Why is my Royal Poinciana suddenly spraying sap?

Question

Moved to this house 3 years ago, but this is the first time the tree does this. Every morning, I wake up to a driveway and car completely covered in sticky sap. I can see white bubbles on the upper branches, which appear to be where it is coming from. Is there any reason why it is suddenly doing this? Will it stop?

Answer 1

You have scale insects on the tree. They suck the sap out of the tree and it passed through their digestive system. They digest some of it and the excess drips out of their excretory organ and drips onto whatever is below it--like a car.

The only way to stop it is to kill the scale. There are different methods to kill them or you can wait them out until they become an adult and eventually die. If the infestation is really severe they can weaken the tree and possibly kill it.