Welcome to the wonderful world of insects. The amount of variation will surprise.

Is this scale pest only a pest of a certain species of plants? Hard to know without knowing more. There's more than few types of scale. It could be obligate (only has one host) or it could have a preferred host, or it could have just found this particular plant first.

At any rate, horticultural oil is likely the best means of control. Unless you get lucky enough to find these pests in walking stage.

Ok.. Well these are actually scales, yes??

gal and rhiz in the GARDEN CLINIC forum ... dont always come here.. and they usually have bug solutions.. pun intended .. lol..

the one time i had scale.. i used bayer tree and shrub labeled for scale.. and eab.. which is why i had it around ... but it was in ground .. rather than a pot ...

ken

No wonder why no one responds. But then again most people in the conifer forum don't respond to my threads

Either ways I'm going to isolate this the 3 spruces so it doesn't spread to my other conifers. Don't understand why they get scales in the first place

Awww... I'll respond to you. My knowledge of scale is extremely limited, but one year I had a Pinus strobus absolutely covered in the things. I used some product I picked up at Lowes, and I haven't seen them back on that plant or any of my other conifers. Euonymus scale, however, has just about killed my euonymi(?).

Do you remember which product it was? Was it all season horticultural oil? And what time of the year did you apply the product on your pine?

Heruga, if you intend to be a horticulturist, you need to be able to research issues like this on your own :-)) Google "spruce scale" - you will get images that match pretty closely what's going on here. And more importantly, you will find numerous articles that outline - quite specifically - how, when, and with what to treat. I would suggest you read several and focus on those with a .edu website suffix. Then draw your own conclusions on how you need to proceed. It's the "give a man a fish" syndrome - you will remember more and retain it longer if you do the work yourself :-)

And I mean that in the kindest way!!

I did google research, in fact I do it before every thread I post here, and I'm pretty confident its a scale but someone from another site told me they can be waxy coatings. The reason why I ask here for what to do is because online sources vary so much and just doesn't tell me a clear answer. One site says to use horticultural dormant oil and it works, one says dormant oil doesn't work because the scales are protected in their coatings, and one site says to use insecticidal soap, and then it looks like lowes and HD is selling an all season horticultural oil which you can apply any time of the year.. if they have that what is the point of having just a dormant oil and just a summer oil. Then they also mention the risk of harm on the plants with horticultural oil. See, this is why things get so confusing and I can't come up with a conclusion on my own. I sure can do trial and error but I don't want to risk losing my plants and waste money for nothing.

Moreso, I want to know how to prevent pests from infesting all my plants! It just seems inevitable that pests come

Your diagnosis is too broad, there are about 8000 described species of scale insects. Narrow it down to the scale insects that you actually have. Only then can you meaningfully research the cure.

Actually, much like aphids (of which there are several thousand different species as well) the control of scale is pretty formulaic regardless of species.

Horticultural oils are most effective against scale in the crawler stage, before it develops any protective coating. And crawlers are most typically present in mid to late spring. Otherwise, a systemic insecticide like imidacloprid (Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub Insect Control), should be effective against both adults and crawlers.

Unfortunately it is not possible to prevent pest and insect problems, other than to be diligent about plant care and monitor frequently. You can only treat once they appear.

But then I don't understand why a dormant oil exists if scales won't be affected by it during that time. I thought I have been treating my spruces like my own child this past season. I don't get why they would still be stressed to the point pests would attack them. I am thinking maybe these particular spruces are not suited for my environment. There's no other reason why it would be stressed

Dormant oils are not specifically formulated just for scale control :-) They have other uses that are best addressed during the dormant period, specifically with deciduous plants. And they tend not to be highly recommended for conifers anyway.....a bit too heavy and can often adversely affect the foliage. An all-season, superior or neem oil would be a better choice.

And plants don't need to be stressed to attract insects.......sometimes they just happen despite the best of care.

I wouldn't rely on broad brushes, research with more specifity, would also give you a better understanding of what you decide on.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5351723.pdf

Google is your friend. :-)

I've already read that specific article yesterday

I can't remember exactly what I used, but I think it was something that was absorbed by the roots. It happened in the late spring.

"I think it was something that was absorbed by the roots"

That would be a systemic, like the Bayer product.