Many lemon diseases at home are dangerous, some are completely incurable. And in order not to lose your citrus, you need to know how it can get infected and how it can be saved from trouble.
One or a combination of several of the following factors can lead to the disease.
Captures entire areas of the young green twigs, preferring the most tender shoots
Video about indoor lemon diseases
The fight against it, depending on the number of insect colonies on your citrus, is different. If there are few aphids, it is enough to manually crush them, cutting off the affected areas and fertilizing unscheduled lemon Tree complex top dressing. At in large numbers lesions are treated with insecticides such as Diazmnon. Spraying with infusion of garlic helps very successfully. To do this, 7-8 heads are cleaned, pounded, infused for a day in a bucket of water, decanted and our product is ready.
From the root aphid, replacing the diseased soil with the subsequent calcination of the infected soil helps. And we dip the plant into a solution of a contact insecticide or, again, an infusion of garlic, only we take the concentration of the latter twice as weakly.
From the root aphid, replacing the diseased soil with the subsequent calcination of the infected soil helps
How to deal with it? Same as with aphids: spraying with garlic water, insecticides and soapy water. Take 2 tablespoons liquid soap, dilute in a liter of water and treat the affected areas. After an hour, give the plant good shower washing away the soap from the foliage. We repeat in two or three days.
Spider mites on lemons, like aphids, love young leaves. Its presence is noticeable due to the characteristic web that sticks around the twisted leaves. The tick settles on plants that grow in very dry rooms. He does not tolerate moisture. Therefore, we abundantly spray the diseased citrus with a one percent solution. boric acid. Sometimes a single procedure is enough to kill a tick, but if the enemy does not give up, we repeat spraying after 4-5.
It should also be remembered that protection against insects and ticks helps prevent viral, infectious diseases, some of which penetrate the tissues with the saliva of aphids or scale insects.
Spider mite on a lemon, like aphids, loves young leaves
citrus infections
We will talk about diseases of a bacterial, fungal and viral nature. Many of them are fairly easy to treat, some are difficult, and many viruses are incurable. The result of the weakening of the lemon with improper care or damage by insect pests often becomes fungal scourge, for example, sooty fungus, it leads to even greater weakening, drying out, and a sharp slowdown in growth.
This misfortune is easily recognized by the plaque in the form of ash on leaves and branches. It is easy to get rid of it - it is enough to wash the tree well under warm shower using a dish sponge. In the meantime, the room where the infected citrus grows should be well ventilated.
Scab is also fungal in nature. It manifests itself as putrefactive lesions of leaves, fruits, branches. The spots darken and soften. Affected foliage and fruits fall off. Its spores are carried by wind or insects. The best way to fight scab is prevention. In the spring, we process the plant with two percent solutions of copper and iron sulphate. If signs of the disease are detected, we remove and destroy all diseased areas. And the lemon itself is treated with a five percent solution Bordeaux mixture or Strobilin.
Another fungus is wart. The name speaks for itself. Warts appear on the leaves. Destroys annual growth of greens and fruit crops, greatly weakens your citrus fruits. We fight with her as well as with scab.
The best way to fight scab is prevention.
Most often, the answer to the question of why the fruit falls on a lemon is scab or wart.
Infectious diseases are more difficult to treat. The most common among them are gommosis and root rot. Gommosis is expressed in rotting, cracking of the bark of the trunk, gum disease. This greatly weakens the plant, and sometimes leads to the death of the ground part. Two preventive rules are very effective against gommosis:
- We do not deepen the root neck, otherwise the risk of stem rotting increases many times
- We water the plant with warm water - no extra stress is needed for the roots.
Root rot is similar to gommosis, however, affecting only the roots. A sign is the wilting of leaves, the drying of entire branches, general weakness, premature leaf fall.
Video about helping a lemon
We fight like this:
- We extract the plant from the pots, clean the roots from the soil
- We sterilize the contaminated soil by calcination, pour a new one into the pots.
