scale insects on Ficus

Hello

I've a 25yr old indoor Ficus and it seems to be suffering from scale.
The leaves have been turning yellow and dropping off at an alarming rate, after closer inspection I found tiny white scaly things ( a bit like wax) on the unserside of the leaves where the leaf is attached to the stem.
(I'll try and post a photo but as they're so small I don't know if it'll work)

I read somewhere to spray it with a mixture of rubbing alcohol,soap & water, which I've done but I'm not convinced with the result,there seem to be just as many as before and the leaves are still turning yellow.

Could anyone confirm this is scale and recommend a good insecticide ?
Pete (hi there ! ) recommended a systemic insecticide, is there one which is particularly effective ?
Hope it's not a spray on because I needed a shower after spraying it with the soap mixture !









and this one :




Sorry I couldn't get anything clearer I promise they're less blurry in real life !


Thanks

 

I'm not convinced its scale, it might be mealy bug.

But I still think the systemic insecticide is the way to go.

How about something like this,
http://www.bayergarden.co.uk/products/product.aspx?productid=57&categoryid=13

 

Hello Pete

I've just been browsing through various insecticides available and was hoping to use something that didn't need to be sprayed on the plant.
How about these ? :

http://www.growshops.fr/insecticide-batonnets-systemique-bayer-p-1791.html

It would be so much easier to use on such a big plant and they are systemic,they disolve in the soil and are for all bugs that are sap sucking...

 

Give it a go:thumb:

 

will do

I'll keep you informed

 

Now here's a perfect photo of the exact problem my ficus has :

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/pests/msg120650128978.jpg

I've read through the posts related to it and they say it's not an insect of any kind but would seem to be the sap of the leaves seeping out and drying like that, but no idea why !
They also said it could be related to temperature & humidity.... so I'm thinking now that maybe I don't need any insecticides...

I've really been searching for info on this problem, I've seen pics of mealybugs & scale but it's not that, the pic above is a carbon copy of my problem....

Hummmm what next ?

 

oups !!! :dh: link above for pic doesn't work.... trying to sort it out

 

well obviously the pic doesn't want to work :(

nevermind,here's the direct link to the the subject with a link to the "perfect" pic at the bottom... hope this works !

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pests/msg120650128978.html