Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Quetzal on May 24, 2009, 19:57
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I have a lemon (or maybe a lime, not sure) which has been growing on my kitchen window ledge for a couple of years. I water/feed it as directed, but apart from that I haven't done much to it for a while.
I just discovered that it has 'soft scale', i think it's called - sticky leaves and some little limpet like things. I looked on line and there are various chemical solutions, but am I ok just squiching all the limpets i can find? Is there anything else I can do?
Also, this year the tree (~3 feet tall, maybe) has many many flowers on it. Certainly more than 10. In the past, it's only ever had 1-2 at a time. Should I take off some of the flower, like i might with an aubergine? Or will it be able to grow many lemons/limes at the same time?
Finally, I was going to move it into the greenhouse, but I'm wary to do it with the scale on the tree. I'm going to be grwoing tomatoes/chillis/aubergines/cucumbers in there. Might they catch scale from the citrus?
Thx in advance.
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Scale insects can be a pig to get rid of. I have a feeling at the back of my mind that dabbing them with something like meths or white spirit might do the trick - but don't try it without checking this out first !!
I'd wipe the leaves with mild washing up liquid solution.
But I'm not really that confident, so might be worth waiting for someone who really knows their stuff to come along soon, perhaps try the search facility as I'm sure someone else will have asked about scale previously.
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Scale is a problem on citrus of all sorts. The best I have found so far is 2 good sprayings with a systemic insecticide.
Spray the whole plant, top of leaves, underside of leaves, spray the branches and trunk.
I usually make it up a bit stronger then normal.
That is about the only way I have managed to control them when they occur.
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thanks for the replies.
sounds like i might have to get a bit more serious in my response.
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I use a paintbrush and meths (like DD suggested was possible) and dab each one. Takes ages but is worth it. Then I give the plant a good swoosh with a fine rose on the hosepipe to wash any residue away, including little carcases of course.
Make sure you get the ones on the trunk as these don't show up so well as the ones on the green stems or leaf ribs.
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Scale are a pain to get rid of, by the time ypu see them theres loads more to come, the alcohol such as meths or isopropanol works dabbed on them, i have added a 5% ml of isopropanol to a lite of water and water or neem oil and water spray, both will kill them, as will 5ml per litre of limonene ( citrus oil ) spray
If you use a systemic insecticide , most arent tested/licenced for use on citrus that are eaten as they stay in the fruit, so best to avoid systemics if you can if you plan to eat the fruit
The way used in the citrus groves to kill and prevent most pests is to put a teaspoon in a litre of water of horticultural oil ( odourless mineral oil / kerrosene ), they tend to use nothing stronger most times, it also works on spider mites , i use neem oil it works the same
With the number of flowers, its just got more this year probably as its older or due to the amount of cold hours this winter ( if it got more time colder below 12C) , its best to leave all flowers and fruit to sort themselves out, a tree will thin them iteslf if needed ,
A recent study in the states has found removing flowers or fruit even from a young tree has no effect on speed of growth of roots or the top so best to leave them as most will drop,
You tend to loose something like 95+% of the flowers before they get to fully grown fruit even on a mature 40+ year old tree so theres no need to remove them and they look good
A way of getting more fruit to stay on the tree without dropping is to spray the tree just before/at the time it flowers with a teaspoon of saltpeter ( pottasium nitrate ) per litre of water on the leaves