Scale? On white pine

[sweetee]

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Scale? white Pine

Hi, Went out in my backyard only to see the look of snow on my white pine. I'm thinking it may be some form of scale insects. I cannot use pesticides for various reasons, but am wondering what else I can do. Anyone think that buying some beneficial insects might help this? Green Lacewings? Any other suggestions? I live in Ohio and I think it may still be a bit too cold to use those. Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

[viktoria]

One year I thought my pines had scale. That was 20 years ago. Planned to have them sprayed, but the tree man was half in the bag and never showed up to do the job. Scale never showed up again, either. Someone suggested that it could have been resin dots. Take a closer look with a magnifying glass to eliminate that possibility.

Viktoria

[Buckeye]

That is not a scale, but pine bark adelgid. Adelgids are similar to aphids. Horticultural oil is very safe and effective on this pest. Targeted at the trunk it could probably be used now. They have part of their life cycle out by the buds and new growth so you may miss a few now if you just spray the trunk, but do it again in the fall or early next spring, and you should get it under control.