Apple Scale - can it stay in the soil?

[shmeen]

Hi,

We moved into a new house last summer and were very pleased to find a small apple tree growing in the border in the backyard. However, the trunk, branches and fruit are all covered in scale insects - on the oldest wood you can't see the wood for the bugs! The newer wood this year started out clean but the insects have gradually moved in and are really stunting the fruit.

I've not read of any way to cure a badly infected tree so I'm planning to take it out and replace it with a new tree this autumn. My question is how likely are the insects to survive in the soil and pass on to the next tree? It's a bed in the patio so I could feasibly remove all the soil and replace it but is this necessary? There are other plants in the bed (2 roses and some grass/bulbs) but are all pretty straggly so I'll probably remove those too.

Thanks,
S

[FB.]

Scale often attacks plants that are already under stress (or lacking vigour) for some other reason, although sometimes there is no apparent reason for the attack.
I'm wondering whether your apple tree is on a weak rootstock such as M27.

I tolerate some scale on my fruit trees, but my trees/bushes only get a few dozen scale per tree per year. As the tree ages, the bark should toughen up and the scale insects will find less places to feed.
There are some natural predators that will eat the larval stage, but the adult stage is hard-shelled, although I am told that lacewing larvae are aggressive enough to eat adult scale. Lacewing larvae are scary-looking and fast-moving creatures, but the scary creatures are often the ones that help gardeners, while the slow and "cute" creatures are often the pests.

Treatment for scale could include a tar-oil winter wash, sprayed onto the tree after the leaves drop in early winter.

If the tree has small fruit, it may be that it is a sign - along with the scale - that the tree needs some feeding, or that the crop of fruit is too much for the tree to carry. Overcropping will cause small fruit and quite often the following year will have no fruit, with the tree settling into a biennial fruiting pattern thereafter.
You'll also find that some apple varieties are prone to producing small fruit.

This year was very dry between April-July and many fruits are small as a result of water shortage earlier in the season.

How big is the tree and how many/how large are the fruits?
Any chance of a picture?

I'd hold off removing the tree for now, until you find the underlying cause of your problems. It may be a very simple thing to fix.

[chrisguk]

Are you completely against spraying?

[FB.]

Are you completely against spraying?

Me, or him?

My personal belief is that if something can't grow and crop reasonably well without chemicals, then it's not worth growing - and this is reinforced by the harsh growing conditions that my plants must deal with.
I also believe in the philosophy that a plant must be sufficiently productive and of sufficient quality that it then becomes cost-effective as a substitute for your weekly shopping list.
In other words: if I were to buy apples from a shop that run to £100 per year, then if it cost me considerably more than that in time and effort to grow my own, I may as well stick to shop-bought fruits.

However, I am aware that many people get rather attached to their little fruit trees (often in pots) and treat their trees like they would their pet cat -and they're happy to get a handful of apples per year (a few quids worth), despite having to feed, water and spray on a regular basis, where surely the reward doesn't balance with the effort.

I am also aware that some people like the challenge of more demanding plants, or are so passionate about a certain type of fruit (or veg) that they are desperate to grow their own.

There are also benefits of shade, beauty (or even firewood) to be had from some trees, even if the crops aren't of much value.

[sweetsaphie]

i'm not to good with gardening so here goes , i have a couple of apple trees i planted this year, it looked like there was greenfly over it at one stage so i sprayed it and that seemed to work . the other day when i looked again it looks like it has some other little sucker on it this time it looks like the leaves are closing up as if there is caterpillar in it can i just spray again and hope for the best

thanks in advance

[FB.]

sweetsaphie

Are you able to put up a picture?

It might be a disease, rather than an insect pest - which varieties and rootstocks do you have?