Bay Laurel question ?

Every year I order bay laurel plants in hopes to keep them and one day have a big beautiful bushy plant, of course being from Indiana I need to grow them in pots to be brought in during the cold months. Here's my problem...everytime I have a great looking plant to bring in, it gets the scale bug. How do you take care of the scale without killing the plant? It seems everything I use does not work and eventually the plant dies. Once again I'm looking at my seed catalogs and wanting to order some plants. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have a bay that I keep in a pot and move into the GH (and now, I need to go look for scale) LOL.

I've not have problems in the past and really don't know that I would want to use anything chemical on it as I use the leaves in cooking. I believe someone said the scale is in the soil and on the Cacti & Succulents forum a couple of people said plain old windex and your fingernail to scrape them will remove a light infestation.

I will go look and see if I've saved any other information. Or perhaps someone else will weigh in...

This from an expert and Texas A&M

Oh my Goodness...Thank You for the information. I'm going to place my order for some new starts and hopefully this time they will survive. I never had any trouble with scale on other plants so I didn't know if that was normal or not but I hated putting money out again just to lose them. Daves Garden is a wonderful website with wonderful people always willing to help. Thanks Podster.

Grace

Personally, I would not use a systemic insecticide on any plant that I was going to eat!

Yeah I agree with the insecticide on any kind of herb or food stuff, at this point I just want one to not die on me. I would love to have one grow big and bushy. Now maybe the ones I order this year will be a success....I can't wait till spring.
Grace

Grace, I was reading another forum and found a discussion on scale. I posed your question on scale and received this post.

Thank You podster, you have been soooo much help. Happy New Year!!

You are welcome Grace.
Happy New Year to you also... and happy plant shopping too.

A cataloge from edible landscaping arrivied recently, and they list a Sweet Bay Laurel. The blueberries I purchased from them have done very well.

http://ediblelandscaping.com/plants.php?func=view&id=154

Yum! Edible Landscaping sounds excellent. Thanks for sharing the link.

That link also has some good care info and I found this on a thyme.

podster - the thyme I had planted in full sun died! The one in almost total shade lives on! (go figure)

Hmmm... back to the drawing board. I may never know why it failed me.
When it is something I loved and lost, I will try, try again.
Thyme is a pretty, green mulch but I don't find it on my 'gotta have' herb list.

HoneybeeNC thanks for the link. Hmmm a Bay Plant in a gallon pot, I could start there, and not to be shipped until March is perfect timing. :)

I like their idea of mailing plants in pots. Personally, I think the plants have a much better chance of survival shipped this way.

Podster you sound like me, not giving up and try trying again. I will grow a Bay Laural, I will, I will, I will. When I said that I thought the plant was thyme, I kept looking at the spelling "tyme" I knew it didn't look right, I kept thinking something was missing, the "H"as I smack my forehead. ;0)

I will be happy to share some of my thyme with you. Just remind me in late spring-early summer.

The thyme I have growing in morning sun, afternoon shade. All the different kinds are doing just fine.

I bought a bay tree in a one gallon container and then put it in a slightly larger pot. So far it seems to be doing OK, as they are very slow-growers. It has at least half-day sun.

Evelyn ~ do you bring the Bay in overwinter?

No, it stays outside. Last year I thought I lost it as it got to be a low of 17° for a few days. But it is still doing fine. They are supposed to be a hardy tree or shrub, but I doubt if I will see it become a tree in my lifetime.

Mine is pruned 2 to 3 feet and I just don't want to lose it although it should be hardy. I worry about the roots freezing when kept potted though so I move it indoors.

I would rather keep it outside so it won't get soft being indoors in a warm spot, or in my basement with no light. I think it would stay healthier if it stats outdoors. I just checked on it late this afternoon and it looks good. Much better than this time last year. The deer cannot get to it now.

Oh... bay flavored venison. LOL Seriously, I love to use bay when cooking long simmering foods.

*smile*

podster-

Good idea on the burying ~ thanks. I have not heard of bay causing indigestion before. To me it has a delicate flavor but everyone is different. Sorry you are unable to enjoy it.

DH cannot abide foods cooked with sage and I have learned not to like it either over the years.

podster

My husband says to tell you "Good, you can have his share!" lol

The only sage I like is not for eating. I love the fragrance of Clevelandii sage and that is one I will try, try again.

While I am in Calif in May, I'm going up on the mt above Ventura and digging up a Bay Laurel tree. Last time I was there I saw several that were from 3 feet to 6 feet tall and it snows there. Most winters it gets between 1-4 feet of snow. There is also White Sage growing there that I'm going to bring back plants to KY.

Marti001 ~ I am going to have to do some reading but the CA bay is not the same Bay as the Bay Laurel or Laurus Nobilis. If I recall what I read, the taste of the leaf is a bit different and not quite as desirable in cooking.

Grace ~ I am guessing if you place your order for bay laurel now, they won't ship till the winter weather breaks? I got to thinking about that tonite as I read thru the seed catalogues on some herbal plants I wanted to order.

Kristi ~ Marti did say bay laurel - Laurus nobilis. Yes, there is a tree called the CA bay tree, but I have never seen it in any of the nurseries in CA. I just hope that she is careful to take most of the roots. I would think that a tree of that size would not be easy to dig up. I checked mine yesterday and it was doing great in its pot. Some of our ground is frozen but the bay shrub looks fine so far.

Evelyn ~ is your bay potted or in the ground at those freezing temps?

When I lived in Calif, I used the leaves of this tree all the time. Yes the Calif bay leave is stronger in flavor, so you have to use it sparenly

Good ~ you are familiar with it. I didn't mean to step on toes but some folks are disappointed or dislike the taste due to the difference.
Will you be able to leave the bay and the white sage outdoors in KY?

That's what I'm hoping for. Where I'm getting them, it gets down to about 10 degrees in the winter. The white sage goes dormant up there in the mountains. So I'm going to try some outdoors and I'll keep some in pots for the winter and see what happens.

Good luck ~ please let us know how you do with them?

I will do that! I'll leave here about the 23 of April and return the first week in June. I'll spend 2 days on the Navajo Reservation on my way to Calif. My trip to Calif will be slow with siteseeing on the way. The trip home will be straight thur as I'll have plants in the car. I plan to take lots of pictures. While there we will take my grandson for his first trip to Disneyland. He will be 4 the end of this month.

Fun, fun! Although from our Disneyland trip years ago, we decided it was for us big kids, not the little kids. lol Have a good trip!

The problem is I hate crowds, so I hate Disneyland, Magic Mtn, etc. BUT for my grandson, I'll go and have fun watching him have fun.