Nodules on bay tree

[Mozie]

Hi all

I got a bay tree for Christmas, but it has little brown nodules, mostl on the underside of the leaves and also the stem/trunk. I looked up i my pest/disease book but can't find what they are, if they are norma and if not, how to get rid of them.

Here are some pics,

help ThanksMozi

-- Mozie

[Pat Kiewicz]

For strictly ornamental plants, a systemic insecticide would work, but if you intend to use the bay leaves in cooking (and I'm assuming you do), you will need a less toxic, but more labor intensive approach to controlling the scale.

As your bay tree looks to be a small plant, so the first thing you should do is to try to carefully scrape off all the scales that you can see. Then spray the plant with a mix of insecticidal soap and water. Leave this on a short while and then give the whole plant a good rinse. Repeat this at weekly intervals for several weeks. (There may be scale eggs left behind to hatch out, and the young scales, or crawlers are vulnerable to the soap solution, while the adult scales are not.)

[Mozie]

Many many thanks, I'll do exactly what you say:

-- Mozie