My lemon tree, ants, shells. What is this and how to treat it properly?

Question

There are lots of ants around, they just don't like to be photographed :) close up

another close up

This is the whole tree:

I'm in Sydney, Australia.

Don't worry about the ants, they're only on the plant to collect honeydew from the scale infestation. Treat for scale and the ants will disappear. — Bamboo, Jan 26 '15 at 12:31

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '15 at 00:51

6

It appears to be scale insects.

I'm not experienced with scales, but I imagine you can use neem oil and/or diatomaceous earth once in a while to help. I would get the diatomaceous earth all over the stems, wherever they are. I hear you can put a circle of cinnamon or something around your pot to help deter ants.

answered Jan 24 '15 at 00:51

Brōtsyorfuzthrāx

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Thanks for the link. Looks to me like it's the case of **armoured scale** but not sure. – user1249170 Jan 24 '15 at 01:05
it is scale, the hard brown bumps on the stems and leaves – kevinskio Jan 24 '15 at 01:19
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@Shule no need to link off site try this link http://gardening.stackexchange.com/search?q=scale – kevinskio Jan 24 '15 at 01:24

My lemon tree, ants, shells. What is this and how to treat it properly?

1 Answers1