The COMPLETE Guide to Getting Rid of Scale Insects

[@HalfNoodley]

Chris really knows how to pack the information into these videos. I went from not really knowing about scale to a bona fide expert in minutes.

[@profecarrillo6479]

scales are actually very good for your garden

[@FFG805]

Isn’t his name kevin

[@brigidlaffey7343]

@Profe haven’t proved at all beneficial for my citrus - quite the reverse

[@cjdflkj]

@@FFG805the owner is Kevin, Chris is the lady

[@TimberCreates]

I worked at my university’s greenhouse until my recent graduation and we had an outbreak of armoured scale while I had been gone on winter break. I was responsible for the massive cleaning operation. We used black soap and I gave most plants multiple baths for about a week which helped. I was persistent.

[@ZE308AC]

What is black ⚫ soap 🧼?

[@deboraballes9044]

Alcohol on a piece of cotton is good to remove scale from a smaller house plant

[@bleb87]

​@deboraballes9044 it doesn't work on armored scale. It can't.

[@davidb6961]

This video is excellent. So much information and presented in a way that's easy to understand. Thanks Kevin and Chris.

[@lewis93156]

Im rarely stunned by a video but this woman was truly impressive. VERY informative, i hope i can now save my infested citrus plant as its had scale bugs for months and one half of the plant has died

[@joycemiller7908]

I'd never had it before but my indoor lemon tree got it and I had no clue until the sticky goo on the leaves. I just spent a couple hours yesterday with warm soapy water in a tub, and a washcloth and wiped them off. I left it out since is not too cold and will check it every day or two for sneaky ones. Interesting bugs. I also have some neem oil spray but might not use it.

[@pahoua3277]

I just literally got it on my plant. I didn't know what was wrong with my plant. I looked for pest and didn't see anything but the scales. At the time I didn't know what it was or that it was alive. I was lucky to notice one moving. I sprayed my plants very well for 2 days. Hope my plant recovers.

[@daveg.5579]

I had cushion scale bugs on a lime tree. I used 50/50 white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Worked great!

[@jeffreygonzales3543]

Wdym 50/50? Like 500ml water and 500 ml white vinegar?

[@P4T0mtz14]

Thanks for this!! My papayas were super infested from this, now we know how to start dealing with them...

[@kariebrouillard9342]

I love all the information Chris gives me. She is a great addition to Epic Garden.

[@theEumenides]

I was gifted a lemon tree, and I saw rather late that it had a nasty cushion scale infection. I lost a whole branch. (It was my first citrus tree). I still inspect it regularly and find a few that I pick off with an cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. So far, so good, but if it goes on for much longer, I might need to do a broader treatment like you've suggested.

[@oliverobama3279]

Hey. What climate do you live in because I have a greenhouse lemon tree and this year I had lots of flowers but once it starts to produce fruit it goes black and falls off. Any ideas? Bad pollination maybe? Last year was its first year so I was hoping for some lemons this year.

[@looksirdroids9134]

Oh no, one whole branch! /s

[@alexandriakarter]

New gardener here. Thanks to all of you for the help. Starting a new garden, I have found there are many issues coming up that I am scrambling to figure out. I really like these types of videos to teach what to look for And resolutions!! Thanks so much!!!

[@rhkean]

Wow! Perfect timing! I just found this on one of my tomato plants this morning and had no idea what it was. Thank you!!!!

[@lyndasavage3035]

I have a lemon tree my sister grew from a seed so I cherish it. I have been fighting scale armored scale for months. I have handpicked repeatedly then showered and wiped down with insecticidal soap, blasted the leaves with the hose but they keep coming back. I thought about a systemic insecticide but I think I'll try the neem oil first. I'll post whether this works or not.

[@storey662]

Can’t wait for the whole pest series! I’ve kept houseplants for a few years now but this is my first year with an outdoor veggie garden so I will take all the knowledge I can get!

[@NewEnglandgardening]

I just bought an Owari Satsuma and it looked fine but yesterday I noticed spider mites and webs. Another pest in a house environment without the pressures of outside world. I just hosed it down for the first treatment.

[@HYEpower]

I got rid of 99% scale on my mom's dead lemon trees, I used diatomaceous earth and threw clouds on them and kept the dust on them and the scale all died and fell off. More dust and the nymphs will die.. her plants went from no life scale coving it to massive clusters of flowers and lemons growing.. I used brand red lake, that has calcium in it too.