- We cut off rotten parts with a sharp knife
- The roots are placed for an hour in a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
- We extract, slightly dry, powder the cut off places. wood ash.
- We sit in new ground without deepening the root collar.
- Carefully monitor the plant, fertilize more often.
And viral diseases of indoor lemon are incurable.
Of these, the most common leaf mosaic, expressed as pale cobweb patterns on the foliage, and cancer. Cancer looks like scab or rot, but the fruits and the tree rot as if from the inside, burn out. Such plants must be destroyed before they infect the rest.
Indoor lemon, like all citrus fruits, often suffers from diseases of a viral, infectious, and even fungal nature. Lemon diseases are most often the result of improper care: lack useful substances and moisture, care errors. The plant is slowly dying.
Shchitovka - a common lemon pest
If a lemon at home has signs of some kind of disease, then you should act. Advice from experienced crop growers can help with this.
Why does indoor lemon get sick?
Diseases homemade lemon arise for several reasons. The most common of them is the weakening of the plant's immunity. This is partly the fault of the man himself. Reasons for weakening the immune system:
- errors in care;
- improper watering and fertilization;
- unfavorable microclimatic conditions (air temperature, humidity, etc.);
- pruning errors.
All these errors lead to the fact that the plant becomes weak. The influence of the old disease is not excluded.
Another reason is viruses and bacteria. They can get into a pot with a plant different ways. Some bacteria spread through the air. Others do not get into the pot themselves, through their main carriers - insects. In a room lemon due to a lack of oxygen. Like all living things, it needs fresh air. And if a pot of citrus is in an unventilated room, the risk of signs of disease increases several times.
The most common are the reasons that a person commits at the very first attempts to care for a lemon. Poor-quality grafting material, as well as soil, can affect not only the growth and fertility of a lemon, but also cause its death.
Not proper care can lead to scab and other infections
What pests can threaten a lemon?
- scab;
- spider mite.
They infect the lemon root system, branches and leaves, but each of these insects has its own characteristics.
Aphid
The fight against aphids is not unsuccessful. The main thing is to notice pests in a timely manner. All that is needed is to cut off the affected leaves and branches.
Aphids first show up with characteristic curled leaves.
Getting rid of the shield is easy. Methods of dealing with it are similar to those used against aphids: insecticides and special solutions prepared at home are suitable. One of these is a soap solution:
- Prepare one liter of clean water.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of liquid soap into a bottle of water.
- The substance is thoroughly shaken.
The prepared solution should be applied to infected leaves. It will be difficult to resist the disease with such a remedy at one time. The greatest effect is achieved in 3-4 daily procedures for 60 minutes. After the end of each, thoroughly rinse the leaves under running water.
The spider mite is an equally common pest. It also attacks leaves. The affected area is always covered with a thin web, which is characteristic of the life of this insect. It is easy to deal with it: you should prepare a 1% solution of boric acid. They should spray the affected citrus. Already after the first procedure, improvements will be noticeable. For maximum efficiency the course of treatment should be 3-4 days.
Spider mite often infects lemons
Bacteria and viruses
- sooty fungus;
- scab;
- warty;
- root rot.
The latter attacks the root system, hitting the nutrient center of all citrus fruits. A diseased plant dies very quickly. Therefore, at the first signs of rot noticed (drying of the leaves and stem), the lemon should be transplanted to a new place. But this procedure has its own characteristics.
You can save citrus from rot only by replacing the soil with a new one. The affected roots must be shaken off the ground, the dead areas removed and the plant placed for 1 hour in a solution of potassium permanganate. This procedure destroys pathogens. After 60 minutes of being in the treatment solution, the plant is dried and planted in a new place. To return the lemon to its healthy appearance, you should fertilize it regularly.
Some diseases are susceptible fast treatment. Fungus is one of them. Due to the attack of harmful microorganisms, the plant slows down its growth and dries slowly. It is difficult to confuse such a disease with another, because it is characterized by an ashy coating that forms on the leaves. Do not be afraid of such symptoms.
