King Sago Saga Update

It's been a little more than two weeks since I decided to take a caffeinated approach to landscape pest management. Asian cycad scale, a widely known invasive that has marred many a king and queen sago in Florida landscapes for more than a decade, was now making itself at home in my front yard. (Take note: The key word in the last sentence= “was.”)

Two days after the initial application of the coffee ground mulch (courtesy of Starbucks’ “Grounds For Your Garden”), I noticed a much slowed progression of the pest.

After a week, I didn’t see any activity at all. I rinsed off the scale residue left over on the fronds and applied another bag of spent coffee grounds around the base since recent abundant rainfall had washed away a majority of the first batch. I even sprinkled a little bit over the interior fronds so it would settle in down around the petioles.

Two weeks in and I am pleased to report no scale present on this sago.

The short-term results of my crop protection experiment have proved positive on this particular specimen. I will be keeping a close eye on how things fare in the long run. Either way: So far, so good. It could have bean a lot worse.