Scale on citrus (forum)

Sue Quinnell starts with ...
Has anyone developed a physical method to control ants and scale on citrus trees? I have used white oil with limited success (except removal of sotty mould). I have applied vaseline bands around tree trunks. The ants removed this over 2 days and continued farming the scale. I think the drought has made the trees very susceptable. They have at least 4 types of scale.At night literally millions of ants swarm over the trees
thanks for any help
Sue

Time: 29th June 2007 11:18am

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Kath says...
Sue this is very interesting as I am currently on the same mission and have been feeling very smug since I set up my Vaseline bands about 4 weeks ago, so far they are working very well and the recent rain is washing all the sooty mould off the leaves of my finger lime tree which is looking healthier than it has all year. This is how I made my bands. I wrapped some grafting tape around the trunk of my tree in a band about 6 cm wide. I used this in particular as it stretches so it will not ring bark my tree and it breaks down and is easy to remove. Plumbing tape would work in the same way. I then smeared a 1 cm thick 2cm long band of Vaseline all the way around the trunk of any trees in my orchard with ant activity or scale. Citrus and star apples are particularly attractive to scale so these had the most ant activity. My ants were stumped immediately, it took a few days for them to all fall or drop out of the trees but there is not longer any movement of ants up and down the trunks of my trees. Make sure there are no other access points for the ants like stakes or nearby trees that are touching as they will move onto these highways if they can. I anticipate replacing them every month and will move them up and down the truck of the tree when I do this so as to not damage the stem in any way.

Time: 29th June 2007 11:49am

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Anonymous says...
Thanks. You have not had the ants remove the vaseline? That was my experiment, but I am now encouraged to try again. I have also smothered the trillions of louse scale with whitewash.
best wishes
Sue Quinnell

Time: 29th June 2007 5:44pm

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Kath says...
Sue, I have discovered that my partner has also been spraying our trees with white oil while I am not looking. So together we are succeeding in our battle against the ants and scale. Our ants do not seem to have moved the vaseline yet but we may have different types of ants to you. A blast with a high pressure hose usually works on the crawlers and will clean up any sooty mould and dead scale also.

Time: 6th July 2007 8:58am

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Ross Coe says...
Hi Sue
Grease will last longer particularly with the drought we've been having. A hose works well of course, if you have the water. Natural pyrethrum, available from Brisbane Organic Growers, sprayed in the evening is also a useful backup.

Time: 21st September 2007 12:45pm

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About the Author Ross Coe
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Correy says...
Here are some great photos of how to rid ants from your fruit trees. There is also a blog on this subject now:

Blog: Ants And Fruit Trees
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2
Picture: 3
Picture: 4

Time: 5th February 2008 10:34am

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John says...
Hay guys coffee gounds keeps pests of but an overload can be harmfull to the groung as well. Confedor if you can still get it

Time: 5th February 2008 10:58am

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About the Author John10
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Dekka says...
I had a similar problem with a Grapefruit and a Wax Jambu and used Vicks instead of Vasolene and the ants won't go anywhere near it; lasts for ages and tree doesn't appear to be affected. I'll wait and see if the fruit tastes like Vaporub.

Time: 5th February 2008 11:36am

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About the Author Dekka
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Correy says...
Dekka: Great idea with the vicks, John: Can you give me some more info on how coffee grounds keep pests at bay and how they influence the make up of the soil. eg do they add nitrogen?

Time: 5th February 2008 5:27pm

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John says...
Correy, I can get away with using it on a 3 month cycle. We are on basicly sand or what I call beach sand. Everything leaches right through and doesnt last for long. Coffee is leathal to snails in particular and slugs. We get inundated with little white snails, '000 per tree. So the coffee is required. However, for quality soils only use it as required. Its toxic to worms and the other good stuff in the soil. Overdosing consistenly may serilize the area. I've been using about 2 cups spread in a circle around my trees about a foot from the trunk for ten plus years.

Time: 5th February 2008 6:20pm

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Dekka says...
Sounds like Italian White Snails;nasty. Best solution for them are ducks or Guinea Fowl.

Time: 5th February 2008 10:53pm

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Sue says...
I was told the vasaline around the base does not work as the ants climb over one another as they become stuck in the vasaline, and use each other as a bridge.
It makes sense to me.

Time: 24th October 2008 8:48pm

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About the Author Sue9
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Pauline says...
Coffee grounds are not toxic to worms, they love them. Have a google and you will see many sites saying just that.

Time: 24th October 2008 9:11pm

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peetah says...
can it hurt the tree trunk if it gets vasaline on it? also can you use cling wrap instead of grafting tape?

Time: 4th October 2011 2:10pm

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John Mc says...
A band of Cling wrap should be OK. As long as you install it so it can stretch as the tree grows. Don't put the vaseline directly on the trunk, it'll ring bark your tree and possibly kill it. I learnt the hard way many years ago and nearly lost a tree in the process.

Time: 4th October 2011 3:09pm

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Abby E says...
I tried the vaseline on my mandarin tree, but as mentioned above the ants climbed over it and then it melted down the trunk onto the soil. Had a few nervous days of cleaning it up and hoping it didn't harm the tree. It is holding its own, but scale and ants continue to be a problem. I use jets of water and the number of scale has reduced, but they are still there! Might give the white oil a try too. Not keen to try the vas remedy again though!

Time: 11th March 2012 4:30pm

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About the Author Abby
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John I. says...
Abby, yes use white oil. It will kill the scale (by suffocating it) and then the ants will disappear because they will no longer be fed by the scale. You may need to spray 2 or three times over a couple weeks to fully get rid of the scale.

Time: 11th March 2012 5:06pm

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About the Author JohnI
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MaryT says...
When I use white oil, I spray the trunk and branches of the tree, the top and underside of the leaves, not just where the infestation is.

Time: 11th March 2012 5:36pm

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Original Post was last edited: 13th March 2012 7:27am
About the Author MaryT
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Abby says...
Thanks for the advice to both John and Mary. I will start a vigilant program and let you know how it goes! Abby

Time: 16th March 2012 4:04pm

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Sues says...
Hi John - I have just realised that we have now inadvertently ringbarked 3 of our citrus trees by using vaseline around the trunks - how did you save yours? Our mandarin now has peeling bark half way up its trunk:(

Time: 6th February 2014 12:14pm

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JohnMc1 says...
All I can offer is get it all off asap and hope for the best. If the area is ringbarked badly enough to kill the tree, you could try a technique called Bridge grafting, Google may be your friend there. You are lucky in one respect, now is the best time for a successful graft.
I don't know if spraying the canopy with water/seasol/dilute nutrients regularly would help. Depends on how damaged the cambium layer is.

Time: 6th February 2014 9:17pm

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JanetRD says...
Please don't use Confidor. It is a systemic poison and highly toxic to bees

Time: 6th March 2020 3:14pm

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