lemon & orange tree issues

energy_rater_la

10 years ago

these are established orange & lemon trees that

each year provide lots of fruit. in fact it is a family

tradition that we pick & juice the fruit...takes several

days.

so here are the issues.

the leaves are covered with black. sooty mold I'm told.

so we sprayed with fertilome triple action.

(insecticide-fungacide-miticide) I sprayed last

week & after a few hours the black lifted off the leaves

& fruit. we sprayed with water to see how well it was working...and its taking the black off.

as these trees are some distance from where I live,

about once a week is the best I can do with treatment.

on the backs of some of the leaves are brown deposits.

like bumps, not spots.

reminds me of spores on the backs of ferns.

hard to the touch & you can pop them off with

your fingernails.

I took a branch to the feed store that sold me the triple action stuff.

they say that the branch shows leaf miner damage

because the leaves on the end of the branches

are curled. they are ordering spinosad for me.

If I'd saved the branch, I'd attach a pic...but I threw it away.

what bothered me...was that none answered the questions I had about the brown bumps.

I hate to use too many chemicals, and wanted

to check with y'all.but I need to find out how

to get these trees healthy again.

I've started cutting back on the trees..this will

be year 2 of the 3 year plan. last year in February

we started trimming. cleared out a lot of branches

to get air circulation in the trees.

it has helped...but still the black mold, so much

that we have to wash the fruit before juicing.

tia everyone & yes we are cautious with the chemicals.

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Comments (6)

hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
The bumps sound like scale- easily managed but hard to eradicate completely.

For more organic options try horticultural soap/oil and or neem oil. I'm guessing your trees are big so it will be tricky to spray properly on both sides of the leaves but you need to for the treatments to be effective.

Also don't apply neem/oils in the sun and you can water neem in, the trees will take it up, in addition to foliar spraying.

Ladybugs and other beneficials can be brought in for the scale but the other chemicals you have sprayed with already may kill them.

Sounds like they are really under attack! Good luck!
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
Also scale causes the black mold so if you take care of the scale the mold may go away.
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energy_rater_la
Original Author
10 years ago
get out! scale causes mold?

thanks for the quick reply.

did not know you could water neems in.

thanks for the help, I'll keep you posted!
citrange2
10 years ago
Scale is an insect which sucks sap from the plant and excretes a sugary liquid called honeydew. This honeydew falls on to nearby leaves and quickly develops a black mold. Also produced by aphids and some whitefly species. Commercially, a horticultural oil spray is used which covers and suffocates many insects including scale. Oil also tends to get under the mold patches which then dry up or get washed off by rain.

I also didn't know neem could be watered in. I checked on a website discoverneem.com which is very pro neem. It admits that this is not a suitable method for many insects (such as scale). It says:

"However, this does not work for all insect species. The neem ingredients accumulate in the tissues deeper inside the plant. The phloem, the outermost layer, contains hardly any. A tiny aphid feeds from the phloem, it can not penetrate deep enough to get a dose of neem. But any leaf hoppers, grass hoppers or similar chomping insects will be incapacitated quickly."

So if you use neem oil against scale, spray the tree to coat leaves and branches.
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
Good to know about the limitations of watered in neem.
energy_rater_la
Original Author
10 years ago
good stuff. thanks very much!