What is this on my plant?

[Jan Pijpelink]

We have a large brush in our front yard; don't know the species. I noticed all the leaves and branches are covered with these tiny white spots. What is it? And what to do about it?

 

[stoveliker]

Maybe spider mite? (Dutch spint).

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Been looking at mites, but the white spots seem too small and are not moving at all.

 

[stoveliker]

Lol. Neither can be judged from the pics .

Mildew?

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Possible. What to do about it?

 

[stoveliker]

I have no experience with this, and google gives a zillion different ways to try. No idea what is good.

 

[Montanalocal]

You can search with an image on Google.

1325808

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Thanks. I now know the species: Photinia. It looks like a fungus-related disease.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

this is scale... you will need to use a Horticultural oil on it.. do not spray if it's going to rain.. txt me if you need some hort oil..did u move yet...

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thanks. I now know the species: Photinia. It looks like a fungus-related disease.

We used to have a lot of Photinia in hedges in different spots near our home in Texas. It used to be a very common landscaping plant here, but it is no longer recommended as a planting because of fungal issues in this area. Ours had been infected, and whole bushes were dead. Others were defoliating. We cut it all out to replace the plants, also to minimize the chance that the fungus would spread to our loquat or pear trees, which are also susceptible.

The picture you show, however, does not look at all like the fungal infection our plants had. Ours showed red spots, then lost leaves. Yours could be a different fungus, of course, I’d try horticultural oil per Woodsplitter’s suggestion..

 

[Bad LP]

Yup. Scale.
Horticulture oil.
Merit works as well but they changed the name and I forget what it is.

 

[CincyBurner]

+1 for scale
Read label directions for use on target species and host species especially with regard to phytotoxicity of horticultural oil.
MSU using horticultural oils

 

[stoveliker]

Thanks from me too. I learned something today

 

[begreen]

Neem oil works, but that is a serious infestation so it is going to take more than one application. It's best to do this in spring or fall, not summer. Your best bet at this point may be to prune off the worst infected branches and dispose of them in the trash. Then hit the leaves with a high-pressure jet of water. Don't delay, they are harder to deal with at the later brown scab stage. Scale can be on the top and bottom sides of the leaf, so spray generously and try to hit the undersides too.

We had a Schefflera that got infected with scale. I had to wipe down each leaf, top and bottom with alcohol once every few days, then spray with neem oil to finally save the plant. It was not fun.