I've had some terrible springs with PLC on this tree plus my two Babcock Peach trees. I finally found the right combination of dormant spray that has really helped. Daconil sprayed around New Years and again around Valentine's Day has done a good job. I'm now on the lookout for Brown Rot, which usually hits right around harvest time. I'll spray with Monterey Fungi Fighters at the first sign.

Like animals, trees grown from seed must pass through several phases of development before they become sexually mature and capable of producing reproductive parts (blooms/ seeds/ fruit). The plant phases of seed - seedling - juvenile - sexually mature are roughly mirrored in human developmental stages of embryonic - infantile - juvenile - adult/ sexually mature. A freshly sprouted seedling is no more capable of producing reproductive parts (blooms/ seeds/ fruit) than an infant. Too, a plant's aging process is different than an animal's. Where animals age chronologically, plants age ontogenetically. Ontogenetic aging can be thought of in terms of how many cell divisions have occurred to move the plant to its current phase of development. One might reason that the most recent new growth would be the youngest part of the plant, but ontogenetically, it is the the oldest part of the plant because it has taken many more cell divisions to produce the newest parts. Ontogenetically, the youngest part of a tree grown from seed will always be the root to shoot transition area at the base of the trunk, no matter how old the tree is chronologically. Pruning a tree back hard can easily remove all existing mature growth and return it to a juvenile phase that would require a considerable amount of new growth before the wood again becomes mature. All factors that influence growth rate have an impact on how long (chronologically) it takes a plant to become sexually mature, so thinking that a change in nutrition alone will cause a plant to bloom is misguided. The fastest seedlings to mature within any given species will depend on how proficient Mother Nature or the plant's grower is at providing ideal cultural conditions. Ideal cultural conditions = most rapid growth rate and shortest period of time to reach maturity; this, simply because ideal conditions are most conducive to cell divisions and therefore a fruitful tree at a younger chronological age. It should be noted that applying nutrients or other products in willy nilly fashion with no knowledge of whether or not there is an actual deficiency of those nutrients or no good reason to apply them is highly likely to be limiting in terms of both growth and rate of maturation. Whenever we discuss what is or isn't an appropriate part of the methodology we use to make certain our plants get all the nutrients essential to growth and good health, we would probably first want to be sure our objectives are on target. It's difficult to argue with the idea that our focus in supplying supplemental nutrition to our plants should be on ensuring all the nutrients plants normally assimilate from the soil are A) IN the soil and available for uptake at all times, B) in the soil in a favorable ratio - that is to say in a ratio that mimics the ratio at which the plant actually uses the nutrient, C) at a concentration high enough to ensure no nutritional deficiencies, yet still low enough to ensure the plant's ability to take up water efficiently, and the nutrients dissolved in that water won't be impeded (by a high concentration of solubles in the soil solution). The part in bold is where growers often run afoul of sound husbandry. By adding unnecessary nutrients we A) skew the ratio of nutrients, each to the others, such that an excess of one nutrient causes a deficiency of one or more other nutrients, and B) make it more difficult for the plant to assimilate water and nutrients. So, for plants in containers, best results can be had by choosing 1 fertilizer with an appropriate nutrient ratio and all the nutrients essential to normal growth. Forget the snake oil products and claims made on product packaging by sellers whose only goal is separating you from your money. For plants in the landscape, a soil test is ESSENTIAL for any grower aiming at providing the best cultural conditions possible. "A little extra" is almost always going to be limiting rather than beneficial; otherwise, it wouldn't be "extra". Al

Hi Saintpfla Since you probably heard all the possible answers on your citrus problems, I am going to tell you what I know and saw at Echo last time that I was there in the tour for the fruit trees and people asked the same questions like you did. The expert planted the tree for demonstration in a mound, he said so the rains don't flood the tree. Made a hole without amending and put the tree in, situated so it looked the best and then added compost only on the sides. The older citrus trees had a big mulch on the sides but without touching the trunk (important) a lot of people asked about this and he said is okay. After that he went on to the bugs that affect the citrus like thrips and he said this year with the cold they had not much problem but otherwise they spray some sort of oil, somebody asked neem? and he said no, he did not give the name because I don't think is available for us. Now I have my private story to tell you, just remember I am no expert. I had wonderful citrus in Arizona, never had a problem or bugs or disease, did not even look at them and they had a crop that I had to give it away. They had small rocks underneath because I xeriscape in my yard. Now when I came to this house I bought some citrus, few of the same varieties like my neighbor, I only found that out when I went to visit her place because she asked for help with the citrus. I went again recently and 2 of her trees are dead and the same 2 of mine are still alive. I went over what they do and what I do, and this is what we did differently, she fertilize with some sort of spikes, I use the Sunniland brand for citrus. When we got hit with the winter, I cover just the trunks of the trees, she only covered the tops. Sometimes when I spray the tomatoes, I will use the leftover spray on the citrus, she does not use anything because she said some expert told her the damage of thrips is only cosmetic. If you try to foliar feed when is not hot just early morning or evening there is a chelated citrus nutritional spray by Southern Ag that you can get I think at HD. I hope that you get your citrus back to health and producing for you. Silvia

Thank you Dave, Dave, and Ken. I thought the cottony strands might be mealy bug because many leaves had tiny cotton pillows on the underside at the base of the leaf. I had almost eliminated them which is why I was frustrated that the tree continued to suffer. I have added photos which I believe better show the leaves. The first two show leaves with dots and in the third I circled an area. At 10:00, there is a thread-like strand and below that is something that may be mealy bug? The leaves are shiny because they are sticky. I am in PA. If we have a warm spell, what is the lowest temperature at which I could use the Bayer 3-in-1? I guess indoor use is not an option? It has been in its pot for at least three years, maybe longer. I have never done a bare root repot and root prune, but think I need to do it to eliminate the bugs in the soil. The only place I have to do the bare root repot and root prune is in a bathtub in a compact bathroom with no extra space. The tree is 7' high and 4' wide at its widest. Thinking about this practically, to get it into the bathroom, I would prune, not haircut ;-), the tree back more. Then , I would pull the tree out of it's pot, laying it on a tarp. While on the tarp, I would remove whatever soil I could. With this done, I would cross my fingers and hope the tree small enough to maneuver into the bathtub. Would you recommend a smaller pot? or a thorough cleaning of the existing one, which given its size (~17" width at the base, ~23" width at the top, and ~30" high) is easier said than done. Thank you for pointing me to the pruning videos. They were very informative. Yes, it is the safari-jacket lady in multiple videos. I have added a photo of the light that was delivered today. Is this strong enough? Would spraying with Safer EndALL and Safer Insect Killer Soap be of any value? Thank you so much for responding to my post. Doing so, makes me feel like I have a fighting chance to safe the tree and that I'm not in this alone. I am so grateful for your recommendations.