[@trilldan8327]

I have a big issue with armor scale on my cacti. They always seem to take over my opuntia. They are pretty easy to remove, but when you don't check them that often, an infestation will take over pretty quick.

[@Gogurtbump]

*before I've finished the video: I've only ever had hard Scale on orange trees, and I had a lot of success with just an isopropyl alcohol solution and a sponge. Now I'm ignorant and don't know how safe that is for most plants, but I know it worked wonders in my scenario at least

[@NotsoFree_StateofFlorida]

I noticed some incredibly large scale on my Croton plants during the winter in Florida. I was about to blast them with the flat nozzle setting . I was surprised to see what looked like honey bees visiting. Turns out they were after the honey dew. So I decided to share. The Crotons weren't damaged that badly and the bees are in danger. When the Spring arrived the bees left and I blasted the scale off with the flat spray. No need for poisons

[@letitgrow1846]

Great informative video. I'm currently dealing with a huge scale infestation on all my Mexican petunias that has started to spread to my tomato plant in my raised bed. I released a large number of ladybugs that have helped to slow the spread, but with ants farming them they have proven extremely difficult to eradicate.

[@kathygordon9546]

I’ve got a Yucca that has scale on her leaves.. we used to put her in the shower and use insecticidal soap, but she’s too big now to do that. I will definitely be trying the remedies suggested. Thank you

[@AmericaFirstNow]

Better info than what I've had to date. I'm Familiar with two types of scale now. Just found some white ones on a Yew bush. With the sun at my back I saw the honey dew glistening. Looks like I'm pruning tomorrow in stead of 2 weeks from now. 2 years ago they were on the Rhododendron on the other side of the house..

[@nancychavez1220]

Wow! That was great information. I’ve had armored scale for a LONG time not even knowing. My dieffenbachia looked healthy and I thought the scale was a part of it since I’m a new plant lover and the infestation wasn’t bad. Thank you for putting this out! Looking forward to watching more of your videos. ❤🪴

[@flyingartgirls1]

Black armored scale on my giant beloved AloeVera! All of the information online kept steering me towards black spot and fungus, until I accidentally ran across a description of scale. It looks like watermelon seeds were dropped on the healthy plants. I'm trying alcohol& just got horticultural oil yesterday. The intervening weeks-before I learned about Scale took a big toll. Thank you for not saying to throw them away! I have some measured hope again.

[@friendo6257]

Love the cameo from Chris. Great channel, great episode. Keep it up!

[@cherishireland9194]

Thanks so much. I'm often fighting with fruit flies but now I know what to look for, for other pests.

[@epicgardening]

Glad I could help!

[@russellkasprzyk4934]

Umm can confirm 100%, sooty mold comes with the armored scales. They are all over my firebush.

[@JustDeLuca]

My sweetpea is covered in the black soot and hard black scales.

[@ainabearfarm8075]

Thank you for sharing so much great info about scale. I will chime in that I have found Neem oil to be completely useless though.

[@heikesiegl2640]

i almost lost my Kumquat to those (armored scale). i realized the investation pretty late. I Cut it back and washed it pretty heavily in the shower. After that it took me a long time to pick the rest of them off. a year later i am still picking of some. but they are not enough to harm the plant

[@PlantObsessed]

Had a bad case of hard scale on my orchid this winter.

[@epicgardening]

Nasty

[@imrankhan-nv7mf]

What is its simple treatment ?​@@epicgardening

[@karminipillay7742]

One of the most informative plant and pest videos on the net! Thank you. Keep it coming.

[@stevegow9977]

Always such an amazing source of detailed information. Thank you!

[@epicgardening]

Our pleasure!

[@toniomalley5661]

I found sticky on my orange tree and scales all over the leaves hadn’t a clue so I washed the whole tree in water and vinegar with a cloth twice seems to have worked but will for sure be keeping an eye on it now

[@tysonwalters4464]

Please please 🙏 talk about the mealybugs! They been destroying my house plants slowly over the last 6 months I've tried absolutely Everything I can think of! And they always return..... daily checking and cleaning my plants trying to stop this incessant pest!

[@madhumitanag3357]

Mealies are so bad, i hate them. They have destroyed most of my plants

[@KatesGarden]

Of course now I need to run outside and check all of my plants 😳. Thanks for the extra garden jobs!

[@joycemiller7908]

Lol

[@trishdavi7049]

Back ha ha

[@northernmemaw4036]

This is So interesting! Thanks so much ❤ Would Tea Tree Oil be of any help also?

