Fighting Scale on Plants in Springtime, or Anytime

The weather is beautiful and homeowners are putting their gardening gloves on. Springtime for gardeners means digging in and growing a fresh variety of plants. But while gardeners are working in their yards, and pollinating bees are busy visiting the emerging blossoms, something sinister also is brewing.

Scale, Aphids, Whiteflies…Oh My!

Scale bugs on plants—as well as other tiny critters such as aphids, whiteflies, spider mites and fungus gnats—are multiplying. And they can take over our home gardens and crops faster than we can control them. These pests begin attacking your garden without warning. They reproduce rapidly, and a serious infestation may occur before you realize it. A healthy plant today could be fully infested the next evening. Scale insects on plants feed by sucking sap and cell contents through their needle-like mouthparts. The sticky honeydew that many species excrete encourages the growth of sooty mold. Along with other soft-bodied pests, scale can usually be found in great numbers, covering the foliage and hiding under leaf tips right where they curl over. These little critters can literally suck the life out of your plants.

BEE SAFE So The World Won’t Be Sorry

When you’re planning how to get rid of scale on plants, as well as defeating other marauding garden denizens, there’s something important you need to keep in mind: those helpful honey bees. They’re essential to our flowers and food crops. Their populations are declining worldwide due to Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). And they can be devastated by many of the products commonly used against garden pests.

To help control and maintain a healthy environment we recommend using Organocide® BEE SAFE 3-in-1 Garden Spray, an OMRI Listed® insecticide, fungicide and miticide. It is effective on all stages—eggs, larvae, nymphs and adults—of small, soft-bodied insects as well as certain fungal diseases. When applied to your plants it smothers scale and other target insects by contact. But it won’t harm bees or other large, beneficial bugs when used as directed. Once the liquid dries, a micro-film is left on the plant. Any hatchlings of the target insects get trapped in the film and die. Females arriving after treatment detect the film and will not lay eggs on the treated plant because they recognize the area as a hazard to their eggs.

So treat your garden with an organic product that’s effective against pests such as scale, as well as bee-friendly. The results can be spectacular. Your yard can be free of toxic chemicals. And with fewer pests and bountiful pollinators, springtime can be an inspiring season indeed. As well as a healthier one for our planet.

“Thanks to Organocide^® BEE SAFE 3-in-1 Garden Spray my palms look just great,”
says Ruby H. from Boca Raton after he used this bee-friendly product to effectively control sago palm scale.