Help! How can I kill scale without using more neem oil?
Vladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
6 years ago
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Neem oil for powdery scale on limes/lemons?
Comments (1)I assume that you didn't get a good answer because people are loath to recommend a product without knowing what the problem is. You've called it a powdery scale OR mildew. Unless you can do a very good job of describing what you are seeing, it will be difficult to help. What makes you think it might be a scale of some sort? Why does it look like a mildew? If you look up your Shamel 'ash', you will find that this plant is susceptible to some known fungal disorders, both of which could be a fit for what you are concerned about....See MoreHow far back can I cut these bushes without killing them?
Comments (7)You have essentially two ways to maintain this plant arrangement: as a single hedge, where all the shrubs grow together into a single mass ... or as single shrubs, where each is separate from the other. Regardless of which design you choose, the consistent aspect of shrub trimming is that the base is trimmed wider than the top, so that sunlight reaches the lower foliage and it continues to live. (Where the back faces the house, it will be cut straight and not matter as it will not be seen.) If the top is wider than the base -- as is seen in the shrub at the left side of your house -- then lower foliage will eventually begin to die off and the shrub will assume the form of a tree, as if it were on little stilts. (See this beginning in the shrub, second from right, in your original picture.) In an individual shrub, trimming in a ball shape would be incorrect because it undercuts the base, shading it by the top. A dome shape would be correct because the base is wider (or no less wide) than any portion above it. That said, most landscape designers do not use a series of dome shapes in a line anywhere near as much as they would use a hedge, which is simpler to look at and simpler to maintain. The series of balls is usually the result of a homeowner thinking it is cute and maintaining what would have otherwise been a hedge, in that arrangement. After deciding between a single hedge or 4 individual shrubs, one would next decide on how this is best maintained: through regular, tight clippings designating the outer limits of the foliage ... or through annual coppicing, where all trunks of the shrub are cut to the ground. They quickly regrow with the final result looking simultaneously thick and bushy, and loose and natural. The problem for you using coppicing here is that all stems (trunks) grow out in a relatively uniform length. If they ended up nearly reaching the window bottom, they would also be nearly reaching the door....See MoreHorticultural oil vs. neem oil
Comments (7)Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'm sure the effects are also highly dependent on the strength of the emulsion. I will say this about horticultural oil, though... it doesn't cause post-spray stinkiness like neem does! I think I have a new go-to during the winter months when I have to co-exist with my trees indoors. I'll probably fall back to neem in the summer months. -Tom...See MoreHelp! Used neem oil to treat succulents. They seem to be dying now.
Comments (13)I can not stress enough how plants MUST be out of any light for at least a week after spraying with neem. I have used it even on mesembs but they were kept in a dark room away from windows and under a table afterwards. If you feel you must spray again, wait 7 days (this is how I space my applications, sometimes I do three because I'm paranoid). That's a total of 3 weeks that they are in deep shade. After the treatment, I flush the plants with water just because it makes me feel better when I reintroduce them to light. THen, here's the annoying part--I dab them with tissue paper to wick the water out of the rosettes, especially the center. Kevin is right about eggs. You can try commercially available predator mites or bacteria but they are tricky to use. Also, there are plants, especially the kind with powdery stuff on them whose name I can't remember before my morning coffee, that should not be treated with neem. Most thin-leaved succulents (that are really barely succulent), I also would not neem, like aeoniums and certain crassulas. Major cool points to you for trying neem first though, Yulia. That's not to say don't ever ever use chemical pesticides---sometimes they're the only options left. Just be careful with yourself, your plants and all the other creatures around that you don't want to maim or kill with such poisons. Being a coward about such things, I usually just throw my infested plants away first--in a bag, after soaking in soapy water for days lol I've had one adenium survive this pre-garbage treatment before. African violets, not so much. So I quit African violets. Too annoying....See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years agoSilica
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6 years agoVladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
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6 years agoVladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts) thanked hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)johnmerr
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6 years agoSilica
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6 years agoVladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoMonyet
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoVladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts) thanked myermike_1michamyermike_1micha
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hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)