Orange tree pest help w/ pics

13 years ago

Ok, i am as we speak, at my elderly aunts house. She is settling her affairs and she wants me to start a tree from a limb i have taken off her orange tree (some kind of mini orange, variety unkown, she recalls it as bitter) that is 40+ years old, probably more. i think i will be able to grow the limb on its own roots... on that side im good.

I have never had a citrus other than lemon before. is there any fact i need to know now about them? Don't oranges have to get proper sun to develop flavor (might explain bitterness, its not a trifoliate. I couldnt find the graft, there might not even be one on it, so i don't know if it is a sucker or not.

It is a very vibrant, healtly plant, no yellow leaves, several mini oranges growing on tree (but not on my twig. All the leaves are bright green and mildly to highly fragrant, some leaves have a stronger smell than others.

It does have some kind of pest though, definatly some kind of scale, its white and flakes off very easily. Appearnce of dead skin cells.

Help requested: general pest help and identification

can someone attempt discern what kind it is?

pictures of leaves and scale

{{gwi:559967}}

{{gwi:559968}}

{{gwi:559969}}

{{gwi:559970}}

{{gwi:559972}}

thankyou in advance, even if you cant help, thanks for the time, and my aunt thanks you too, she says

Andrew

Comments (10)

call_me_wizfire
Original Author
13 years ago
sorry, i didnt add all the info i thought i did. It also had the trademark sticky sappy coating on leaves.
New info: when i got home, i picked off some heavily infested (to the point that whilr they were developing, they got scale sucked, and came out severely deformed)I also thoroughly washed it when i got home. I washed all the dead-skin cell things(eggs?), sticky honeydew stuff, and i searched for scale bugs, but i could not find any.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
I'm hoping that one of our experts will chime in...

I daren't hazard a guess ;)

Josh
Related Discussions
Pests on a tree outside, danger? W/ Pics
Q
Comments (3)
Can you contact a local county extension office or university horticultural program to ask what pests are in your area? I would be pretty nervous about putting my plants near those guys too. If they are confined to one tree (or kind of tree), you may want to consider removing it. In my experience, plants aren't often overwhelmed by a pest like that unless they are already weakened by other things like disease. Sorry I can't offer more specific advice. It's best to find out what they are before using any pesticide.
...See More
Help w/ 12ft orange trees planted from seeds
Q
Comments (4)
Schnell: I know of two people who have orange trees like you describe. I know a lot more that have planted seed from supermarket oranges that have something else they can not eat. I have a couple of grafted trees that give small sized oranges. But I wonder if your trees are truly "round oranges" or if they may be mandarin hybrids, like Fairchild, or Sunburst? I have seen a lot of people surprised to find out that Page and Satsumas for example, are not "oranges". If you have some mandarin variety, they may be as big as they can be. If you have some true orange, thinning and fertilizing may increase the size somewhat. On the time to fruiting from seed, a general rule of thumb is the smaller the fruit the sooner seedling tree bears. But there are big differences in the results you can get. I planted a Rio Red GF in a really good soil with a fantastic mulch, and it fruited in only six years. I planted a Ray Ruby seedling near a giant pecan tree in heavy clay, and it is 13 years old and has not bloomed. Getting them to bear is a function of getting them to outgrow the immature wood. A lady once said she had a Keraji (small mandarin) that was 9 years old that did not bloom. Mine had fruit in four years because I had it in a good raised bed and it was well mulched..
...See More
Please help ID pest on mandarin orange tree
Q
Comments (4)
No, you cannot use vegetable oil. You can find horticultural oils any place where gardening supplies and chemicals are sold. In the meantime, do some googling about 'hortucultural oils' and why they are so useful for the control of scale insects and the suppression of other pests. Scale insects can be a challenge to control. Whomever gave you this particular plant needs his/her glasses adjusted, lol. If these pests are on the leaves and stems......I'm just sayin.
...See More
Need help with IDing tree pest (pics)
Q
Comments (5)
we call them bagworms ... they are mostly irrelevant to any mature, otherwise healthy tree ... though ugly.. they rarely have any significant impact on the trees ... in my yard.. they are so far up in the cherry trees ... that short of spending hundreds of dollars to have professional sprayers come in ... there is nothing to do but ignore them .... most wasp sprays are labeled for such .. you would wait until just before dark .. when they all return to the nest.. and shoot them ... making sure you are upwind ... you may not kill them all.. but you can reduce the population significantly ... and you will ONLY use sprays that are properly labeled.. now that you know what they are .... that all said ... if i found a bag on a recent baby transplant ... i would act to help the babe.. but otherwise.. frankly .. its a waste of money and effort to deal with them on larger, more mature specimens ... as with most bug onslaughts.. most years you barely notice them.. and every once in a while.. the populations seem to explode ... though you probably never noticed them .. as you drive around.. look for them. and you will see they are everywhere, this time of year .... you will NOT eradicate them.. and it wouldn't be worth the effort to try ... good luck .. and be safe driving and looking in trees.. lol ... ken
...See More
call_me_wizfire
Original Author
13 years ago
hmm... i know nothing about citrus pests. and i cant seem to find this information online either...if i could, i woulds just drop it, but i do need help please.... my internet is all messed up now, this is my 4th try to write this (crashes)
Andrew Scott
13 years ago
Hello Andrew,

