Scale

Question

I have a customer that has moderate scale on about 20 shrubs we recently installed. They don’t appear to be active, leading me to believe the nursery I bought them from has done their job by keeping them sprayed. My question is this: Are scale active in winter time? Does cold weather minimize or kill scale?

Answer 1

They are less active in cold, but cold is not a guarantee that they will be eliminated. Consider spraying the plants with neem oil. We have found it to be very effective on killing scale. Here is more information: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/pesticides/neem-oil-uses.htm