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Florida Gardening

Citrus Questions

15 years ago

I'm usually pretty good at identifying citrus tree problems but would like to hear from you guys on this one. Some of the leaves on my lemon and many of the leaves on my orange tree are curled and/or have white squiggly lines running through them. Could these be leaf miners or snails? What's the least toxic remedy? Would dish soap and vegetable oil in water do any good? Or something stronger?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Sheri

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Comments (7)

gatormomx2
15 years ago
White squiggly lines - leaf miners .
Purely cosmetic - leave it alone .
Curling leaves ?
Could be insects .
Spray with soap , Ultra fine horticultural oil or BT or one of the Spinosads .

Bookmark the link below . It contains a list of many citrus subjects . Do not be put off by the long list of chemicals. Hidden in there are also organic remedies .

Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus Pest Management
bluesky7
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, gatormomx2. :-)
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gatormomx2
15 years ago
What kind of lemon and orange do you have ?
What method did you choose to treat your trees ?
linchat
15 years ago
leaf miners, I have the same thing. I do not do a thing about it. Of course I have to hear from people that my grapefruit tree has bugs because of this from people and I need to spray. I say they are harmless and I have never sprayed a toxin on my tree. Great grapefruit without the pesticides!

If you like butterflies then do not spray your citrus tree. Look close, if you see leaves with what looks like bird poop that moves, that is a soon to be Giant Swallowtail caterpillar, one of the most beautiful butterflies in my humble opinion.

One of the reasons I do not spray. Nice picture and description.

http://bruceslog.blogspot.com/2006/08/giant-swallowtail-caterpillar-papilio.html
trinigemini
15 years ago
I had the leaf miner problem too. I used Bayer tree and shrub...None of the new leaves have the leaf miner problem anymore. It is a chemical but you pour it on the roots of the tree and that's it. It harms only pests that harms your tree. I wonder about the caterpillars though...the label did not say anything about them. The only reason I even bought the Bayer was because I had white flies that totally decimated my ficus. Since I had the product anyway I figured I would try it on my lemon tree.
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
15 years ago
trinigemini---I would like to give you a word of caution using the Bayer tree and shrub control. It needs to be used only on non-producing trees. I use it on all of my crinums and amaryllis because the lubbers will eat them up so severely. What proves to me how toxic it is, when I go to pluck a lubber of of a treated crinum, he is usually near death and puts up no resistance. I have come to believe that it makes the whole plant poisonous.

Christine
bluesky7
Original Author
15 years ago
To gatormom, (trinigemini's reply below as well)

One tree is a large, well-established Florida navel orange. It just hasn't been the same since Hurricane Wilma. Produces oranges but they are fewer in number and not as high quality as they used to be. I fertilize it the recommended times per year but don't usually spray anything on it but soap spray mixed with canola oil.

The lemon variety is a Eureka which I planted last year. It took a while to take root but finally has and is looking nice at about 4.5 feet tall. There are 5 golf ball size lemons on it. I watered this one well until it got established and when we were in the drought, and I fertilize it routinely as well. This tree looks okay except for some chewed and a few curled leaves.

I plan to spray them with one of the non-toxic sprays in a day or so.

Trinigemini, I don't think I'd use Bayer Tree and Shrub on the citrus and then eat the fruit because this pesticide is systemic which means it poisons the whole tree. Maybe try a less toxic formula such as one mentioned above?

Best,

Sheri :-)

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