Thieves Targeting Gardens With Rare Plants
Kyle said they have had plants stolen from where he works and I know someone a few years ago stole plants from Calla...
and look what just happen to Kell
Maybe that person should watch ebay for his plants, everything seems to end up there. If anybody makes a play for my precious greens, I have an Attack Goat w/horns on duty!
CC ,
yeah, kell was the first person that popped came to mind when I read this article.
A terrible thing , for sure :'(
I've heard of a few thefts of rare palms down here. Several large bottle palms were stolen back in the summer.(not from me, I can't afford them, lol)
Does anyone else have a Great Pyrenees, --they will allow no one they don't know to come inside the fence.
I have a weimaraner, but it's the plants outside the fence the theives get, the ones where the dog can't get to them. None of my plants have been bothered though, I think I'm too far out in the country.
Over our way they are stealing cyads. They kind of look like palms but go back to the dinosaur age. Some are rare and for those who collect them and have them in their yards...watch out!
There was an article in the paper here about cycads getting stolen in Florida.
So you saw it too, Cala. Our extension office is suggesting using other cycads in place of the sago palms which have been in a losing battle against the never-ending SCALE which just does not go away no matter how you treat for it...We have several in our landscape which I am now about ready to pull out. How sad. : (
Soozer, they recommend something called Organicide for the scale, it's expensive, it stinks but so far it's kept them off the new growth. It's made from sesame oil and smells like fish. Like you, I'm about ready to rip mine out and plant something else. I just hate to give up on them though because they are very old.
Cala --
Never heard of this! I figured when the extension office said they've tried everything for the last couple years...
Is this something that must be special ordered? How expensive? Inquiring minds...
: 0
There is a garden center here that carries it. It shouldn't be special order in an area that has Sago palms because that's what it's specially formulated for. My garden center guy said Fla dept of parks or something like that recommended it to him. It was 24.95 for a quart, and it takes 2 oz to a gallon of water, but a gallon goes a long way.
First, you clean off all the palm fronds except the newest ones at the top, bag them and either burn or take to garbage. Don't carry them in your arms or in a wagon to the burn pile because you will spread the scale. Bag them right where you cut them off. Do not compost the fronds.
Then you mix the spray, set sprayer on fine mist and mist top and bottom of remaining fronds, the trunk and center growth area with spray. Then repeat every 20 days for about 6 months. It's time consuming, but no more so than other methods of control. I spray 12 large sago palms with one gallon of spray.
Susue ,
I found reference to your sesame spray here in the March 28, 1999 update
http://mgonline.com/cycadscale.html
scooter -- MORE things to try! The smalles of my sagos is looking really really dead, brown finally. The other two could maybe be saved yet. The largest (similar to sago, can't remember...it is HUGE) has new growth but now it is white with scale, too. Must try one suggestion at a time and watch for good results.
Well how crummy is that - takes a real crumbum to steal ones beloved plants.
Sure is a shame that on top of being ones beloved plants ........ Some are also rare prehistoric Cycads on the brink of distinction.
I used the organicide and volck oil spray on my after removing the infested fronds. I drenched the thing including the soil every 3-4 days for weeks and I thought it was a goner but in the spring, it put out new fronds and is currently free of asian scale. They can be saved.
Jan...
WOW !
YAY !
Yippee !
What great news.
Big hugs from the Frozen Tundra , I dearly wish I could grow these beauties.
I do not know if I had a similar type scale for mine were black, but I had it on 4 oleander trees. And I mean they were covered. My 5th had already succumbed. I tried over and over to kill them to no avail. I gave them a heavy dose of that Bayer Advanced Tree systemic that you put in 2 gallons of water and just poor around the roots. Though expensive, it is so easy to apply and it lasts one year. I have never seen a scale since!!!
Around here, thieves have stolen very old Japanese maples. Right outside front doors too!!
Here are pictures of my sago with the asian scale.
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid2939836
Tried the Bayer on this, didn't even make a dent in them. Kell, the scale looks like powder all over the fronds, it gets on the stem, trunk and down in the roots. I see trees all over town that are dying from it. It only gets on cycads.
Oh that looks so bad. How sad! No, mine were those black bumps. I sound so scientific! LOL
I'll take some pictures tomorrow of what mine looks like now.
Hey, Budgie!
Your second photo shows the fuzzy stuff on the trunk (how scientific is that, Kell?) should not be sprayed off accidently when high pressure spraying to get the scale off. I killed one years ago thinking that fuzzy/fluffy stuff shouldn't be there. OOPS...DEAD! I just didn't know any better at the time. So...there are several things to try. The main thing is a remedy that works permanently. I understand that this scale usually/always comes back. NOT SO from what some say here. And so thanks again. Adding to my list of things to try.
Soozer, they will come back, that's why you have to keep spraying for several months and it wouldn't hurt to give it a spray or two even after they look clean. The scale can be blown in on the wind from a neighbor's palm that has scale, so always be on the lookout for it to show up again and have the sprayer handy.
Actually, I did pressure wash the fuzz off with the scale and it didn't kill it.
I figured I didn't have much to lose anyway. Funny how they differentiate between cycad and palms and this guy sits in the middle of 2 reclinatas and they were not affected at all. (BTW, I treated the fronds I removed by soaking in a solution of volck and organicide in a covered garbage can for a week before disposing of so as not to spread it around anymore than necessary.
Jan...
Oh now that's a good idea! I worried about even picking them up cause those scale drop off when you touch the fronds to pick them up. Wish I could dip my whole plant in the solution! That would sure take care of the bugs!
Just put the can next to the plant and prepare it. You can drop them in as you remove them. After a couple weeks, remove the fronds and dispose of.
The leftover in the can can be used as residual drenches for the plants until gone.
Jan...