[@artunderwood8687]

Can you do a video dedicated to indoor growth. Specifically I’m trying to figure out how to be able to grow fruits and veggies year round. I live in Alaska, so my growing season is limited, and besides I’m trying to be able to grow everything I can year round. Like strawberries and tomatoes. And I’m trying to figure out how I can induce temperature changes to induce fruiting cycles. Or if that even matters. Thanks. Love your channel.

[@FloraM44]

Great video! Would've helped me a few years ago when I discovered our indoor lemon trees were infested, but I did my research and sprayed with diluted dish soap which destroys the oily nature of the soft scales and suffocates them. Kept them in the shade and a couple days later, sprayed with water to remove residual soap (which I read can negatively affect leaves' ability to photosyntheze). They thrived outside all summer with only a casual re-spraying a few months later. I didn't have to treat them all winter (I could have but I'm lazy lol) and will do it right before taking them outside again this Spring. I'm sure insecticides could work too, but a simple solution of dish soap and water was convenient and seemed to work pretty well for me! I will say though, our trees were REALLY bad.. so each tree took several hours to ensure everything was covered with soap and the ex-scales wiped off. So trust me when I say, if you see scale, try to take control ASAP!

[@MizzQueenBreNaturally]

i heard bout dish soap too, sweet

[@kerrychuang]

OK awesome that makes me feel better! Someone told me I should just throw away my whole plant and the soil😂

[@FloraM44]

@@kerrychuang haha I mean that will get rid of them too but it's not ideal LOL you may battle them as long as you have the plant but for me personally it's still worth a couple treatments a year to keep the plants!

[@pandorasgarden3369]

Have a off topic question. I purchased two Pineapple pear trees, they were growing in a cloth sock inside a container. One is thriving the other one I had to cut back down to knee high. The reason I cut back down is it was rotting towards the top. Both trees are planted in same pots, same soil, same area. Please help thank you

[@annakhamsamran6625]

Ive had a version of armored scale on a small thai makroot lime tree in my house for almost 8 years. In this time i have tried everything from diatomaceous earth to neem oil to soap, nothink kills them. I have krpt the plant alive by physically removing the bugs by hand. I also use a scrubby sponge and soap to scrup down all surfaces of the plant. Im pretty sure there is no way to permanently kill scale, though my plant seems to be surviving

[@stevea1708]

These are good for plants, what about scale on trees? I had a big infestation last year. I'm scared they'll come back to kill off my magnolia tree.

[@blackcarsmatter]

So I have a 40 year old persimmon tree. It has scale over much of it. It produces a lot of huge, great tasting fruit. I dont want to start cutting branches and lose yeild. In my other growing hobby, which i will leave unnamed, I was told that using carbon in the feed will bring up the brix content. Which in turn discourages pests. Also, we have been fed by silica producers that by foiliar spraying with silicic acid will provide an armor coating from pests. I have tried the carbon and i had a dramatic reduction in scale, but I am up in the air with the silicic acid as it wasnt as effective by itself as the carbon was. Would you see it as a viable scale deterrant on my persimmon tree?

[@jaygonzz_]

Years of knowledge crammed into a 10minute clip. THANK YOU 🙏 😊

[@druszaj]

I've been gardening since I was a kid, and have encountered almost every kind of pest. How is it possible I never got scale? I've heard it mentioned so often.

[@YouCallThataKnife253]

Funny enough, I've had nearly the exact opposite experience; I have hardly dealt with pests, but I have an indoor olive tree that perpetually has scale. I mostly wind up just picking them off.

[@themendomethod7613]

You got it at one point or another. To not get it and garden yearly? Is kind of like saying you sleep with $5 prostitutes daily and never got an STD.

[@meikusje]

Could be your environment isn't ideal for them.

[@LikeTheProphet]

I just discovered my entire crop of pepper plants have a major infestation of scale. It’s so much that I don’t think I can save them at this point and I’m so sad, after all the work I put into growing them and seeds. Now I know better for next spring

[@cerverg]

I have an issue with hard scales (those that look like tiny slugs) I tried pretty much everything and the best combination is a mix of neem oil (10 ml) + standard insecticide for pot plants (just a few drops) mixed in 1 litter water then I spray the plants 3-4 times that solves the problem for 2-3 weeks. During the winter time, the problem solves itself (cold really helps)

[@Arcticdi]

Great info but more importantly WELL PRESENTED! I'd like to see more from Chris!

