Until recently, a healthy lemon tree weakens and grows worse, the leaves on young shoots become smaller. With such symptoms, it’s time for the plant owner to think that the cause is scale insects on the lemon, and how to get rid of the uninvited guest?
How to detect the presence of this pest on an indoor tree? Unlike other insects that crawl or fly, the adult scale insect is practically motionless. But this does not stop her from causing serious damage to especially young plants.
At first glance, it is not at all easy to detect a scale insect on a lemon, because it looks like a small waxy growth ranging in size from 3 to 5 mm. Depending on the species, pests are located on the back of the leaves, on the side shoots and trunk, that is, wherever they can tightly attach to the surface.
Without proper attention, scale insects on lemons quickly multiply and, sucking juices from shoots and leaves, weaken the plant.
Why do lemon leaves turn yellow? There are several reasons for this. During their life, insects secrete a sticky substrate that gradually covers everything around them. Honeydew not only helps detect the pest, it:
Disruption of the photosynthesis process, depletion due to feeding of an ever-increasing number of pests, as well as the addition of concomitant infections - these are the main factors leading to yellowing, wilting and loss of foliage. After the leaves comes the turn of green shoots. If lemon diseases are associated with insects, the plant is in danger of dying.
To get rid of scale insects on lemon, you need to detect them as early as possible and remove adult insects mechanically.
Pests settle in colonies located on stems and the backs of leaves. Sometimes you can detect scale insects on the ovaries. Therefore, these areas are subject to especially thorough inspection.
The attachment points of scale insects on the lemon are wiped with an alcohol-containing liquid, and then the entire plant is treated with a systemic insecticide. One procedure is not enough. Since the plant may contain pests in varying degrees development, the treatment is repeated a couple more times with an interval of 7–10 days.
As preventive measures, a citrus grower should:
By adhering to these simple rules, you can not only seriously reduce the risk of scale insects appearing on lemons, but also protect your green pets from attacks by other dangerous insects:
A decrease in growth rates, yellowing and falling of leaves, and refusal to bear fruit are caused by violation of the conditions in which citrus fruits are kept.
For example, excessive dry air in the room leads to the proliferation of spider mites. The microscopic pest is no less dangerous than the scale insect on lemon, but you can get rid of it in similar ways, using home remedies and modern acaricides. True, it is important to correct care errors.
In addition to insects and mites, harmful fungi and pathogenic bacteria attack the health of lemons. These pathogens of lemon diseases are spread by drops of water, wind, or fall onto healthy specimens from already infected plants. The created conditions of detention play a significant role in the spread and rate of reproduction of microorganisms.
And on the leaves and fruits of the affected lemon, brown, black or gray spots form, the tissues on which gradually die:
Diseases of homemade lemon caused by pathogenic microflora and fungi can be treated with fungicides, but it is very important to take care of the crop in order and return it to proper conditions. So that after illness homemade lemon recovered faster, all buds and flowers, as well as unripe fruits, are removed from it. Be sure to carry out sanitary pruning, and after completion of treatment they feed.
Spider mites on indoor lemons are a common pest. It is very small and difficult to see with the naked eye. It is better to have a magnifying glass for such purposes. Spider mites feed on the juice of leaves of lemon, tangerine and other citrus fruits, making small holes in the leaves. Gradually, these leaves turn yellow, the tips curl up, dry out, and the leaves fall off.
As I already said, a mite on a lemon cannot be detected immediately, and most often we begin to sound the alarm when the entire plant is already covered in cobwebs. This is already a late stage of infection. It is important to learn to “see it” on early stages infection. Take a cotton wool soaked in alcohol or vodka and wipe the leaves of your citrus from the back and outside. You can see very small insects on them.
To get rid of spider mites, it is important to be patient and stock up on medications against this pest. You will need to buy several different drugs, because... A tick can “get used” (develop immunity) to one product.
There are chemical and natural preparations in the fight against spider mites and they are called acaricides. Choosing specific drug, you need to know what it is, because... if we took chemical drug, then 2 or more months must pass before the poisons disintegrate in the plant, and only after that we can pick the fruits and eat them. Either we must sacrifice the fruits to save the plant.
Natural remedies are safe, or relatively safe, and as a rule, you can harvest the crops the next day or a week later.
Where to begin?
