I'm familiar with this plague and have had it on both our grapefruit and lime trees. It's beem a real problem here in the Canary Islands as well as in mainland Spain. You have Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, an insect originating from southeast Asia, which attacks the new shoots of many types of citrus trees. This insect is a leaf miner and has been a serious plague in citrus trees of Japan, India, Pakistan, China, Australia, Sudam, Saudi Arabia, Southafrica, U.S.A., Spain, Italy and Morroco. The adults are like small butterflies 4 - 5 mm long. The larva tend to roll themselves lengthwise in the leaf edges....which is one of the noticeable signs of an infestation along with the silvery aspect of the damaged leaves and the leaf mines visible. You will find quite a lot of information on the web so I won't go into prevention or cures here. I was spraying our trees with a product called "Match", active ingredient Lufenoxuron, at 5 cc per liter water, after I visited the office of our local University Agricultural Extension and brought home folders about this insect. But I stopped spraying as I hate chemicals and just left the trees to get over it themselves, which they have done over the past 4 years. To date there is no more sign of it. However since 2003 we have another type of plague on the leaves. The and bumpy with insect evidence and a loose sugary-looking deposit on the uppper surface. These are photos I took of our grapefruit tree leaves in 2003. The problem is still there today, but it hasn't stopped the trees from producing heavy crops of fruit. I haven't been using chemicals the last few years but give the leaves an occasional hosing down with water. I hope you don't get this one too! Good Luck. LINKS: Link 1 Link 2 (in Spanish but with photos) PDF file from the Canary Government....This 3 page folder in Spanish is from the Agriculture Dept. and has some photos which may be of interest to you. Sharon in Tenerife Here is a link that might be useful: Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton

Follow-up, 13 days after re-pot. Unfortunately my tree is in trouble again! Less than a week after repotting, the veins of many of the leaves started to turn yellow. The yellow then spreads outwards, and the leaf drops off (see photos in the link below). It looks like the little tree will lose most of its leaves :-( Searching through the forum, I found a thread from a year ago where Mike had a tree with exactly the same symptoms - did you ever find out what was wrong? I hope your tree survived! Do you think it is just a stress response (I pruned some of the roots when I repotted)? It also developed flower buds, which I know can be a sign of stress (I removed most of these to help the plant concentrate strength). I have had it in the shade since the repot and it has only been watered on the day of the repot and once since. I haven't checked the pH of the new soil, but I made it as per instructions (including lime, although perhaps I didn't include enough?). Would it be worth checking the pH? On the positive side, I have noticed a few tiny new leaves forming at the end of a couple of the branches (but not lower down on the branches). Do you think the tree will drop all it's leaves and then recover? Or is it a goner? Yours hopefully, Lindsay PS I have some Foliage Pro due to be delivered next week that I planned to start using, if the tree is still alive... Here is a link that might be useful: New problems with lemon tree

Wow, your tree is in just terrible shape. Not sure where you are in California, if you could tell us your location, that would help. Many things wrong based on this photo, which is really hard to see the tree in its entirety, but to start, it looks like you've had a serious Citrus Leafminer infestation. Search our forum for the gazillion posts on CLM and treatment options. Also, from what I can barely see, looks like your poor tree is potted in dirt and not well draining potting medium. Another huge issue. I would re-pot using a good quality bagged cactus mix, or use the 511 potting mix recipe found on this forum. You don't tell us how often you water, how often your fertilize and with what, how much sun your tree gets a day, many other things needed to give you better advice. And, being in California, any reason why your citrus tree is in a pot, versus being planted in the ground? Patty S.

Sham, from what I see with the leaves, it looks like Citrus Leafminer. Very easy to diagnose this by look at the underside of the leaves. See if you have little squiggly tunnels in your leaves. This will not affect the health of a mature tree like yours, just make the leaves look ugly. You can treat for it if you like. Just search this forum for "Citrus Leafminer" or "CLM" and you'll see many messages about how to treat with a combination of Spinosad and Volk Oil, or by a systemtic application of Bayer Advanced Fruit Tree insecticide (Imidicloprid). Holes in the leaves can certainly be caused by snails, which can cause significantly damage citrus trees. Look for snails hiding on the undersides of your leaves, slimy snail trails on your leaves, snail poop, etc. Treat with Deadline at the base of your trees, and hand pick all the snails out of your trees. Bayer Advanced will also help to kill snails you can't reach or find. Now, your fruit. Very interesting. This actually looks more like just some normal sporting to me. Lemons and citrons can do this. Not sure what the black stuff might be, besides mold, and caused by a break in the fruit skin at some time. But, to be safe, I would contact your local ag agent and see what they have to say. You can contact your local CDFA agent by going to their web site. It is worth having your tree looked at, just to make sure what we're seeing isn't damage from the Asian Citrus Psyllid, and possible infection from HLB via the psyllid. Patty S.