Does anyone know which of the pesticides will kill SCALE (?) on a Hibiscus bush in Florida?

I have discovered a white mothy looking substance that Home Depot worker identified as scale, all over the stems of my hibiscus bushes..and it willl smear off, but I can't tell if it crawls or grows like a mold. I put the all purpose spray stuff they said to use, but it is coming back and moving on to the other bushes. It is causing the leaves to be stunted, short, curly, and the buds are all mal-formed as well. REally an icky thing!


Thanks to anyone in advance who has any ideas on this!

Does anyone know which of the pesticides will kill SCALE (?) on a Hibiscus bush in Florida?
I too live in south Florida and have had problems with scale on both hibiscus and citrus trees. I use a mixture of horticural oil ( which can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes) and malathion (purchased at the same stors). I put them in a pump us spray bottle with the proper dilution of water, then shake the bottle very well just before I spray. With the almost daily rains at this time of year, I have found it necessary to treat the plants early in the morning, or after the afternoon rains have quit, and to treat the plants at least a couple of times over a week. The rains here are tough on any treatment. About once a month in the warm months, I spray the plants as a prevention of scale and aphids, which also attack the hibiscus.


Be sure to wear gloves and to promptly wash off any of the malathion you get on your skin. Also stand upwind while spraying, or do so when there is no wind -- early morning. Good luck.
Reply:I live up north but this does not sound like scale to me but mealy bug as Oak Talker suggested. Scale is brown and shell like. I have a huge grape ivy growing in a two story sun room and it had mealybug and was hard to treat with alcohol on a q-tip because of its size and inaccessibility. I went to Home Depot and they gave me a systemic, which is mixed into the soil and when watered is sent to the insides of the plant so that the sucking insects will die (poisoned) when they do they chowing down. I know the box has directions for outside plants so it may help with you Hibiscus.
Reply:Sounds like a mealybug infestation. Try malathion and oil or just horticultural oil alone. Follow label directions. I used to use this on my citrus trees and gardenia hedge when I lived in Miami, FL. Worked great.





Hope this helps.