I was shocked at the reply I received from the nursery. How do you knowingly send out infested plants? I don't care that you think it's a mealy bug infestation instead of a scale. Does that make it any less of a problem? It certainly looks more like a soft scale than a mealy bug as there are no cottony masses and the bugs are also smooth. They are soft bodied but all the mealy bugs I've seen have been sort of fuzzy and I've dealt with soft scales before. They are so difficult to erradicate. I'm going to copy the response that I got from the nursery. Am I crazy or is this completely unacceptable?
Karyn

****Dear Karyn:

I'm so sorry!! Are you sure that it is scale and not mealybugs? I've never seen scale in my greenhouse, but I did have some mealybugs which I sprayed with a systemic a day or so before your plants shipped. They should be dead or dying in the next couple of days. I really think that the systemic will take them out although sometimes it takes a week or so to get the ones on the root. If it doesn't, please let me know!

Best Wishes, *****************

I didn't post the name because I didn't want to publicly blast this nursery. I've bought from them before and never had anything like this happen.

I have done the same thing when I came home with some passifloras with the worse spidermites ever Im sure you caught it in time .I released 1500 ladybugs today and ill get somemore in a few weeks they keep the whiteflys and bugs down were I can control them alittle better not sure but think ladybugs will eat scale but not sure might be worth a try.I do know the give them spidermite hell.

I can't release ladybugs or mantises yet. The plants are still in my house because of the low temps and there's no way I'm putting an infested plant in the greenhouse. I go through several thousand ladybugs every summer. They are the best way to get rid of aphids.
Karyn

Dont the mantises eat your cats.I wanted to release some but was afread they would eat my caterpillars.I should of waited a day to release my ladybugs we had a bad rain spell here the day I released them hope they dont all die.

The mantises will get some cats but not enough to worry about. It's still better than the alternative of using chemical pest controls. You should always release your ladybugs at dusk. This will keep most of them where you want them as long as there's a food supply available. I wouldn't worry about a thunderstorm. They ladybugs will find someplace on the plants to ride out the storm.
Karyn

Scale is somewhat easy to find (and crush) on small, new plants. I found some on a coreacea I got a couple of years ago, and like you, I thought it was misplaced pearlite before I realized what was up. Scale is controlled by an application of horticultural oil, I believe.

I've battled scale on a number of plants, especially citrus and it's difficult to control. Horticultural oils will kill some but you usually need to resort to a systemic insecticide. That's something I avoid. I don't even like using neem. I just don't want this plant and the more I think about it the angrier I get. A knowingly infected plant never should have been sold.
Karyn

Try spraying a mixture of lemon dish soap & water. Make sure that you spray heavily around where they are at, getting into all the crevises. Continue to spray every other day. You can spray rinse the plant to remove excess soap residue & check the status on the scale, wipe off any that you can. If you have a foam handsoap container it will put a heavier saturation over the scales to help suffocate them.
I had scale attack some of my orchids & they are all clear now.

I've tried dish soap with moderate success in the past. The nursery sent a replacement and the infested plant went in the trash.
Karyn