SCALE! My 2 newest Crepe Myrtle’s….about a year old…hubby...
SCALE! My 2 newest Crepe Myrtle’s….about a year old…hubby went to water and said “hey what’s the white cr*p on the trunk?” I freaked out. Ugh…I should have kept my mouth shut when I said I’d never had anything bad, just a little spider mite on 1 of my plants. Yep- it’s Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale. Took my scrub brush, soap and neem and started cleaning. Hubby thinks we’re crazy for scrubbing trees. I don’t! I’ve babied these 2 for a year (had 2 others that died). Any advice? #HappyPlants #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #scale #GregGang #Greggers #CrepeMyrtle
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Best Answer
They are hardy trees, but yeah I would be doing the same to protect all three of mine! What colour are its flowers?
When cleaning off pests off my potted trees I usually place a layer of damp paper towel over the soil to catch anything that falls, not sure it helps, but gives me peace of mind that the soil won’t be contaminated.
When cleaning off pests off my potted trees I usually place a layer of damp paper towel over the soil to catch anything that falls, not sure it helps, but gives me peace of mind that the soil won’t be contaminated.
I have 5 on one fence line that are coral color. 4 lining my driveway that are red. I have 2 that are Lavender color, 2 that are deep purple, 2 pink velour, another in my back yard that’s also purple, and 1 my father gave me before he died that has the most amazing pink/purple/blue flowers. That photo was one little section- but the trunks were literally cover. I brushed them off and shook the branches- and then we swept up the soil and put in garbage bag. Once done- we watered the ground to hopefully get rid of anything leftover- scooping that into the bag too. I’m sure it’s going to take a while to get rid of this- it was on 6 of the trees- all in the backyard. Thankfully my 4 raspberry Crepe Myrtle bushes weren’t affected….nor the ones in the front yard. Isn’t it strange to find pink/red blood from scrubbing and hurting them??
@SillyPlantGirl oh goodness 🫣🫠 Of course ya just HAD to say it right? 😜 Lolol just kidding!!! 🤪😂
But seriously, it was inevitable 🤷♀️ Have you ever thought about releasing beneficial insects? Both lady beetle and lacewing larvae have voracious appetites and eat scale! They are like little garden-crocodiles of pest death 💀 . Scrubbing off as much as you can is good, but after you can release the lacewing larvae and they can be your garden-club bouncers, except they eat those who are unwelcome in the club.
I highly recommend DMV Beneficials, they are a US-based company (as I see you’re in TX) that helps us regular consumers have access to beneficial insects. They also offer free consultations! https://dmvbeneficials.com/
But seriously, it was inevitable 🤷♀️ Have you ever thought about releasing beneficial insects? Both lady beetle and lacewing larvae have voracious appetites and eat scale! They are like little garden-crocodiles of pest death 💀 . Scrubbing off as much as you can is good, but after you can release the lacewing larvae and they can be your garden-club bouncers, except they eat those who are unwelcome in the club.
I highly recommend DMV Beneficials, they are a US-based company (as I see you’re in TX) that helps us regular consumers have access to beneficial insects. They also offer free consultations! https://dmvbeneficials.com/
@DreamMachine thank you Nadia. I was just looking up all of that yesterday, and will go check out DMV as soon as I’m done watering And yes it never fails- I tell my husband allllll the time- “don’t say it”…and then the hammer drops!!
@Malagueña Bob thank you so much. This article is very interesting and informative. There are so many Crepe Myrtle’s in and around our neighborhood- it would be difficult to find where it came from. One thing for sure- when we went to water them 2 days before he found it- they had nothing on them. 😳
@SillyPlantGirl , my crate Myrtle is about 15 feet in front of my house. Now I’m gonna be keeping an extra eye on it. I was not even aware of this. Thank you for sharing.