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<pre>We have been thinking more about this.
Earlier in April/May we started to get black scale on the leaves, as this was
getting more widespread we decided to spray with oil.
We were encouraged to use ordinary blended vegetable oil (10% v/v) emulsified in
warm water and with household detergent as surfactant.
We sprayed this (attempting with limited success to target the underside of the
leaves) on May 27th.
We are now wondering whether, during each spraying cycle (from a 20litre tank),
the solution may have separated resulting in a stronger concentration of oil at
the end of the tank... this may explain the "oily" appearance along the trunks
of the worst affected trees.
Looking in UC "Olive Production Manual" the leaves look now a bit like the
illustration of black scale...but we sprayed the oil to get rid of the black
scale and we can't see any sign of actual insects on leaves elsewhere in the
grove. Leaves on the badly affected trees are turning black and falling off.
We are concerned that the vegetable oil may have been a bad move...but could it
have CAUSED the problem we see now? Most importantly we want to arrest/reverse
the damage ASAP!
HELP!
Judith Leslie


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