[specktator]

They came from... well, actually I'm not sure where they came from - best guess is my tea roses out the front of the house boooo.

Long time lurker, first time poster and apologies that it's a pest of a problem

Went to check the progress of my strawberries yesterday and could've cried when I found I wasn't the only one who thought they looked tasty; they were *covered* in bugs.  I think I've identified the little blighters: http://www.defenders.co.uk/pest-problems/scale-insect.html and there is a solution listed on that page, but it involves ordering online and waiting for stuff to arrive.

I spoke to my gardening oracle and he reckoned to just spray them with a soapy water mix, but by his own admission he's never come across these guys before so I'm wondering if anyone else has advice?

I've made sure all my other plants are protected (the strawberries have been brought inside and isolated in the bathroom and I've covered the few remaining house seedlings with plastic on the living room window) as I'm not sure how the little blighters spread?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance offered

[gobs]

I don't know, Speck, what they are, I'd be tempted to say aphids. When you say covered in bugs, the last thing that springs to mind is scale insects, as they normally don't look anything like a bug, they do look like something got stuck on the leaf, and that's a few millimeters, the nymphs move about somewhat, but they are smaller, but you can well see them with magnifiers.

Anyhoo, if they are, as far as I know, chemical help is only successful at nymph stage and got to be well timed, also a lot of plants are sensitive to the stuff.

Otherwise, brush scales off with soapy water, so I personally like to defoliate, easier, not that I've ever seen scale insects on strawberry, on other plants, yes.

How they spread? By plants and other insects, as said, they are not very mobile, they are stuck.