It is not difficult to cure a plant. It is necessary to thoroughly rinse the affected areas under running water or wipe them with a sponge. And as preventive measures you should regularly ventilate the room in which there is a pot of citrus.
Often scab attacks home vegetation. This disease is characterized by the formation of spots on the leaves and stem. They quickly darken and make the leaf brittle. Affected areas can become soft, and their spread leads to the fact that part of the plant simply falls off. It is difficult to cope quickly with such a disease. Remove the affected leaves and treat the healthy part of the plant with copper sulfate. And so that the disease does not bother citrus later, it is important to carry out seasonal spraying. The same methods of treatment correspond to warty, the main development of which is associated with the destruction of the crop.
Lemon diseases at home can be caused by pathogenic microorganisms: fungi, viruses, bacteria, mycoplasmas. Affected individuals develop various defects(shrinking, deformation of fruits and leaves, spotting, growths, and others). Pathogens are carried by the wind, with the help of insects, and also through drops of water during irrigation and spraying. Most often, weakened trees are susceptible to diseases, so it is important to create everything when growing a lemon the necessary conditions for its full development, to carry out proper care, to conduct regular, thorough examinations. The fight against lemon diseases should be carried out at the first signs. From a diseased individual, it is required to cut off all the affected parts so that they do not weaken the tree.
Why do lemon leaves turn yellow and curl? Why does a plant drop leaves? Why do lemon leaves turn black? The reason may be improper care, lack of trace elements or flower diseases. If the leaves fall, then the homemade lemon may lack lighting, it was poured. Lemon leaves fall if the air is dry in the room where it is located, or the horse system is broken.
Most often, lemon leaves fall in the autumn-winter period, but leaf fall can also be observed at any other time of the year. main reason: unfavourable conditions . For example, a recently purchased plant may shed its leaves. The explanation is simple: in the greenhouses where it is grown, the conditions of detention differ from the microclimate in the apartment. Leaf fall is a reaction to a change in the microclimate of growth. After buying a lemon, it must acclimatize in new conditions, it is undesirable to transplant it, it is provided with proper care. At this time, it is important not to pour the flower, because without leaves, the process of evaporation of moisture is disrupted. Experts recommend spraying more than watering; epin can be added to the solution.
Why does a lemon shed its leaves if its place of growth has not changed? Reason: lack of light. This plant belongs to the category of photophilous, that is, it needs a 12-hour light day. In the autumn-winter period, when the length of daylight hours decreases, the plant must be highlighted fluorescent lamp. It is better to place the pot on the western or eastern side of the house, it is possible from the south, but with obligatory shading.
The lemon shed its leaves if a transplant was performed with a complete or partial replacement of the soil. In this case, the root system is disturbed, which is necessarily reflected in the crown. She crumbles. What to do? It is necessary to help the flower restore the root system. To do this, watering is reduced, the flower is placed under a greenhouse ( polyethylene film), which should not touch the leaves and branches of the flower. Spraying is carried out to maintain high level humidity in the greenhouse. Every day, the greenhouse is ventilated for 15 minutes to prevent condensation. Epin is added to the spray solution once a week, and root can be added to the irrigation solution. The greenhouse does not need to be abruptly removed. To adapt the flower every day increase the airing time. The greenhouse is completely removed when new leaves appear on the lemon.
Lemon sheds leaves when cancer strikes, viral mosaic. All of these diseases are viral in nature. In most cases in indoor cultivation diseases cannot be treated, and the plant is completely discarded in order to prevent infection of other flowers.
Lemon leaf cancer looks like brown spots irregular shape, which inside dry out and crumble . With prolonged illness, young lemon leaves develop deformed and small. The disease cannot be cured, it can be prevented spring spraying flowers with fungicides.
Leaves fall if homemade lemon hits leaf mosaic. On the leaves, it looks like light spots of irregular shape, sometimes it spreads over the plate in the form of strokes. The mosaic is not treatable, the plant is removed in most cases.