[@dyvel]

I mixed My own pesticide solution and got rid of armor scales from my agave plants in a couple of months. Water, Linseed oil soap and alcohol from my stove.

[@Fishandchips463]

My god Im treating my fig tree right now, it is so badly infest by them what a pain.

[@imrankhan-nv7mf]

Is there any chemical treatment of armored scale insects? I hv one acre fig orchid.

[@sarahasadraza]

I just noticed around 7 scales on my weeping fig as well. So annoying

[@yvettehegler2292]

What if it’s all over plant you have in an outside garden alongside other flowering plants? I have them all over my 4 o’clocks and was thinking of just pulling them out since they are very easy to grow again..if I do pull do I need to treat the soil on the surrounding area?

[@X360DevNerd]

not sure if it was my bottle but the neem oil i used smelled so funky it ruined stuff i was growing years ago, i may have to try it again.

[@pnkrathrt]

I have a MASSIVE Rolli polli outbreak in my raised beds. Any advice?

[@vighneshviggy1332]

The timing is insane!! This is exactly the video we needed thank you so much! Chris, your videos are so incredibly informative and so well made packed with such easy to consume info! We are struggling with soft waxy substance on our eggplants, Tomatos and mint which maybe probably soft scale bugs but we still have doubts on whether it's soft scale or leafhopper eggs or powdery mildew :( is there a way to tell the difference? And would the treatment mostly the same for all of them?

[@trishdavi7049]

Eeeew! This is just another reason why some people won't start nor continue gardening. Creepy bugs! Better to know what they are and remove them from your own produce than risk eating them on foods produced by others. Thanks Chris and Kevin

[@randimayes560]

Believe me! You have eaten more bugs in your life than you think 🤢

[@dragon_empress_1]

Really useful video. I've been fighting scale on a soursop tree for a while now but I have to give in and be merciless with my pruning shears.😭

[@ReyArteb]

I have sprayed isopropyl alcohol in a pinch on infected stalks and woody parts of my plant with some success.(dunno if this is safe for the plant tho)

[@randimayes560]

I need her to report rhe news to me every day! She has such a news report vibe!!!😊

[@SWCnetworkdr]

I've lost a huge part of my passionfruit to this problem. Time to go ballistic on the neem oil...

[@susanc3052]

Great video, thank you. Scales and aphids are my biggest issues!

[@roycormier5494]

I've noticed tea scale infestations originating around the flowers of southern magnolias. Is it possible that pollinators spread scale around a landscape?

[@DCA55]

I had an 7' indoor palm and tried for 6 months to defeat scale first using alcohol washes then with neem oil but after several soakings, I still failed to defeat the damn things and had to watch the palm slowly die.

[@MM-le9en]

Great video!! I've got those insects for a while in my basil and cleaned many times but those appeared again until I use ACV on the plant and leaves for some days and my basil started to ge new leaves without the black sticky mould, hope to keep my plant alive.

[@samaraburton2126]

What if these types of bugs start appearing on edible goods like cilantro? Would it be a horrible idea to use neem oil for that?

[@umiluv]

Neem oil is considered organic since it’s made from the neem plant. Just make sure to wash your plants before you eat.

[@lukaslambs5780]

I never see aphids or scale on any of my plants edible or otherwise, but I do get pest damage like holes in leaves, strange. Am I missing something or is it possible I don’t have them? I live in suburban New York.

[@Aarontlondon]

Such a great video, and I love Chris. She’s a star ⭐️

[@dpaone8440]

How long does an adult scale live? One season or more? Great info love this channel

[@naegwut]

She's so smart

[@Shortcake39553]

Great tips from both of you. Where can we purchase a microscope minute enough to see the small aphids? Thanks for sharing

[@MariePotsPlants]

We moved into a house with a huuuge pecan tree that shades the driveway and holy cow.. in the summer those droppings we thought were sap are yea actually this bugs droppings and it covers our car and driveway from one end to another. It’s so sticky like honey and after it rains it’s worse. If you walk to your car the rocks stick to the bottoms of your shoes 😭

[@Muswell]

I get loads of little orange scale insects on the stems & branches on my lemon trees. The only way I can keep them in check is to wipe them off with soapy water using a washing-up scourer ! Hard to get off. I have to check & redo it 3 times a year. Very annoying.

[@pinktiptoes7491]

What about using systemics?

[@jeanetteschulthe1andOnly]

Thank you Chris and Kevin.

[@TrangVu-sz4vd]

Since you use a lot of worm casting and tea products, have you tried/considered setting up your own worm farm?

