Fruits and Plantation Crops
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Lanzones scale
Leaves get crowded with tiny white and brown scales, yellow and drop early, fruits stay few, small and sour, and badly hit trees can die.
Crops it attacks
Where the damage shows
On the leavesThe whole plant
When to act
Each month look at 10 leaves and twigs on each of 10 trees. Act on any tree where scales crowd the leaves or leaves start to yellow and drop: prune the worst branches and ask for lady beetle releases.
Before you spray
Sprays have done poorly against it. Prune and burn heavily infested branches, feed and water trees well, and protect the lady beetles that eat the scales.
On labels for it, but not advised
- Malathion and fenitrothion: Lanzones scales sit under a hard cover it barely reaches, and it kills the Chilocorus lady beetles released against them.
How to prevent it
- Prune and burn branches heavy with scales, and open the crown and the shade trees above it to light and air.
- Feed and water trees well, mostly in the dry season. Badly hit trees recover only when they are strong.
- Do not carry lanzones seedlings, scions or cut branches from an infested farm to a clean one.
- Keep broad sprays out of the orchard so the lady beetles and wasps can build up.
- Check the trees after every harvest and treat new hot spots early, before the whole tree is crusted.
Natural enemies and biological help
- The lady beetle Chilocorus nigrita eats lanzones scales well and is mass reared for lanzones farms in Mindanao. Ask for releases.
- Tiny parasitic wasps also attack the scales. A scale with a small round hole means one came out.
Where this comes from
Not sure it is this one?
Many pests look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.