What is this?? Help!

I guess I've been living in the Garden of Eden, because for 5 years I have not had a single pest / insect problem. Until now!
This is on a purple ornamental plum tree, and on little pits bushes (as seen) thus far.

I applied Neem (by Green Light--it was recommended by the manager of our local Great Outdoors nursery--yesterday but now people are saying that this Neem has, in the process of being extracted from the seeds of the Neem tree, had the "poisonous" stuff extracted and will only smother little creatures.

Can someone help ID this and suggest how to get rid of it? It is dry when I scrape it off. There are no holes in the plants, and I see no "honeydew" stuff left. Also, they are only on the TOP of leaves and the stems.

Thanks!

This message was edited Jul 6, 2008 7:10 PM

I'm going to bump this up, as no one has seen it and I'm on my way this morning to run errands and can buy something to treat it with.

Bumping again.....for the morning coffee drinkers/ readers! :-)

Connie, is that a Pittosporum tobira? I have one but I have never seen these white spots...are you sure it's not dust or water residue?

I agree, are you positive it's insects? If the leaves had any moisture on them when you sprayed the oil, oil and water don't like each other so it could have made the water droplets come together and then when they evaporated they left a hard water spot behind on the leaf. If it was bugs I don't think it would feel dry when you scrape it off

Ditto!

Well, no, I'm not positive, but I described it to the garden mgr at Home Depot and she said it's probably scale. ?? She said it can live in the soil and that Pits are KNOWN for harboring them. Wish I had known that before buying so many of them! She said HD can have Pits that are there for 2 months, and then suddently the scale appears, and they have to spray. She said I could use oil or poison. She sold me Bayer's "All-In-One Rose and Flower Care that has 3 systemic products in one: fertilizer, insect control, and disease control. She said since it's geared to roses and their foliage, it's not as strong as some of the others.


These things have been on the leaves for a month (we had two back-to-back trips planned and I was unable to treat it when I first noticed it).

It's definitly a little "pocket" of some sort that has had something live in it and has hatched and gone. They are all identical (I looked at them with a magnifying glass) and have those little feet that stick out--all the same.

Connie-
it's scale. Just like you said...it's a pocket or hard outer shell that hides the critter.
An effective method of eradicating scale is to thoroughly spray the plant with a solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol, 5-8 parts water, tablespoon or so of veggie oil and a squirt of dish soap.Use a plain ol dish soap nothing anti-bacterial or grease fighting. Thoroughness is key. Repeat the treatment as necessary.
They're yucky!

Adrienne

Thanks to all. I'm going to try the solution you suggested, Adrienne! I have all of those things in my kitchen...so kewl!!!

How often would you repeat?