[@ronaldjones8636]

THE B-ROLL OF KEVIN LOOKING AT FLOWERS!!! Was so funny or some reason LOL

[@jaaaaannnnee]

I have a jade tree that has had soft scale and aphids for 3 years now. I've been following all of these steps; pruning, using neem, giving it more sun, and Captain Jack's! I just can't get rid of them and the tree is getting sadder and sadder :(

[@szinga]

WOW this vid is right on time... I've just discovered this insect on my plants. thanks dude :)

[@jean-pierreposman7282]

Hi Kevin this scale do they exist in every climatezone and continent ? I never heard of them ... ???

[@robertmoore661]

I have what I think is armoured scale on my cypress tree? I also had some small white jumping bugs that look like mealy bug ? Help

[@kennedytown9651]

Thanks very much to your excellent video that Chris and Kevin talked about scale insect problem on plants. As I have a winter creeper that has this problem for some time, I wonder if we could seek your views below: 1) based on the photos below, is my plant’s infestation status very serious that it needs to be destroyed? Or we can still try to rescue it? 2) I have used Neem oil to spray the whole plant for a while but it seems the scale problem is still intact. I am changing to use an insecticide call End All from Safer’s. Is it good enough? Thanks again 😅

[@kennedytown9651]

Oh! Sorry I tried to insert a photo here but cannot. Is it possible that I can email the photos of my plants for your review and comments? Thanks very much indeed

[@dorenavant63]

I love hoy the lady explain this, I love woman that know a lot about agriculture and biology they look more gorgeous ❤

[@donnaikin7397]

Great video. Very informative! Those bugs look horrible, I might be using a toothpick to remove them, then drone them, that way I don’t have to touch them.

[@7-ten]

Will you do a video about grasshoppers?

[@kaylinklimple2167]

Never saw them coming - brown scale on my desert rose succulent - never had them before on this indoor plant

[@kanika9995]

Soil drenches for Australian Flat worm,Army worms and most chewing insects please.

[@joshcole4786]

Chris, I enjoy the content of your channel. Wondering what grow zone you're in.

[@sparkyboom3434]

How long does it take for the hard scales ones to be adults? Thanks for the video it's great info, just found these buggers on some on my plants

[@gmpgmp5488]

Super informative Chris! Thank you 😊

[@AnneTrent]

Thank you Chris!! You just saved my plants!

[@CL-rh8ti]

I had it on an otherwise healthy indoor lemon tree and battled it for over a year! Finally I gave up, but I’m glad to have this video to reference should it strike again.

[@chrisfisher3900]

Kevin would you recommend a subpod mini or original for a birdies 8-1 tall bed? It will be used as a good size herb garden

[@DancerSakura]

I already lost a poinsettia two weeks ago because of the soft scale and today I have spotted another two in my orchid 😢

[@meikusje]

I just noticed a bunch of these on one of my indoor plants a few days ago. Luckily, the weather is now warm enough that I could put the plant outside, and when I just checked, a bunch of spiders had set up camp on the plant. I still removed all the scales I could see, but I'm hoping the spiders will clean up the rest. So far, I've been able to get rid of all pests by simply cleaning leaves of affected plants once or twice a day, and doing so persistently until no critters could be seen for a few days in a row. So fingers crossed this will work for this scales-affected plant as well. Not that I have anything against other methods, this is just easier.

[@kerrychuang]

How did it go? Did it work? Someone told me I should throw away my whole plant and the soil lol 😅

[@meikusje]

@@kerrychuang it worked quite well! It took me a short while to get rid of the remaining scales manually, but the plant is still alive and doing fine, and it hasn't spread to any other plants, as far as I can see.

[@GmamaGrowz]

Great information 🤩 Thanks for sharing!

[@livenbelieve4819]

This was sooooo helpful! As in “ohhh, aha!” Thanks 👍👍👍

[@brutawithabtesilassie5428]

Can I replace ashes instead of lime?

[@sharonspopsandplants359]

That was some great info and I use neem oil on my plants

[@josealeman332]

I hate this things,,, last year they killed half of my lemon tree, this year they have come back.. I think is time to get the torch for me..:) thanks for sharing ,no many info about this pest or is hard to find.

[@FunAtDisney]

Wonderful information! Thank you

[@lessons89]

All I wanna do is vomit. But major respect for this extremely thorough content and Chris’s knowledge. I wish I wasn’t so freaked out by things like this.

[@lucyl0o]

this is an amazing video, thank you!