Lemon leaves curl if the watering regime is violated. This is overdrying or waterlogging of the soil. In the first case, it is necessary to water the flower with small portions of water, but do not allow the soil in the pot to become waterlogged. In both cases, the plant is placed under a greenhouse, where it is regularly sprayed. Waterlogging the soil in a pot leads to rotten roots. Damaged roots can no longer "drink" water, and therefore the plant suffers from a moisture deficit even in waterlogged soil. In this case, watering is stopped. The lemon is taken out of the pot, while the integrity of the earthy coma must not be broken, and wrapped in paper. The latter will draw excess moisture out of the soil. Drying in this way is carried out for 3 days, the plant needs to be shaded. Then the flower is returned to the pot and a greenhouse is organized for it. Watering is not carried out, much attention is paid to spraying.
Lemon leaves dry around the edges if indoors heat and low humidity. Optimal temperature regime for lemon +20...+23 degrees, humidity - not lower than 70%. Otherwise, the plant is sick. Very often, the leaves of a room lemon turn yellow if it is placed close to heating appliances in winter. The plant does not like dry air, and even in winter it may suffer from a lack of light. It is illuminated with a fluorescent lamp.
Leaves turn yellow and fall off if a lemon infects a spider mite. In this case, on reverse side sheet plate will be present white coating, and on the branches - a light, whitish cobweb. The leaves are covered with small spots. How to treat? It is necessary to wash the plant under a shower with warm water, then treat with one of the preparations Fitoverm, Vertimer (three times with an interval of 10 days) or Akarin, Neoron (4 times with an interval of 7-10 days). It is better when the affected flower is isolated from the rest of the collection.
Infectious and fungal diseases of lemon
Lemons and other citrus fruits grown on plantations are most often affected. Often even professionals cannot determine the cause, but in room conditions with a real danger, the plant is extremely rare, but every gardener should be aware of the precautions and methods of treatment. Among the variety of lemon diseases, it is worth highlighting pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and mycoplasmas. As a result, growths, wilting, rot, ulcers and spotting appear. The main carrier of these pathogens are insects, but lemons can also be infected by spraying, airing, and even watering. The signs of fungal diseases and diseases associated with bacteria are quite similar, but when affected by fungi, spores can be found in the form of a gray coating, black dots or brown pustules. Consider the most common indoor lemon diseases.
Anthracnose
Anthracnose is the most common and its causative agent is a pathogenic fungus. Symptoms of the disease are expressed by the fall and yellowing of the foliage, the fall of the buds, the appearance of reddish spots on the fruits and the death of the branches. To stop the disease, it is necessary to get rid of dead shoots, spray with Fitosporin. This drug is used for the prevention and treatment of many diseases, it is odorless and non-toxic, suitable for use in residential areas. You can also add the product to the water for irrigation according to the instructions on the label. A 1% Bordeaux spray solution is also effective. It is necessary to process the plant two or three times.
Scab
Scab, or so-called wart, is also a common problem caused by a fungus. Small transparent yellowish spots appear on young leaves, later they turn into gray-pink warts. Over time, they grow and mutate into a growth, after which the shoots die. The disease also affects the fruits, on which orange spots appear, increasing in size and acquiring a red-brown color. As a result, the ovaries invariably fall off. Be sure to cut and burn the affected areas of the lemon, spray the crown with Bordeaux liquid 1%.
Gomoz
Homosis in a homemade lemon is manifested by gum disease - these are brown red longitudinal spots on the trunk and branches. In these places, the bark soon dies off and a sticky substance of a golden color appears from the cracks, it freezes in the air. Among the most common causes of the disease - high humidity air, mechanical damage, lack of potassium and phosphorus, excess nitrogen, not disinfected soil or too deep planting of seedlings. Treatment requires determining the cause of the disease, even with a sharp knife, the affected areas on the trunk are removed. Solution blue vitriol 3% is used to disinfect wounds, which are covered with garden varnish at the final stage. This procedure must be repeated several times until the plant is completely cured. Branches affected by homosis are cut and burned. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to water the plant with warm water, and when planting, do not deepen the root neck into the ground, otherwise, the risk of trunk rotting increases.
