Hi! I’m new to the forum so I’m not sure if I’m posting in the right place. I’m in Southern Virginia and several of my 3 year old apple trees have what looks like white scale. It’s not powdery. It’s stuck on good but seems to wash off with a scrub. Anyone know what this is and how to treat it? Google has been inconclusive.
It appears to be some form of lichen from the scaly look. Are your buds breaking out in a normal manner with healthy foliage? If it’s just lichen, then there would be no harm by it being there other than a place for harboring other issue. You could try using Moss out or lime sulphur but do not get either on your foliage. Just use a pint brush instead of spraying to test a few places and observe results. It is an unusual symptom.
Best of luck
Dennis
Kent wa
Thank you! It does look similar to lichen but isn’t lichen. It’s also killing the trees!
You might consult @Alan, I believe he is much closer than Ian’s May be able to help diagnose since he grows apples
Best wishes
Dennis
You say it looks like scale. Perhaps it is scale. Is so Horticultural oil should help. And adding an insecticide might help. If it’s killing the tree you need to do something.
Thank you - it does look scaly but when you wet it, it turns mushy and washes off like mold or mildew. It appears white on the tree but when you wash it, it’s a mix of white and very dark brown or black. We’re consistently treating all of our trees with Immunox, Neem Oil, and BT and it doesn’t phase it. For context, we have 300 trees and about 5 have been affected by this.
1 Like
Welcome StoneyridgeOrchard!
Looks like scale to me.
Immunox and BT will not phase scale. Neem might if in the right formulation… but catching the scale insects in a vulnerable life stage is important. I don’t know much about it, but what I do know is that scale is very hard to treat.
2 Likes
Thank you so much! It does look a lot like that photo. From other photos it looked like scale was larger in size, but this type looks spot on. I will be doing some research! Appreciate the direction.
1 Like
Scale for sure. Use the hort oil ('sunspray") on a not too hot day. Much above 90 and it can be phyto-toxic, but the label should guide you through that. Next year you should probably do it in early spring shortly after trees begin growing and before blooms start to open. I’d do it before you can see any pink and go with 2% concentration.