Beating a Dead Houseplant: Surrender to Scale

Q: I have a real old Christmas Cactus that has a problem, and I don’t know what to do for it to get healthy again. Any suggestions? 

A: You’d have to have a prayer meeting, a foot washing, and an all-night sing to resurrect your plant.

It is eaten up with scale! In fact, I’ll give your plant a prize for the worst scale infestation I’ve ever seen. I hate to break it to you, but to maybe (and I make no promises) get it healthy again, you’ll have to cut every stem down to 1 inch high and thoroughly check nearby plants for the insects. You’ll also have to repot the plant and discard the existing pot and soil. The reason for this hard work is that scales are small and extremely reproductive. They are hard to control on houseplants. Examine the remaining 1-inch stems for little brown ovals about 1/8 inch long. If any scales are found, dab each one with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Frankly, it makes me tired writing this, so I actually think you should discard the whole plant, the pot, and anything it rested on. If you find other houseplants that have scale but aren’t at death’s door like this one, you could treat them with a swab and alcohol or Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew. The active ingredient, spinosad, is produced by a bacterium found in soil at an abandoned rum distillery and is safe for use on houseplants.