Andrew here(Awesome name!) and I do know of a great website that may be able to help you. If you go to Four Winds website, they have link that helps ID citrus pests. What makes it so great is that they have awesome close up pics and they might just have pics of your bugs. I ID a form of scale that I had on my Oro Blanco grapefruit tree. I have sprayed at least 4 times this year and I am going to have to spray again tomorrow. What sucks for me is I have to spray all my tropicals and tropical fruit trees. Just in my bedroom alone, I have over 100 plants total. The good news is that I have been able to isolate the pests to that room. I sprayed with pure rubbing alcohol and that did the trick. Unless you use a systemic in which you won be able to eat any fruits for a year, you will only be able to manage them, you wont ever get rid of all of them. I had people here tell me this beofre and I didn't believe it but I do now!!

Next fall right before you bring in your plant, spray them all a few times with fish emulsion and you may be able to avoid the problem all together.

Andrew
call_me_wizfire
Original Author
13 years ago
Hello Andrew,
Its Andrew (awesome name as well) thankyou, i will do that right now. I would rather wash every leaf of these cuttings everyday than use a systemec...
i have no clue where to get fish emulsion, but i do know what it is
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
Hello, Andrew and Andrew! ;)

The Fish Emulsion should be available at any hardware store or nursery.
I even see it at places like CVS/Rite Aid pharmacy.

Josh
call_me_wizfire
Original Author
13 years ago
any1 have a clue what kind it is?
call_me_wizfire
Original Author
13 years ago
,,, silent forum
meyermike_1micha
13 years ago
Here I am ...lol

Hi Andrew:

I most defiantly would make a direct question to "Rhizzo" or "Jean" since they may not even be aware of this problem you are having.
I would also look up the Pest and Disease forum since that is where they hang out, and ask the same question there. I can guarantee that you will be helped as fast as lightning since they are just two of many that are always willing to help. They are usually spot on too.

I wish I could help, but I have never seen this type pest before and you want to make sure you treat it with the right pesticide if they are pest's.

Do they leave a sappy or sticky residue on the leaves anywhere?
When did you first notice them?
What affect are they having on the leaves?
At what temps do you grow them?
What is the coolest you can grow them at?
Have you tried any sprays yet?
Are the trees small enough to wipe these things off with a cloth and water?

Sorry for so many questions, but I like a lot of detail:-)

Let us know, ok.

Hope you are doing good. We can keep these thread going if you wish too. It seems everyone take a break about this time of year, but I find this forum very fulfilling when winter slows me down.

Mike:-)
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
Has your aunt ever mentioned an infestation of whitefly? These look more like whitefly nymphs than scale insects. Or perhaps scale AND whitefly. Obviously, we can't see anything on 3 of the 5 images.

Some scale species and whiteflies all excrete that sticky honeydew

Orange tree pest help w/ pics

Comments (10)

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

Related Discussions

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

Andrew Scott

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

meyermike_1micha

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Orange tree pest help w/ pics

Comments (10)

call_me_wizfireOriginal Author

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

Related Discussions

call_me_wizfireOriginal Author

Andrew Scott

call_me_wizfireOriginal Author

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

call_me_wizfireOriginal Author

call_me_wizfireOriginal Author

meyermike_1micha

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

call_me_wizfire
Original Author

call_me_wizfire
Original Author