Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Garden #7, 1 by fredrump

fredrump wrote:
The sagos are almost becoming extinct in Florida because of scale. From the web: Cycas revoluta, one of the most primitive living seed plants, are very unusual and popular ornamentals. A rugged trunk, topped with whorled feathery leaves has lead to the common name "Sago Palm", however it is actually related to conifer and Ginko trees - all cone bearing plants which trace their origins back to the ancient flora of the early Mesozoic era. Often called "living fossils", Cycads have changed very little in the last 200 million years.

Whatever is happening these ancient palms are dying off as people are not spraying them to help them survive. I do not agree with the featured advice to immediately destroy an infected plant. The cycad pictured here was a poor yellowed remants clinging on to life when I bought this property. My wife said to get rid of it. Being that there were various such half dead plants and trees on the property I kept it to give it some loving care.

This is what the common wisdom says:
Ornamental cycads (Cycadaceae) in South Florida are highly infested with an introduced armored scale insect from Southeast Asia. Horticulturists and pest control personnel in the area report that common methods of scale insect control with systemic insecticides, contact insecticides against crawlers, and oils have not been effective in reducing these infestations.

Affected cycads are almost completely coated with a white crust that gives the appearance of a layer of fine snow. The scales suck all the juices out of the leaves, and the cycad dies within a few weeks. At this time, this type of scale does not attack other kinds of plants, only Cycads.

If you have purchased Cycads from Florida nurseries (which ship all over the U.S. so they might have shown up in your favorite garden center too), please watch for this scale. It multiplies at a fast rate and can spread to other Cycads in your collection. The only remedy at this point is to destroy the affected plant immediately.
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I use both an systemic and an oil spray (organocide) and was able to eradicate the scale. It's in the air so I repeat this process two or three times a year and the sagos are healthy. This applies to both king and queen sagos.

Fred