Growing Bay Indoors | Common Problem

GROWING BAY INDOORS | COMMON PROBLEM

STICKY LEAVES AND FLOORS

The biggest problem with bay plants (Laurus nobilis) is that they are prone to an insect called scale. It’s often difficult to spot when it first appears on a bay plant because it’s small and clusters underneath leaves and on stems. You’ll know that your bay has scale if the leaves or the floor or table under the plant start feeling sticky. Scale is one of the insects that damages plants by sucking out their juices. The type of scale that attacks bay plants looks like small tan or brown dots. It may be small but scale feeds on the plants and excretes excess plant juices that are high in sugars. This is why the area around the plants becomes sticky. Although scale is one of the most difficult pests to get rid of, there are ways to fight it that will still make it possible to use bay leaves in cooking. If the scale has just started, try scraping all you can see off of the leaves and stems with your fingernail or a terrycloth washcloth. Spray the plant with horticultural oil, which is available at your local garden center. This is easiest to do in a garage on top of a tarp or outdoors on a day that’s above forty degrees. Coat the underside of the leaves and the stems well. Scale tends not to flourish on these plants when the temperatures are around 50 degrees or a bit less, so keeping your bay in a room that’s unheated can help. When a bay is overwintered in an unheated garage or sunroom where the temperature doesn’t fall below freezing, it usually doesn’t get scale. Have you ever tried growing bay indoors?

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