Orange tree has pest or blight

Question

A few leaves on my orange tree have this.

cottony scale

cottony scale 2

What is this? What can I do about it?

My first guess is that it's some kind of scale - maybe cottony cushion. — Ed Staub, Jun 18 '12 at 02:55
Closing this as a duplicate because the target contains more information. — Niall C., Jun 02 '15 at 15:52

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 18 '12 at 12:26

I agree with Ed that this is most likely to be a cottony mealybug.

You can control this taking a paper towel soaked in dish soap and water and wiping the leaves down.
Repeat for every leaf with the symptoms. Check the axils where the leaves join the stems too.
After the treatment rinse or spray with water to prevent a soapy buildup
repeat every five to seven days for at least three times
continue to monitor as mealybug is hard to get rid of
move the tree away from any other houseplants. Some adult mealybugs have wings and fly to spread the population.
check for other plants that may have it too

1 Answers1