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moby323

Something is killing my bush, is it a pest or a fungus (pictures)

moby323
17 years ago

Is this a pest or a fungus that is killing my bush. Follow, what is the simplest remedy?

Image link: {{!gwi}}

Comments (8)

  • jean001
    17 years ago

    Wowzers! Major infestation of scale!

    Scale is a tough critter to deal with. If you want to try, horticultural oil is a possible treatment.

    But I'd suggest you seriously consider replacing the plant.

  • moby323
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I've heard of one tablespoon cooking oil mixed with a quart of warer is a good remedy.
    Ive also heard of using Oil AND dish detergent together, but someone told me they just cancle eachother out.

  • tinamcg
    17 years ago

    Eww, that's nasty. I had an infestion not quite as bad on some euonymus last year, but I got rid of it.

    Don't give up. Scale can be controlled. Timing is the key. You can spray all you want at the wrong time, and it won't do any good. You have to get scale insects in their 'crawler' stage, which is a narrow window of a week or less.

    Check with any good local nursery or a county extension agent in your area to find out when they'll be vulnerable. You may be too late for this season (ours were crawling about , but you can get them over winter, too. Use a dormant oil spray like Ortho's Volck Oil, which is available everywhere. Forget about the cooking oil and dish soap concoctions. They're too unpredictable and may hurt the plant. Spray the diluted Volck Oil at the recommended intervals during the dormant season and then watch for scale carefully next season.

    If you need to spray plants during the growing season, follow the directions for diluting the Volck Oil to growing-season strength, which is half as concentrated as the dormant season spray.


    Tina McG

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    17 years ago

    Good Grief! That plant would be GONE, if it were mine. Tina and Jean both offer you great suggestions, but Jean's is 'the simplest', since you ask.

    Euonymus scale is very difficult to get rid of, even when you have a manageable infestation. At the very least, I would cut it back all the way to the ground and let it begin all over again. And I'd be a little more observant, lol.

    TRY mixing the veggie oil in water and see what happens. ;-)

  • tinamcg
    17 years ago

    Oh my Rhizo -- are you suggesting a "cut and run" strategy?!

    Sometimes I just like to see if I can beat an enemy, and I'm pleased to say my euonymus, which have been seriously cut back and treated, are growing back nicely, I guess you could say that because I stayed the course, they're living in freedom from euonymus scale.

    I don't spend a lot of time on the opposite side of our privacy fence, which is where they're planted. But I'm fighting the scale over there so I don't have to fight it in the rose garden off the patio. No chemical weapons, though. Hort oil works just fine.

    Tina McG

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    17 years ago

    LOL, I'd rather call it a 'cut and come again' strategy. For the average person, it's a whole lot easier preventing a major infestation of scale insects than getting one under control. Especially when the insect is covering nearly every square inch of leaf and stem surface. As Jean said, "Wowzers!" ;-)

    Euonymus is one of the many, many plants that respond beautifully to cutting back to the ground. I wouldn't think twice about chopping that plant back....heck....I wouldn't even think once! It's a done deal.

  • tinamcg
    17 years ago

    I can't tell -- is that euonymus in the photo? Or, as I like to call it, "You-wanna-miss out on this plant." Don't care for them much, especially the creeping groundcover one we stupidly put in our first year in this house. That was the same year we purchased aegopodium. Live and learn.


    Tina McG

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    17 years ago

    why risk your health with chemicals... or even oils.. trying to save this plant... if it were mine.. it would have been dug and placed in a plastic bag at the curb.. in the time it took you to get your first reply ...

    be done with it...

    ken

    PS: to get even.. i would have put it in a BLACK bag on the BLACK top for a week just to burn the little critters to death, before i had them trucked to a landfill ...

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