured water could work. It didn't, and as soon as it was dry the blueish powdery color was back even brighter. I'll try to remove as much as I can manually and use the poison that gets absorbed. Thanks Neil for noticing it, you saved my cactus, and thanks latikuda for the advice and explanation.

That's great news! Keep in mind that scale insect can spread to other plants and can re-infest existing ones too. That's why a lot of use have to use a systemic pesticide. Some of us have hundreds of plants so we understand what a nightmare this must have been for you. Please keep us posted from time to time. Best of luck!