Melseco
Melseco - infection, manifested by the drying of shoots. More often this problem found in plants grown on plantations, this occurs in the spring. In the period from autumn to spring, the disease can also appear in homemade lemons. The leaves of the plant gradually fall off, starting from the ends of the branches. On the cut, the wood will have a reddish color, the petioles will remain on the branches during the fall of the leaves. According to this scheme, the leaves also fall off in low light in winter, so do not immediately panic. There is no definitive way to eliminate this disease.
sooty fungus
Sooty fungus is often the result of a lemon attack. mealybug or shield. Inspect the plant for pests in a timely manner and take the measures indicated a little lower in the section on pests.
root rot
Root rot does not visually manifest itself until the plant begins to intensively shed foliage. First of all, you need to dig a lemon and inspect the root system. If there are affected areas, they must be cut with a sharp knife and the plant transplanted into new soil. Place the lemon in a well-lit place and do not water for several days, just wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. Sometimes brown spots with root rot appear on the trunk, a dirty substance seeps through them, after which the bark dies.
Viral diseases of lemon
Viral diseases of lemon include tristeza, leaf mosaic and citrus cancer. The latter is characterized by brown spots on fruits and leaves. If the disease is not detected in time, the foliage begins to fall and the fruits become deformed. Over time, the plant dies, there is no cure. Prevention involves treating the plant with liquid copper fungicide every spring. Leaf mosaic appears as light or dark strokes or stripes on the foliage, over time the leaves are deformed, the tree begins to grow very slowly. There is no cure, but symptoms can be reduced with regular feeding and strict maintenance of citrus fruits. With tristesis, the foliage dries up and falls off, soon the bark, branches or even the whole tree dies off, there is no treatment.
Treatment of diseases caused by a fungus or infection will be successful if the problem is detected in time. Viral diseases cannot be treated, but in some cases it is possible to delay the death of the plant and mask the signs of pathology. Weak plants are most often infected, the conditions of which do not meet the requirements. It is necessary to cut out the affected areas of the lemon in a timely manner and fight pests. Sections can be treated with activated charcoal. As soon as the tree is sick, remove all fruits, buds and flowers so that they do not take all the strength from the plant.
Lemon pests
Insects are the main carrier of infections and fungal spores, so it is necessary to carry out prevention, and if they still hit the lemon, promptly eliminate them mechanically and begin treatment. Citrus fruits have both personal pests and those that attack other plants. The first fall into an apartment with poor-quality soil or grafting material. Most often, the plant is affected by aphids, and then we will talk about it and other dangerous pests.
Aphid ordinary
The fight against aphids can have different scales depending on the number of pests on the plant. If there are few of them, it is enough to cut off the affected leaves and branches and crush the insects, then fertilize the lemon with unscheduled complex-type top dressing. If the extent of the damage is large, use insecticides (diazmnon). Spraying with infusion of garlic is also effective. Peel 8 heads, crush them and soak for a day in a bucket of water. Strain off the product before processing.
root aphid
Shchitovka
This pest settles on the plant in the form of a larva, which becomes immobile, reaching adulthood. You can find an insect on the lower part of the vein of the leaf; over time, the scale is covered with a wax coating. With excessive damage, insects move to the outer side of the foliage, the tree dries out, becomes weak and susceptible to infection by other viral or bacterial diseases. Also effective against scale insects garlic water and insecticides, soapy water can be used. You can prepare the latter according to the following recipe - dilute 2 tablespoons of liquid soap in a liter of water and treat the affected areas of the plant with a mixture. After an hour, rinse the lemon in the shower and repeat the procedure after 2 days.
spider mite
This pest loves to attack foliage and young shoots, it can be detected by twisted leaves, around which a characteristic web hangs. The key prerequisite for the appearance of a spider mite is very dry room. To combat it, it is necessary to spray the diseased plant with a 1% solution of boric acid. Even a single procedure is enough, but ideally it is necessary to repeat the spraying 4 times.
