Getting Rid of Citrus Pests
Question from Jon:
I have something here that I need some advice on. I have attached 3 photos of a branch on my Meyer Lemon tree. I have a steady stream of ants crawling on just 1 branch. When I inspected it much more closely, I could see something of a small yellow oval shape. I rubbed my finger across the branch in spot and it was kind of slimy, so I’m thinking these must be some type of bug. What do you make of this? And what is the solution to correcting the problem.
Answer from Pat:
From the photo you sent I see your lemon tree is badly infested with ants and these ants have brought the tree a bad attack of soft brown
scale. One of the many scales that attack citrus, soft brown scale is oval in shape and can be yellowish as your photos show. These are usually females and they
give birth in mid-summer to pale yellow crawlers, such as you squashed. Ants spread scale around since they give off honeydew and the ants live on
the honeydew. Often there will be black sooty mold as well. Several beneficial insects are parasites of soft brown scale. If you spray with poisons you have been killing the beneficial parasites, but in this case your tree is stressed from not growing vigorously.
Your first step is to make a bucket of soapy water and take a wash rag and wash that plant all over with soapy solution getting rid of the scale and the ants. Just keep drowning them in the bucket. Take time and get every one of them off. Best soap to use is a fatty acid made for landscape use but any common dish detergent such as Palmolive green dish-wash soap is okay to use. Next thing after that make sure no foliage hits the ground or another tree, a shrub, a fence or a building. Other wise ants will come back that way. Water the tree thoroughly. Usually this is not a good time to fertilize citrus but yours is in a pot and probably starving so you had better feed it fish emulsion according to package directions. Take away all that bark mulch from the surface of the soil in the pot and replace with a layer of an inch or two of dry earthworm castings. This will get rid of the ants. Ants will not cross dry earthworm castings. It kills them. The next day, after the foliage is all dry, spray the tree with a light summer horticultural oil to kill any remaining scale.
Plants that suffer such bad insect problems as those I see on this citrus are usually already weakened because of bad growing conditions. You need to put your Meyer lemon in full sun and feed it regularly so that it grows vigorously. As soon as roots fill the pot, pot it on into a larger size. In January fertilize the tree with adequate organic fertilizer as described for citrus in the January chapter in my book. The first plants that pests attack are the plants that are not vigorous and healthy.
I did exactly as you recommended and all the ants are gone. The tree looks much happier now and I’m hoping it will start some new growth.
I purchased some organic citrus fertilizer called Citrus-tone 5-2-6 and will feed it in January. Is there a schedule I should follow for potted citrus and fertizlizing? I also have a potted Nagami Kumquat which is doing really great. It has set fruit 3 times this year and they are all growing. Some of the leaves turned a bit yellow, so I gave it about 1/2 cup of the Citrus-tone fert.
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I am thrilled to know that you did all I suggested and that it worked. It’s not a good idea to encourage citrus to grow now since it should be hardening off for winter (especially if it’s outdoors.) However, if leaves look stunted or yellow it would be okay to give one more treatment of diluted fish emulsion. It’s gentle and won’t hurt. Since you are going to feed next year with an organic fertilizer for citrus, read the package directions regarding how much of it to feed a tree the size of yours and divide the total amount per year into 6 equal portions and feed that amount once a month beginning in January. Read the ingredients. If they contain blood meal then give the first feeding on January 20th. If no fast-acting nitrogen source like blood meal is contained in the ingredients, feed the first time in mid-January or earlier, since organic fertilizer is slower acting than synthetic fertilizer.
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Hi,
I have two lemon/lime trees that have been suffocated with stink bugs and gall wasps. I’ve used pyrethrum to kill off most of them and will hand remove stink bugs when the rains stop (we have just entered autumn (fall) here). But to remove fall wasp I have read I need to remove infested branches. That’s means all of them. I will only gave trunks left. Will the trees survive? Or should I just remove the lot, trunk and all? They’re 10 -15 years old, around 4 metres high and this is the first year I’ve had no fruit and very few flowers 🙁
Any advice is appreciated.
Apologies for mistakes (got to love auto correct)
Try covering the ground under the branches with a 1 or 2-inch layer of earthworm castings. Also make a spray of earthworm castings and water. Spray under and over the branches. Insects are killed by contact with earthworm castings.
I have one meyer Lemon tree. I has insect what I call piss ants. and a flat little round brown insect . my tree has only one lemon on it. Help.
Is your tree in full sun? If not that is your main problem. I am an organic gardener. Therefore I recommend you cover all the ground under the branches with a 1-inch thick layer of earthworm castings. Also mix 1 cup of earthworm castings with water and spray all over the tree. Let dry. Additionally fertilize the tree in late January with a fertilizer recommended for citrus. Be sure to give the tree adequate fertilizer under the drip line. Do no not skimp. Most home-grown citrus are starved for food. This is why you have no fruit. If you do not see bees visiting the tree in February, be sure to hand pollinate the flowers with a watercolor paintbrush as described in several other answers to readers.