— As we have already said above, the first stage of cleansing is to wipe all the leaves, stems, and branches of the lemon with a cotton pad soaked in vodka or lemon juice.
or, immediately proceed to the next stage -
— Arrange warm shower citrus. Cover the pot with a bag to keep water out and wash the lemon out of the shower. Using a foam sponge and laundry soap, wash the entire crown of the lemon: leaves, stems and branches. Let the plant dry.
— Application of acaricide. Depending on the type and instructions, the drug is diluted in water and sprayed on the plant in the morning or evening. The solution must be applied immediately.
For the best effect, you should put a plastic bag on the citrus crown. This is how we provide high humidity- an environment that spider mites cannot tolerate. The package can be removed after 10-24 hours.
Treatment with acaricide should be repeated after 5-6 days, 3-5 times!
Some citrus growers claim that in order to combat mites more effectively, the dose of the drug should be increased. I will only write those about which I learned that the dose was increased. With other preparations you should be careful not to burn the citrus leaves.
* 5 ml per 1.5 liters of water,
** 8-10 ml per 1 liter of water, you can add green soap (or soap solution, shampoo) to the solution
*** TM Butter - 1 milk cap, the same amount liquid soap+ 1 liter of boiling water, shake. Spray outside.
Gardeners also practice using a solution of acaricide + potassium + calcium. That. The cell walls of the plant are strengthened and it is harder for the mite to eat it.
Don't forget about safety precautions. Wear a mask and gloves.
May your citrus fruits be healthy!
You have reliable way fighting spider mites?
Share with us in the comments.
It is not so easy to detect spider mites on lemons: they settle on the underside of the leaf, the size adult- no more than 1-2 mm.
There are several varieties of mites that damage plants. You should know that all of them are not insects, they belong to the order of spiders, so remedies against the former may not work. On indoor plants most often inhabited by the common spider mite - this pest is omnivorous, affecting both citrus fruits and roses, dracaenas, fuchsias, and palm trees.
On citrus fruits there is also the Atlantic spider mite, which, in addition to lemons and tangerines, loves palm trees, and the red spider mite, which settles on callas, orchids and nightshades. The latter variety is very prolific, and the higher the air temperature, the more actively it lays eggs. In the cold it hardly reproduces. Can't stand cold showers. The Atlantic pest is characterized by increased resistance and is very tenacious even in high humidity, which other varieties do not like.
All mites do not tolerate moist air well, so frequent spraying and periodic warm showers for plants are a good preventative measure. Timely removal of faded buds and old yellowed leaves may be useful. Mite eggs can retain live larvae for five years, so even with the apparent complete destruction of pests, there is always a risk that they will infect a plant or a collection of crops. Therefore, it makes sense to monitor the sterility of the soil when transplanting a flower or rinse its roots.
Another, albeit indirect, method of prevention is healthy plants with strong immunity.
Conditions suitable for lemon, sufficient lighting, timely replanting and pruning, periodic spraying with stimulants (Epin) will ensure that pests, even if they exist, will not be able to cause significant harm to the plant simply because the walls of the vessels are strong, elastic and quickly regenerated. Temporary or long-term violation of care conditions (withered leaves, heat, dryness, draft) - and mites quickly occupy the weakened plant.
It is not always possible to use strong drugs at home, for example, there may be children in the house or it is not possible to ventilate the room well. Please note: no “home” method can guarantee complete destruction, since the mites are very small. The following will help to partially cope with the pest on the lemon tree:
Eat general rules for all drugs:
About the tools themselves:
Very poisonous drugs include those containing carbosulfan; it is better not to use them (Marshal drug).
Preparations in powder form do not always “stick” to plants well, so you can first spray the affected areas with stimulants (it is advisable to combine them with acaricides, that is, the above drugs), for example Epin or Zircon, and then treat them with powder.
The only enemy of the spider pest is the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis. Its main and almost only food is spider mites. This predator is completely safe for humans, pets and plants. Using a mite against its kind is easy and pleasant; there is no need to waste time on tedious running around with spraying, soap, wrapping plants with film or washing clothes after treatment. In a day, the predator is able to find and eat 5 mites or 10 eggs, and it works ahead of the curve; spider mites reproduce more slowly. True, as soon as the entire population of spider mites dies, the predator also dies for lack of food.
There are two types of predators:
The arsenal of methods to combat ticks is wide; it is most effective to use their combinations. If the collection of citrus fruits is large, it is worth considering biological methods, as the safest, most effective and least troublesome.
Whitefly– It is not difficult to detect the pest: as soon as you touch a leaf, the whiteflies immediately flutter up and fly to other leaves (plants).
