White growth on cherry blossom tree

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can tell me what is causing this growth on my cherry blossom tree. It was infested with caterpillars last fall and they completely defoliated the tree. We sprayed and killed all of them. This spring it has white spots/eggs all over the trunk and branches! I've been spraying it with a neem oil solution and it doesn't seem to be spreading but it's not going away either. Attached pictures, would be thankful for any advice.

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Comments (4)

Michelle Hong-Lee
Original Author
6 years ago
Please help!
rogerzone6
6 years ago
Scale. You could contact your local arborist and they may recommend a dormant oil treatment.which would need to be repeated every year . We had it on our Kwanzan cherry but could never get on top of it and the tree never looked as vigorous. Finally we ended up removing it.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
baby scale move only at a certain moment in time ... and you have to kill them right then ... before they develop the hard cover that protects them ....

you might contact your local county extension office.. to find out when they are active in your area ....

once they get where they are going ... they attach themselves to the tree and start sucking vital juices ....... and can be killed by the proper oil treatment ... the down side is.. they dont disappear ... so you have to scrap a few off.. and see if they are already dead.. or still alive.. and then act accordingly ...

what i trying and failing to get to.. is that it is possible.. they are all dead .. and we would suggest you not continue treating.. until you figure out if further treatment is necessary ... gently scrape a few off... and see whats underneath ...

if it is just an ornamental flowering tree ... no fruit to eat.. you might be able to treat the soil with a systemic so that it will kill all the sucking scale ... and a lot of other bug problems ....

if you move toward a more powerful resolution.. make sure you use a product labeled for scale .... not all insecticides will work ...

thats a pretty nice young tree .. i dont see any reason to get rid of it... IF you are willing to do what is necessary to solve your problem ...

ken

ps: last year plague is not related to this plague ...
corkball (z6 TN)
6 years ago
One thing I have been doing is washing the tree with an mildly abrasive (plastic only) scrub rag in soapy water (dawn) followed by neem oil after the tree dries. The soap helps remove the waxy shells. Theoretically the neem SHOULD work better that way, although i didn't run a trial or anything. It works pretty well assuming you don't scrub too hard, but of course it is really hard to get in the nooks between branches... so it slows em down but doesn't stop them. My problem is WAY reduced, although still there. I managed to clear up a paw paw, but it was small without a lot of branching. My peaches are more of a challenge.