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edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
PLANT DOCTOR
with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au
SCALE:This pest that attacks all manner of
plants is tiny, really tiny, only 2-3mm long.
So, yes you’d need a good
magnifying class to look at them.
The thing is, when they’re doing damage to
your plant’s leaves and branches, they stay very still under a covering which
is mostly impervious to anything that you spray on it.
Scale on Port Wine Magnolia |
If you notice block stuff sticking
to the leaves of your plants and ants going about their business as well, then
you definitely have got some sort of scale happening.
Some scale insects
(like soft scales) hatch from eggs, while others are born live. They disperse to favourable sites
on the leaf, settle down and start feeding. This dispersal stage is known as a
‘crawler’.
The juveniles then become sedentary, and start building their
protective scale covers.
As we mentioned, targeting scale
when they’re most vulnerable is the best method.
If you have any questions about the scale,
or even have a photo a problem on your
plant, why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville
NSW 1675.