Barnacle scale on fig trees (forum)

AaLF starts with ...
My fig trees in my Sydney backyard are infected with a reddish/purple barnacle type scale on the branch tips. In summer the result will send the leaves sooty black.

While the trees are defoliated 4 winter I can attack the scale.

What's a good mixture to concoct to paint the barnacles with?

Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 14th July 2014 10:32am

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Original Post was last edited: 14th July 2014 10:31am
About the Author AaLF
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Diego says...
http://www.greenlifesoil.com.au/sustainable-gardening-tips/pest-and-disease-control-recipes

Time: 14th July 2014 11:48am

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About the Author Diego
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MaryT1 says...
I scrape them off with the back of a butter knife, squashing them in the process - a very bloody exercise and when my fig trees get them they are nowhere near as bad as pictured.

Time: 14th July 2014 3:38pm

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About the Author MaryT1
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symiot says...
There are various oil sprays and they are all very effective. Make sure you cover well and you may need a couple of applications. They sometimes take a while to fall off even though they are dead. A copper spray is also advisable as they may have spread disease to the fig. Follow instructions for both carefully.

Time: 14th July 2014 6:12pm

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Original Post was last edited: 14th July 2014 6:11pm
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nicnic says...
Perth suburbs are having this barnacle outbreak too,(for the last 3 years).
We use a screwdriver to flatten them or immediately remove affected leaves or branch, from the tree as you find them, placing them in the bin. Do this every couple of days and the tree will recover or get on top off the outbreak.
Outbreaks appear to favour hot weather and/or heavy watering around the base. Barnacles tend to appear from no where, like out of the air and maybe from the soil. We live less than 4kms from sea.
(If the source is from the air, then this could be a Chinese shipping import, like the edible mushroom-wild hybrid outbreak, that has blown in on empty Chinese ships and X bred with local edible mushrooms, rendering them lethal & toxic to humans.DO NOT EAT WILD AUSTRALIAN MUSHROOMS-PLS RELAY THIS MSG ELSEWHERE. Slack Govt inspection of ships will continue to see dirty ships arriving in Australia and spores and other diseases will be brought in by storm and sea breeze winds
Could be an act of Chinese sabotage !!!

Fortunately this fig barnacle does not render the fig fruit toxic and can be eaten if you chop off the affected barnacle part. Any one worried should stew these fruit for jam etc)

These types of diseases require identification and public notification by Ag dept/Uni Botany dept ASAP. I have no further time for this. Thankyou

Time: 6th January 2016 1:21pm

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About the Author nicnic
perth
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David 8 says...
I have a few very large fig trees in my garden in Perth that have grown together to resemble a single fig tree circa 5m high and circa 8m in diameter. Over the last few years I have had a major problem with barnacle scale. This seems to be transferred from tree to tree by the Rainbow Lorikeets. I have tried a number of ways to get rid of it spraying the tree with Neem Oil, manually crushing the scale etc. All of these methods had limited success. Last year at the end of winter, just before the buds on the branches started forming, the scale moved up the branches towards where the new leaf buds were starting to form. I took my Karcher pressure washer using a medium pressure and sprayed the scale off branch by branch. This worked extremely well and was a lot more effective than trying to crush the scale one by one which was simply not possible. I have had no scale at all on my trees this year which is a very pleasdant change to previous years where it was difficult to pick any fruit that did not have scale on it or find many unaffected leaves. There was very minimal damage to the branches caused by the high pressure spray. The resulting fig crop is probably double this year what I have had in previous years with almost no scale at all. (I have started to notice a few small scale for the first time this summer over the last week or two February) from the lorikeets). I will definately be pressure washing the trees this year again. Takes about 2 hours and needa step ladder.

Time: 3rd February 2021 2:21pm

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About the Author David 8
HILLARYS 6025 WA Australia
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