Hi All,
New to Denver and the RMBS forum, glad I found it!
Just picked up a couple ponderosa from Andy Smith and got them potted up 2 weeks ago. Since then they have looked good and are pushing new growth. I've kept them well protected and am just starting to get them some more sun during the day now that temps have dropped a little.
Following yesterday's wet weather I was inspecting the tress and noticed a white fuzz on a few of the candles and some white spots are a very limited number of needles. Any thoughts as to what this might be and options for treatment?
Thanks,
Graham
Thanks Adam. Going to try to wash off the
Thanks Adam. I’m going to try to wash them off with the high pressure hose and see how it goes. Pictures from last week:
Agree w Dan. You have wooly aphipds on the buds and scale on the needles. Neither are going to cause much harm. the scale can be scraped off as noted and the wooly aphids can be washed away with a hose on high pressure or a spray bottle w a little dish soap in the water. Or you can treat w a pesticide like Bayer (imidacloprid). Unsighlty but not much risk to the plant.
Thanks Dan! Definitely scale on the needles as it came right off with a fingernail. Interestingly the candles still look very healthy Even with the fuzz and continue to grow. I will add some updated pictures and keep on eye on things.
Hi Graham,
Welcome to the club forum!
The "white fuzz" looks like Woolly Adelgids to me. You can either spray them off with water (strong enough to knock them loose but not too strong to hurt the new candles), or spray with an Imidicloprid like Bayer 3 in 1.
The white further out on the needles looks more like a type of scale. If there aren't too many I try to gently scratch those off with my finger nail. I imagine the imidicloprid would also help to kill those off, as it's a systemic that kills anything feeding on the needles/candles; though you may still have to rub the white part off after the spray kills the bugs underneath.