Hi looks like scale although the goopy white stuff looks kind of weird. Usually scale presents as clear sticky spots with black sooty mold showing up soon after.

Read the current thread called Lemon and and orange tree problems.

We discuss scale there.

That looks exactly as mine always did on my indoor potted citrus... It was easy to remove by scrubbing with a soapy rag, but always came back just as strongly. Dormant oil spray was also not a permanent solution, but I suspect that under the right growing conditions, and outside in the presence of predatory insects it will be possible to control. For me it was not worth the trouble and caused me to get rid of every last potted citrus I had.

I'd try the soapy rag, followed by spray of rubbing alcohol and water 2:1 shaken together with a few drops of liquid soap as a surfactant.

gary

I just pulled a handful of scale of my indoors Satsuma and I fear i'm starting to have the same problem this winter as I did last winter and still haven't come up with a effective spray that actually works yet. I have been sticking to the rubbing alcohol water and soap spray, but it just doesn't do the trick. I have done the Neem or and horticulture oil with no avail.

Does anybody know if there is some sort of systemic insecticide for potted citrus? or does it mess up the fruit?

Help please before its too late

If you can tolerate them indoors ladybugs would get rid of that.

Have you examined a scale that you've sprayed? They will not just disappear when they die. They're like barnacles and stick very tightly to the surface of the plant so even when dead they do not budge.

Pull one off and squish it between your fingers. If it's dry and crumbles it's dead. If it's moist and squishes with "goo" when squeezed then it's still alive. If they're all dead, you may need to lightly wipe down the plant to get rid of the bodies. It helps you to see the new ones if they show up later.

You also have to do a couple sprays a week or so apart, as there are often eggs that the sprays don't kill and will hatch, so it's best to spray again a couple times to get them when they hatch out.

Barb is correct in spraying 2 weeks apart, at least 2 sprays. The life cycle of scale is such that by the time the hard shell is developed there is nothing you can do short of rubbing them off. The eggs are the sticky stuff and the life cycle requires timing and repeat applications with relatively non-hazardous sprays. I use Neem oil, and spray once when the plants come in, and at least once more 2 weeks later. I've sprayed 3 times (at 2 week intervals), rubbing the bugs off as I can find them. My mother used to wipe the leaves down with rubbing alcohol, but I find the neem oil to be more effective.

is it bad to spray more than once every 2 weeks? also is it bad if the rubbing alcohol mix drips into the soil in the pot?

It's fine to spray every day if you want! Rubbing alcohol and oil sprays won't hurt the plant if it hits the soil.

If you're spraying with neem or azamax (concentrated extract of neem), every week is fine, but the scale life cycle is around 2 weeks, so you will need to do at least 2 sprays, 2 weeks apart. I always do 3 sprays, 2 weeks apart and that seems to take me through the winter pretty soundly. It won't hurt to spray with either of the above or horticultural oil (somewhat similar effect). Rubbing alcohol can be used any time, none of this is harmful if it touches the soil. I wouldn't drench the soil with alcohol, but I absolutely spray the soil with neem because the critters can live in the soil. You're soil isn't really teeming with life, you should basically treat it like a "soil less" mix, where you provide the nutrients through water soluble fertilizer, as opposed to relying on compost/organics to break down into constituent minerals. It's just too small a space to really get that going so don't worry about killing your soil with alcohol or an oil based spray. All of these are topical fixes, not systemic, so they work by smothering or dehydrating the bugs.

White fly eggs maybe? I have used spinosad for scale and flies.

I have azamax but I havnt used it because I didn't know if should be used indoors, am I ok to use azamax indoors?

In desperation I once tried a systemic applied to the soil to control scale. This went way against my usual beliefs and practices and I would never do it again.

First of all it of course meant that the safety of the fruit was questionable (it clearly stated on the container that it was not for edibles even though I know these systemics are used routinely on edible crop plants in commerce).

Second of all, it worked ok at first, but then seemed to become less effective over time. When I stopped using it, the scale problem really exploded.

Third, I was worried (I think rightly so) about my honeybees becoming intoxicated by foraging on the citrus flowers when I had the plants outside, so I had to keep them indoors more than I wanted to.

All around, not a solution in my book.

Just to be clear: removal of scale is not difficult, but is not a long-term solution. Prevention of the scale outbreaks by natural methods is the thing to shoot for, but it was way beyond me, and that is why I no longer grow potted citrus

Yeah I've had scale and don't have it anymore and my plants have never been outside since I got them. Please don't discourage someone else just because you gave up without even trying.