|
Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 12:25
| We bought our 100 year old house and yard 7 years ago. There were six scale and disease ridden camellias that were at least 50 years old. Since that time, I have done everything my county extension agent advised: Ortho or Green Light spray three times per year, prune lightly and fertilize after blooming, remove all spent blossoms promptly after they fall. In spite of all this care, each still gets a fresh batch of scale every year. Every leaf on each shrub is ruined. The old camellias were pruned up from the bottom years ago to make a tree form. They vary in size from 6 to 15 feet. I have planted 8 other camellias since moving to this yard. All are thriving and bloom appropriately. What should I do about the old camellias? A young man in our are who has a degree in horticulture from Auburn has suggested that I prune off all limbs and haul away leaving bare trunks and some limbs reducing the size down to about 2/3. Is this radical approach viable? Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by butterfly4u 8 (My Page) on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 1:10
| bess, I am not an expert on camellias, although I do have them. I planted 5 pittosporums a couple years ago in the front of my house for privacy. After a couple years, this fall in fact, i noticed they are getting awful scale all over them. This is what I did, and it helped. I read that scale and ants go hand in hand. I checked the area (about 2 months ago) and there were the ants. A big ants nest, i didn't even notice it, about 2 feet from the first bush, and then I noticed more ants and nestss around the other bushes. The nests were hard to see in the tall grass. I put Amdro all around the bushes and on the nests. THen I read that if you plant a flowering plant close by the tree or shrub that is prone to scale, it will attract insects to eat the scale. Especially wasps, they eat scale. The ants are gone, some of the scale is gone, but next spring i will definately apply the Amdro again, and also in the summer. Hopes this helps a little. Amdro is easy to find at HD, so try it this spring, and see if mabey this helps you. My favorite camellia is out back under a pine tree, and she has never had scale, but she is surrounded by flowers all summer and there are multiple wasps that probably take care of her. |
|
| Are you trying to leaving bare trunks so the old ones grow in tree form? Can you post pictures of one of these old ones? You could highlight the area where you want to remove branches by editing the picture of using some type of visible yellow tape placed on the shrub and facing the camera. |
|
- Posted by jamesmaloy 8b Florida (My Page) on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 23:55
| What I would advise is spraying with one of two oil sprays. Horticultural oil spray is generally done for spring summer spraying , Dormant oil sprays are usually done in fall/winter. You should be able to find these at a good nursery I am not sure if the box stores sell them I got mine at the co-op. They can be found under several trade names. They are very safe. The brand I bought is High Yield a generic name. My cousin has a bottle that is labeled volck. You must do a thorough job of the spraying, targeting the underside of the leaves. What it does is smother the insect so it can't breath which of course will kill it. Hope this helps you. Maybe someone else will post another answer. Years ago cygon 2e a systemic was used. I don't know if this is even available anymore. James in Florida |
|
| If you search the forum for "bayer" there are some good responses on this subject. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Camellia Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.