- Hi, it's Juliette from My City Plants. In this video, I will show you what the scale issue looks like and tell you how to get rid
of the scale infestation. As I mentioned in my previous videos about mealybugs and spider mites, bugs are very active during warm seasons. That is why it's so important
to keep a close watch on all your plants. Infestation can be easily prevented by regularly cleaning
your plant and planter with a moist paper towel. While you're cleaning your plant, you can closely examine
both sides of the leaves, stems, and topsoil. I would recommend to establish
weekly cleaning routine. If it's not possible, if you're too busy, plants must be cleaned at
least once every two weeks. Neem oil is a repellent
and is a great product to use during warm seasons
to keep the bugs away. You just have to (bottle shaking) shake the solution well and lightly spray both
sides of the leaves, stems, and topsoil once
every 10 to 14 days. Light to moderate infestation
can be easily treated. Heavy infestation is very hard to control and very hard to treat. I would recommend discarding
heavily infested plant in order to protect all
other plants in your space. So what does scale look like? They're small, flat, oval-shaped insects with tend to dark color,
shell-like covering. They attach themselves
to the leaves and stems and feed on the plant's sap. Their sticky residue sometimes is present on leaves, and stems, and planter edge, so if you do see the residue,
this can be the first sign that your plant is under scale attack. Leaves that are severely damaged by the bug attack should be removed. As you can see, the leaf here
is already very discolored, and I'm just simply going to cut it out, and you should remove the
leaf and cut it as close to the beginning of the
leaf stem as possible. Let me see if there is another leaf here. Yeah, this leaf right here, you see how yellowing and pale it is, and it has all the bugs underneath it. Once again, at the beginning of the stem, I'll just simply will cut it out. So now, let's talk about the treatment. The first thing we have to do is to isolate the infested plant and put it as far away as possible from the rest of the plants. Right away, check all the plants that were close by to the sick plant to make sure that there
is no signs of infestation and check them weekly. As I mentioned earlier, that's
a great preventative measure. So you can start using
neem oil on the plants that were close by to the sick plant. Shake it well and lightly
spray both sides of the leaves, stems, and soil once every 10 to 14 days until the sick plant
is free of scale issue. So here is what you
need for the treatment, pair of gloves, some kind of dish or bowl, I'm using the watering
can to make the solution, 70% rubbing alcohol, spray
bottle, paper towels, cotton balls and swabs,
and a measuring cup, mild dish soap, teaspoon, and chopsticks to make the solution. There are just two steps
to the treatment process. First step is to clean the plant and remove all visible scale. Step two is to apply a
special solution to kill eggs and keep the plant free
of returning infestation. Don't forget to cover the surface on which you're treating the plant to avoid damage to your
furniture and floors. All right, now I'm putting on my gloves, and I'm ready to do the
step one of the treatment. I'm only going to need rubbing alcohol, cotton balls and swab, and a paper towel for the cleaning step. I'm using cotton ball dipped in alcohol to remove the scale where I see it. And, again, guys, don't forget, they are living on top of
the leaf and under as well. So you can come closer so I can show you. Keep in mind that some scale
are holding to the leaf really, really tight, and they
are really hard to remove, so you might need to apply a force. See they're all right here. And the alcohol burns them right away. And then, on the other side of the leaf. And, again, if some of
them are not removable, just use your nail to really,
really scrub it off the leaf. Now, the leaf is clean. (gentle music) The cotton swabs, dipping in alcohol, 'cause this I'm going to
use to remove the scale from crevices and cracks where I cannot reach with cotton ball. So if you see any scale somewhere, all the way down there in to
all those gaps and cracks, just remove them with the cotton swab. Yeah, I got 'em. Using paper towel and, again,
a little bit of alcohol, we need to clean the planter edge 'cause some eggs and that sticky residue that I mentioned earlier can
be here, so we wanna make sure that the planter is
clean of insects' eggs. Yep, so the cleaning process
is simple, and it's done. Now, we're gonna move to the step two. For the second step of the treatment, we have to make a special solution of alcohol and dish soap mixed in water. We will need one cup of rubbing alcohol. This measuring cup I have here is 3/4, so we'll need to add a little more to make sure it's a full cup. Putting it in the water. I already have 30 ounces of
water in this watering can. Then, we will need one
and a half teaspoons of mild dish soap. So it would be one oops, and a half. All right, I'm gonna use the
chopsticks to mix it all up, and this solution will
go into the spray bottle. All right, this will be enough I think for me to show you how
to apply a solution. Okay, let me get this all out of the way. We don't need this. Just gonna keep the paper towel. All right, so it is important to spray your plant heavily everywhere. We really, really need to soak
the plant in this solution. Let me just shake it well and go at it. As you can see, it really needs, the solution needs to
really drip down the leaves. Yeah, really, really, really
cover the whole plant. Don't forget to get in all
these gaps and crevices. Take your time. Don't rush. Make sure you cover everything. We need to apply this
solution so we can kill eggs and also keep the plant free
of returning infestation. You can spray the topsoil as well, but do not spray the topsoil
too heavily, just lightly, but all the leaves and stems definitely. Really, really go for it. Now, you can understand why I told you guys to cover the surface 'cause you see how much
dripping is happening here. All right, so you got the idea, and you let the plant dry. You have to repeat both steps
of the treatment once a week until the issue is gone. Armor or not, the scale will
not survive your persistence. I hope you find this video helpful. Remember to always wash
your hands and tools that you use when you work on a sick plant before you touch any other plants. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any
important information that will help you to keep
your plants healthy and happy. Take care of yourself,
take care of your plants, and don't forget people. People make plants happy. Thank you for watching
and have a great day.
