Yep, I also do the cotton bud with meths treatment (although it's fair to say I mainly use a wad of loo roll). I also use my fingernails as my citrus always succumbs to scale. As for sarcococca, I have never seen scale on one but my next door neighbour has a relentless battle against scale on her hydrangeas so I would guess there are quite a few woody shrubs delectable to scale. Also, by the time I spot scale, the insects have often departed, leaving only the scaly exoskeleton (or whatever it is called). Re-reading this, I am appalled at how ignorant I am about scale (and heaps of other pests and diseases). Living permanently in the delusional and optimistic gardenland (where, no matter how desperate, there is always next year), I tend to ignore pests and disease (P&D as my hort. tutor always referred to them) until I am forced to take action. Naturally, I will spout on about prevention being better than cure blah blah......while utterly ignoring my own advice..... So, Melissa, your moods are somewhat mercurial - could you also be afflicted by the eternal hope syndrome or am I being fatally presumptive?

Marathon and Merit are the same thing, as in they both have the same active ingredient, the stuff in Advantage flea killer. I "think" the difference between them is that one is "approved" for the "home gardener" and one is mainly for the professional grower. Both are supposedly costing an arm and a leg! Again I may be in error but I think that's what I remember. You can find, if you are very diligent in looking for it, a couple of products that have the same active ingredient. One I have read about is a "grub" treatment for lawns. I am pretty sure it was a Bayer product. The one specified was the "24 hour grub treatment". Its a granular product that I have never been able to find locally here. There are several grub treatments, but none have the Imiclopramid (sp?) The other products are liquid treatments that you dilute with water and pour around the bases of the plants. These are both Bayer products....one is the Bayer Systemic Rose treatment. It has a rather low percentage of the actuve insecticide. The other is the same thing but designed for trees and shrubs, its much more concentrated. I have used both on heliconias, gingers, and other plants for mealybugs, and it has not been very effective. I think the reason why is it would take so much to systemically "reach" all the plant....you dose it according to the diameter of the tree trunk, the height of the plant, etc. Some of my heliconias are 20 ft tall, it would take a huge amount to treat them individually, and by "estimating" the dosage, these products just haven't worked for me. I think I am going to have better control with the oil sprays.

Bal, I cant testify to the Neem OIl...that is suggested to treat black spot and mildew on roses; you might try it. But the oil you are familiar with when applying to your outdoor deciduous trees, shrubs and roses..."dormant oil" is another suggestion. Do read the label. Also suggested is the "lime sulfur"...the other half of the dormant oil application. Smelly stuff this...so open a window and do read the label. No success with soap. Perhaps you didn't do the routine as best prescribed. A 40 to 1 solution dishsoap and water, spray from top to bottom, bottom to top, leave on for 10 - 15 minutes...then rinse well in clear water. To avoid overwatering the surface soil, you might tip the plant to a 45 degree angle or cover with plastic when applying Anytime you have a problem with a pest, it is usually prescribed to treat the plant as many times as needed to break the cycle of the pest's ability to produce larvae. In a 20 day period, treat the plant 3 times. Scale insect does not as far as I know, ever go to the roots, they feed on leaves and stem, sucking the juices there. They leave behind their secretion called "honeydew"...a shiny appearance on the leaves can be seen.

If it's up & down the stems & looks like mealybug, but with more cotton, there is a lot of that going around. I have a lot of it on my plants too. But on Neil Sperry's Facebook & his website, there is info about it being 'plant hoppers' & there are relatively harmless. They supposedly will be gone soon. He says there is no need to spray for them....if that is what you have.