Help with lemon tree / citrus mites?
Hey everyone! This is my first post, so please forgive me if i miss something.
About 2 weeks ago I brought in our improved meyer lemon tree from outside to inside (due to upcoming weather). We've only had it for about 8 months so this is the first winter ever. I've been keeping it under a heat lamp for about 8 hours a day or moving it to a window when it's nice out. (didnt know in advance that i should have prepared it better for the switch)
Luckily, it seems to have flourished and is budding. No clue why it didn't do it all summer when it was outside!
Anyway, today I noticed tiny little red dots on the leafs. I did some research and found references to citrus mites. Initially, I didn't think that was the problem since my dots seemed really flat. I thought maybe it was pollen. Then I stared at them for a few minutes and noticed just one of them barely moving (walking)! So I guess, now I think they are mites. Most of them look pretty dead and are not moving. Not sure how big of a problem this is.
I'm attaching a photo I took of the "worst" leaf that is covered the most. There are dots on quite a few leaves, but not all of them. I realize it's hard to tell what's going on. Does everyone agree they are mites? Does anyone have a natural solution to treat this? I'm trying to avoid harsh chemicals. One of the reasons for getting the plant is so that we know what was put on it (can keep it as natural as possible). If you don't think I need to do anything and this problem will take care of itself, let me know about that too.
Thanks! And I look forward to learning so much from all of you!!!
Comments (13)
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Comments (9)Thank you for your input Johnmerr. So I will go ahead with Epsom salts (they were fine and it happened pretty quickly and I was worried it's some kind of a disease). In regards to cow manure and fish pellets, how much is a lot? The guys at the nursery always say to use little and not in the summer. I still use more than suggested and I guess that's still not enough (I am now convinced they don't know what they are talking about). Considering we are practically in the desert how often should I fertilize? In regards to lemon I will probably protect it for next summer. We have extreme heat here in summers, and many plants stress out. Things are cooling down now. And it actually does receive water everyday, the soil is moist all the time, I check it occasionally and never let it dry out (except on a couple of occasions when I couldn't water for a few days)....See MoreLemon Tree Leaves Falling, Is This Fungus or Perhaps Mites?
Comments (15)Any organic fertilizer that has relatively whole ingredients like blood meal, bone meal, etc. will not work well in containers in most cases. These kinds of fertilizers work well in the ground because they rely on soil microorganisms to convert the raw ingredients into NPK. Unfortunately most container mixes do not have enough of those microorganisms to do the converting and so the fertilizer just stays as it is, raw materials. Your plant will literally starve while food sits there. Btw, fish emulsion is in this category. It's the Foliage Pro that's working not the fish emulsion. As the end product the soil microbes produce from the organic fertilizers is chemically the same as standard fertilizers, and since container mixes don't contain the necessary microbes, it's best to just use the standard or "chemical" fertilizers and bypass the missing microbe middlemen. If you're afraid of "burning" with chemical (standard) fertilizers, just cut the label dosage in half and you'll be fine. That's the popular "Weakly, weekly" method and it works well. But always make sure your soil is moist before feeding. Water the day before and the next day fertilize. Fertilizing a dry plant will burn it in most cases. Some of the good benefits of organic fertilizers are that they encourage more soil microbes in the ground and are also good for the texture of the soil. But it just doesn't work like that in container soil. So just use a standard fertilizer for containers and don't feel bad or guilty about it. But also make sure it's a standard fertilizer that is formulated for container soil mix. Most liquid fertilizes are good.Also fertilizers that are a powder meant to be mixed with water first will work. Standard granular fertilizers that are not mixed with water first are meant to be used on the ground, so don't use them....See MoreLemon citrus tree help.
Comments (9)If the foliage is receiving direct sun through the window, then the container should also be receiving the same sun light. In an effort to remain cool the leaves are transpiring at a high level due to the sun's rays, but the roots setting in the shade are functioning at a reduced level and are not able to supply the leaves with enough water to replace that which is lost through transpiration. The only way left for the tree to cool down is to discard its leaves....See MoreCitrus Disease on young Lemon and Lime Tree
Comments (3)Citrus leaf miner is not much of a concern on large citrus trees. However, on small young trees the miner does cause quite a stress on the tree . Most commercial growers don't bother with controlling the insect on large producing trees....See More
T L
7 years ago
jinnylea
7 years ago
myermike_1micha
7 years agoT L
7 years agoT L
7 years ago
evdesert 9B Indio, CA
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
season55
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Sammers510
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoLaura, I don't know if its all that important to use with it vs dish soap since its just an emulsifier but I figure Dyna-Gro hasn't led me astray yet and some pest resistance/stronger leaves sound appealing.This is the instructions on the bottle of the Neem.
And this is the ProTeKt if anyone is curious about it. I am going to start including it in my watering regime as well at the maintenance dosage and see if I notice any difference.
Laura LaRosa (7b)