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Persistent Scale on 34-Year-Old Ficus: Soil Myth and Effective Spray

Reader's Struggle: Recurring Scale Despite Treatments

Sandra's 34-year-old ficus has been treated three times (water/alcohol solution), but scale insects keep returning. She wondered if bugs live in soil and how to eliminate them there.

Expert Clarification: Scale Don't Live in Soil

Will Creed stated: Scale insects require living plant tissue (leaves/stems) to survive—they do not inhabit soil. The recurrence likely means some scale were missed during treatment.

Effective Treatment Protocol

Spray mixture: 5 parts water, 1 part rubbing alcohol, plus a squirt of liquid soap. Thoroughly drench all leaf and stem surfaces until dripping. Completeness is essential—missing even a few allows resurgence.

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Will provides a free article on indoor plant pests via email: wcreed@HorticulturalHelp.com.

House Plants: Ficus Scale and Mealybugs: Systemic Soil Treatment Best; Ficus Tree Dripping Milky Sap: Likely Scale Infestation; Cottony Maple Scale: Systemic Imidacloprid Best for Large Trees; Ficus Tree Crystalline Deposits: Not Scale, Likely Residue; Ficus Spider Webs & Sticky Residue: It's Scale, Not Spider Mites; Sticky Sap on Ficus? It's Scale Insects; Treating Scale Insects on a Large Ficus Tree; Sticky Ficus Leaves Mean Scale Insects; Identifying and Treating Scale Insects on Ficus Trees; Ficus Tree Diseases: Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens

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