In places of damage caused by individual individuals, faintly noticeable small yellowish spots form, but with mass reproduction, the whitefly greatly inhibits the lemon, which affects vegetative and generative development: leaves turn yellow and fall off, shoots dry out, and fewer fruits are formed.
If there are a lot of pests, then they pollute the leaves with their sugary secretions, which, in turn, settle on sooty fungi, which impede the processes of photosynthesis and respiration, which slows down normal development plants.
Aphids- With the help of a proboscis, aphids suck juices from the tissues of leaves, stems, and buds. Damaged leaves curl, become deformed, partially or completely die, buds do not open or produce ugly flowers. The ends of the shoots may become bent, and if severely damaged, they stop growing.
Prevention.
Thrips– small mobile insects with an elongated body (length 0.9-1.5 mm) dark brown, with two pairs of membranous wings fringed with long hairs. The pest lays eggs in the leaf tissue; after 8-10 days, light yellow larvae emerge and damage the leaves by sucking out the juice. As a result, the upper side of the leaf blade acquires a silvery sheen, physiological processes are disrupted, and the plant loses its decorative effect. If the infection is severe, the leaves become discolored and fall off. On lemon and other citrus crops in rooms, greenhouse and tobacco thrips are most often found.
Control measures are the same as against spider mites.
– Adult insects and larvae damage indoor lemons. Pests give preference to young, recently emerged fruits, therefore, from the moment the ovaries appear, mealybugs immediately strive to colonize them, accumulating and creating colonies on the amniotic cup, on the stalk, mainly on those parts that face the inside of the plant. Often, scale insects destroy the cells of the fruit stalk through numerous punctures, as a result of which they dry out and the fruits fall off. In places where insects accumulate, the peel of lemons becomes deformed, cracks, and the fruits rot, and the remaining ones lose their commercial qualities(yellow-brown spots appear on them).
In the absence of fruits, the pest settles on buds, young leaves and shoots, as a result of which the leaves become chlorotic, normal development is disrupted, the tree noticeably weakens and may dry out.
The same measures are used against pests as against spider mites or aphids.
– immobile insects, most often attack weakened plants. Pests on the surface are covered with dense waxy secretions and resemble scales different shapes. The first sign of the appearance of scale insects and false scale insects is the appearance on the leaves of a sticky sweet liquid, on which sooty fungi subsequently develop.
Control measures- manual collection, chemical and other available means.
Potted lemons may pose a certain danger earthworms , which fall into a container with fresh soil mixture.
You can see them after watering, when they crawl to the surface of the earth. They penetrate the soil with their passages: the roots of the lemon, in contact with the air, quickly become covered with a cork layer and can no longer absorb water and nutrients. Young plants with an insufficiently developed root system are most sensitive to the activity of worms.
Speaking about lemon pests, it is worth mentioning poduras and sciarids.
Fools- small white jumping insects that live in top layer soil, sciarids– mosquitoes (about 1mm long). They usually do not cause much damage to adult plants; their appearance usually indicates that the soil is waterlogged and plant debris is rotting in it.
However, the larvae of these insects can pose a serious threat to germinating seeds and developing seedlings as they feed on growing roots. In this case, the young leaves quickly turn yellow and dry out, and then the plants themselves die.
You can also pour a 2-3cm layer of sand on top of the soil layer into the pot.
Fighting spider mites on indoor plants is not a pleasant task. To destroy spiders, you can use chemical or folk remedies. Of course, if you treat plants against mites with chemicals, you will get rid of the problem much faster.
However, if you get rid of the spider folk remedies, minimal damage will be caused to your flowers. Although traditional methods of struggle sometimes turn out to be ineffective, and one has to use one or another chemical agent from spider mites.
To remove the pest, there are a number of special preparations for spider mites - acaricides. They are designed specifically to combat such insects that encroach on indoor flowers.
What to do and how to get rid of spider mites on indoor plants if you don’t want to deal with chemicals that are hazardous to your health? Exist simple ways, accessible to everyone, because the insect is afraid of means that can easily be found in any apartment.
However, before starting treatment, the flower must be thoroughly cleaned. To do this, wash it with regular clean water without adding cleaning agents (after all, soap clogs the pores on the leaves of the flower). The window sill and the pot itself are also well washed to remove any spiders that might be hiding there. After this, you can begin more serious actions.
From this video you will learn how to quickly and effectively get rid of spider mites.
