Thank you for your input. I have three problems that make it literally impossible to apply this remedy.

1. The entire island is a virtual anthill, with many biting species, that are impossible to eliminate. They live in the lawns & soil.

2. Any topical treatments for soil & plants / trees are washed away by torrential tropical rains. I've thought of companion planting tansy, crysanthemum, marigold throughout, which they hate.

3. This is a 4-year old 16' or so in-ground fruit tree. I can only reach that one small lower branch in the photo.

Additional input is greatly appreciated. Will post on "Integrated Pest Management," as well.

Thanks again.

some of my advice is still valid... Pressure washing and hort oil spray. If you can do neither you are out of luck unless you go systemic which I do not do

Gnappi,

Oh, I certainly didn't mean to brush off your comments. I was just hoping for an easier solution considering the height of the tree.

I absolutely agree with not utilizing a systemic on edibles. Looks like your remedy of hand removal & washing, spraying with insecticidal soap (no neem oil?), and wrapping the trunk is the only solution.

Thank you.

I was just thinking maybe buy 10,000 ladybugs on EBAY and release them, but I am not sure a real bad infestation on a large tree would be killed?

Awesome! Love the ladybugs ... the lizards may as well.

Since the fruit is also covered with scale, we've decided to heavy prune ... remove all infested branch tips, treat the bare tree, and add an ant barrier at the trunk.

I feel your pain, my trees have gone through this and pressure washing at least got me the fruit. The sooty mold won't hurt the tree, you may want to try and save the fruit.

I made an oil cocktail, hort, sesame, neem, and a bit of plant doctor. I followed that with str8 hort oil a couple of weeks later and it saved my fruit.

Are you bagging your fruit to keep the seed borers out?

We've already decided to prune & discard the 9 small breadfruit currently on the tree. Hopefully, treating the bare branches will be effective enough to give the tree new life. Maybe it will still produce fruit during the summer. If not, we'll enjoy a healthier tree next year.

I am not familiar with what you mean by "bagging" ... The only problem we have is with ravens eating fruit off the trees just before they ripen. They are our biggest pest and get into even the tomatoes.

Topping your tree down to a more manageable size would be the best way to go. Otherwise it will continue to be a breeding ground for more scale. Better to make the job of eradicating pests easier.

Yes, taking a couple of feet off the tree is exactly what we had in mind.

My question is how did the scale get there in the first place? This tree is in a very airy, high sun area with nothing next to it. We had a soursop tree at another property, closely flanked by two avocado trees ... none of them ever got sick.

I'm beginning to wonder if the guy who does the lawn is transferring plague into my yard from his equipment. Who knows...

all annona can get infected with seed borers, bagging the fruit with fine mesh bags is the only way to get to eat the fruit if your area is known to have the problem.

Thanks, gnappi! I didn't even know they made bags for fruit. I imagine you're referring to the craft fabric used to put potpourri / lavender in.

We pick fruit freely and accept that sometimes we have to share a couple with the birds. It's the law of nature!

Endemic Birds of Puerto Rico · More Info

Those ravens can be rather annoying, though. We've cut down a lot of greenery and minimized them ... in our yard, anyway.