AusBonsai

Hey guys? Is this a fungus? I was gonna treat with a copper oxide but thought I’d double check.

Any experienced guys have any idea?

They look like scale.

Looks like scale or mealy bug. For this I use a combination of confidor,mavrick and pest oil.

Looking at the thumbnail I thought maybe flowering but closer look I agree with the others. Almost certainly scale insects.
While Peter's mix will work I think that either pestoil or Confidor (if you can find it now) should be adequate. Just keep checking every few weeks for the following year to see if they start to come back.

I had a similar experience with scale affecting a few of my junipers. I got rid of it by using confider tablets, as I wasn't confident in using chemicals and sprays.
I also brushed as much of the scale off using a soft toothbrush and watered them using a reasonably high pressure spray. Within 2-3 weeks it disappeared completely.

I have heard that oils should be avoided on junipers yet 2 highly respected growers have suggested pest oil. I would appreciate some more information.

You can go ahead and use oil but just be prepared for your juniper to go green and stay that way for a long time. The new growth will have the normal glaucous waxy covering again and be a normal colour. The important thing is to kill the scale.

I’ve given a spray of confidor. It seems like a lot dropped onto the soil. Is this ok to get into the roots?

Daluke wrote:I’ve given a spray of confidor. It seems like a lot dropped onto the soil. Is this ok to get into the roots?

Yes no problem.