Dr Bronners and scale

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Julie Ashley Falls, MA Jul 03, 2001

I have a variegated Ficus that has had a chronic low level problem with scale. I would just deal with it by checking it over regularly and sponging off any scale I found with just plain water. This spring I noticed the scale had gotten much worse, so on a whim I decided to put a squirt of Dr. Bronners peppermint soap in the water and instead of sponging I just sprayed the plant with this mixture. A few days later I found that the scale was gone with just a few remaining and these flicked off easily as they were dead! It's been a few months now, and no more sign of scale. Just wanted to pass on this good news. I'm about to try it on a friends Scheff. I 've never had such instant success with Safer Soap, and I have had Safer damage Scheff. leaves even when very carefully diluted. Will report back. Am going to try 1/2 TBSP Dr. Bronners in a quart of water.

Post #7671
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WillCreed New York, NY(Zone 6a) Jul 03, 2001

I have used over a dozen different soap sprays, including Dr. Bonner's and Safer's insecticidal soap, on hundreds of different plants as a treatment for mites, scale, mealybug, and aphids.

I have not found that any soap is consistently more effective than any of the others for any of these pests. In addition, concentration doesn't seem to matter much either -within reasonable limits. What does seem to matter is the thoroughness of the application.

Insecticidal soap is more drying than other soaps. It is very rough on the hands, stings the eyes, and dries out nasal passages more than other soaps. It also seems to damage the leaves of some plant species more than other soaps.

Post #89945
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perLite Petaluma, CA Jul 03, 2001

Julie, I've had great results with Dr.Bronner's too. I use the lavender one and it seems to do good work. And the place smells nice when I use it!

Post #89950
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