sago palms and scale

[spindlewood]

I have a couple of large Sago Palms in Tampa Florida. Both have just been infected the last few weeks with the pest that produces the white scale appearance, and if left unchecked will likely kill the plants.

notice virtually everyone in the neighbourhood has recently cropped there sagos bare or left just a couple of rings of leaves around the top. I noticed a guy spraying his sagos today also. We've just had two hurricanes here and i expect the wind has enabled the pest to spread just about every available sago all at once.

I just went out and bought the oil recommended for treating the pest. However when i went to treat it. I noticed that this time there were alot of very small yellow brown wasps on the leaves and flying around the palms. These are the natural parasites of the pests. Should i spray the plant with oil and kill both the pest and its parasite or should i see if nature can take its course and the wasps control the infestation.

Thanks,

[David J Bockman]

Perhaps you could spray the scale at a time of day when the wasps are not present?

Dave