Geesh, Coat that's awful. I'm sorry about your plants..those darn scale are gross.. How many plants are we talking about? If too many, hand-picking can be a real job. While you were hand-picking, it would have been a good idea to swipe the areas w/rubbing alcohol. I've had the best success using Fish Emulsion..1 capful to a 16oz mister of water. Fish Emulsion has a fishy smell, but they now make the odorless type. Also, I'd rather smell fish a few days as long as bugs died. It's worth it. Some ppl use Neem Oil..I've never tried it, so really can't say if it's good or bad..I heard both sides of the record.. www.homeharvest.com sells FE..many nurseries and places like Home Depot carry it. BTW, are your plants in or outside? If in, can you set them outside during summer months? Was it the tree fern that arrived w/scale? Was it the host carrier? My Olive tree was the carrier in my case..It was loaded..I tried everything, (no chemicals) then decided to spray w/FE..this was told to me from a woman who owns a citrus nursery in Fl..they use FE as a preventative to scale, and in the process, fertilizes plants, though fertlizing is the least of your worries right now. BTW, I wouldn't bring new plants in the house until you have this problem resolved. Keep us posted..good luck, Toni

I think I got them! I ordered horticultural oil, the "All Seasons" brand. I mixed 2 tablespoons into a quarter gallon spray bottle, shook it, and sprayed the everloving heck out of that tree, making sure to get the undersides of the leaves and the petioles and the branch junctions. I didn't spray the oil off, I let it sit till the next day, and sprayed it down yet again. The leaves were really slippery and oily (I kept it out of the sun for this) and I didn't spray it off the second time either. After the first time there was still tufts the next day, and after the second spray there was a stray one or two that I think were probably residual - but I sprayed a third time just to be sure. The day after the third spray there was no more sticky and no more fuzz, so I wiped the oil off with a wet sponge with a drop of dawn on it and wiped down the branches, etc. The shoots that just started were unharmed by all of this and are doing very well. The leaves were a little bit droopy from having oil coating them got a few days, but it's significantly perked up. Supposed to rain tonight, that'll wash off what's left. So far, no tufts, no fuzz, no sticky. These next few days will be the tellers. I looked over my orange tree, which was showing the fuzzy signs of them, but it looks like they have abandon their try and the orange tree is as healthy as ever, save for some mild chlorosis from the constant rain and too much water (it is under shelter now). Still no new shoots from that orange tree, though.... I'm wondering about that. hmm. So, if anyone else is having problems with them, while alcohol and neem didn't work for me, horticultural oil seems to have worked out great!

Leg, scale are pains in the behind..still, I'd rather deal w/them than mealy bug. Since you can't use the hose, I'd keep up using the shower. When you last showered your tree, did you find any scale on the floor? I'm curious if water will actually knock them off. One other thing, I know it's work ridding them, but be seated, set your tree in front of you, turn on the tv or radio, and start plucking. LOL..Set a piece of paper towel nearest you away fro tree and set scales on paper. Continue doing this daily/nightly. One other thing..I make my own brews for certain insects, though I don't have one for scale. One thing you can do is, using a mister, add Cayenne Pepper and ground citrus rind. Shake..Then spray away..If anything this will keep kitty's away..It will not harm them and might keep bugs at bay. It's ironic because I came up w/this concoction a few yrs ago..then while browsing through a plant catalog, I saw an ad for hot pepper insecticide..they've one for bugs and another for wildlife. Then about 2 months ago, I saw another organic fertilizer that contained citrus rind. LOL. If only I had marketed this idea when I first thought about it, I might now be loaded..Not drunk mind you, rich..lol.. One other thing you can try is spraying tree w/Fish Emuslion..Since it's an organic fertilizer it won't harm your cats. I was told to do this by a woman who owns a citrus nursery..they spray the leaves/stems..it not only works as an insecticide but a foliar feeding, too. In fact, when I spray my trees, I'm going to add the fish emulsion, citrus rind, garlic, Listerine, 2 drops dish soap, and cayenne pepper. My brew will hopefully keep bugs at bay..spray the tree well, and voila, instant bug killer. Good luck, Toni

Thanks again everyone for your advice! I actually plan to take my plants outside next summer, especially my brand new grafted citrus tree! This summer though I had a College apartment until August and there was not really any space to put my plants outside since I lived on the third floor and by the time I moved back home in mid August I figured there was no use taking the time to harden the plants off to being outside with only a month left of acceptable temperatures. I actually have never even thought of spraying my plants preemptively though! I will have to do that from now on. The Schefflera plant is 2.5 feet tall (not including the pot) but it is a spread out plant with pretty easy access to all the leaves so it shouldn't be too hard to handle. I will clip off the really bad leaf stalks and then will try the methods mentioned before to hand treat it and will hope for the best! As far as the Gardenia, The flowers are actually what caught my attention at the store, I loved their smell and appearance so I bought a already blooming plant (that was back in May) though I was concerned about taking care of it after reading from many places that Gardenia's absolutely require full sun and a very specific temperature range to bloom but the plant has really taken off! it has grown a couple inches taller and I can already tell it will need to be repotted in the spring as it continues to grow new leaves. It continued to flower all summer until just about a month ago then the few remaining buds turned black and fell off, I assume probably because of the days getting shorter and thus it getting less sun. I hope it will bloom on its own next spring but if it doesn't seem to be growing buds I will get one of my grow lights and try what you suggested! Thanks for the link and all the advice, I will be sure in the future to always spray my plants to help keep them pest free. I'm new at gardening and always appreciate advice from more experienced people such as all of you :)