will this hurt my palm?

When returning to our Florida home after 8 months "up north" I see these white spots on my small Sago Palm. What should I do?

The trunk is really heavy with this white stuff.

It's actually a cycad and not a palm. But that's scale you've got there, it can really damage the plant. There's lots of different approaches to getting rid of them, although long term they often still come back.

You can clean most of them up with a strong jet of water and a bit of a scrub. But usually they're still in the soil and will come back. Some people use Neem Oil and others just go for the 'big guns' and use chemicals. You should be able to check around gardening stores and see what's available in your area. They might also be able to make a recommendation which is the most suitable product they have.

You can get a treatment for the soil to reduce the risk of any re-infection. Some people swear by coffee grounds claiming it will even prevent any come back by the scale.

But first up if I were you I'd hose and scrub now to remove most and then look for other long term treatments, either organic or non-organic as you prefer.

Thank you for your help. I'll get out my trusty hose right away.