Prevention
By protecting your plant from ticks and insects, you are preventing infectious, viral and fungal diseases, since many pathogens penetrate the lemon tissue with the saliva of scale insects or aphids. Prevention involves the following measures.
Wash the branches and leaves of the tree at least once a month. Isolate the soil with a film and put the plant under the shower. Treat the crown with the same frequency with soapy foam.
Carefully inspect the purchased plants and do not put them next to indoor plants for 2 weeks.
Inspect the tree regularly during watering for the presence of affected areas.
Many vegetable growers mistakenly assume that at home, a houseplant will not be exposed to diseases and pests. However, a lemon growing at home is still a plant. Therefore, the risk of the appearance of a disease or a tick still exists. Do not panic ahead of time. In this article, we will tell you what lemon diseases exist and how to deal with them.
Causes of diseases in homemade lemon
Cause disease in houseplant could be many reasons. The main ones are:
- poor quality soil;
- inoculum;
- containers that have already been used before;
- weakened immunity resulting from improper watering, air temperature, fertilizer, lighting, pruning;
- weakened immunity caused by a previous disease;
- the ingress of spores, various viruses and bacteria during the summer airing period;
- viruses and bacteria that got into the apartment "thanks" to insects;
- mite.
Harmful insects for indoor lemon
The main pest of citrus fruits is aphids. It destroys the leaves of the plant, then spreads to the branches of the tree. At the same time, aphids choose the youngest and most tender leaves. What does a pest look like?
This insect small sizes, has a light green color. First the pest strikes inner part leaves, which is why it is so difficult to notice on early stage infections. Then the insect captures the entire plant along the branch. The first sign of an aphid infestation is the curling of the leaves of a homemade lemon. An insect can get on citrus from another houseplant, such as fuchsia.
This culture is a favorite delicacy of aphids. You can harm a lemon by bringing wildflowers home. The pest can hide in the soil, and different crops suffer from it. Therefore, taking untested soil after other plants or even another lemon, you run the risk of completely destroying the indoor tree.
However, do not immediately put an end to the plant. The success of the fight depends on how quickly you identify the disease. If the pest did not have time to spread far, then it will be enough to cut off the infected branches and crush the pests.
Many gardeners use folk methods. For example, an infusion of garlic helps from a pest. To cook it, use eight cloves of garlic. They must first be cleaned and reground. Mix the finished mixture with water in a ten-liter bucket and leave for one day.
The infusion will be ready after you express it.
If aphids appeared due to poor-quality soil, then soil replacement will be needed. Before this, you need to prepare the plant. Place a lemon in a contact insecticide solution or garlic infusion. However, this time the concentration of the drug should be half that in the fight against aphids.
Shchitovka
Another pest of homemade lemon is the scale insect.
In this state, it cannot resist bacterial and viral diseases. However, there is a rule for this insect. As with aphids, garlic water, insecticides, and a soap solution work well. Soap infusion is prepared as follows: dilute two tablespoons of liquid soap in a liter of water. Then treat the infected leaves with this preparation. After sixty minutes, thoroughly wash the soap off the lemon. The procedure is recommended to be repeated after two or three days.
The common spider mite can also kill the plant. He is also not averse to eating young citrus leaves. The main sign of the pest is the characteristic cobweb on the leaves of the plant. Very often, the spider mite appears on crops growing in dry air conditions.
The spider mite is afraid of moisture. Use a 1% solution of boric acid to control ticks. Most often, one spray is enough to kill the tick. However, if the tick does not give up, then repeat the procedure four or five times. An interesting fact is that pest control is equal to the procedure for preventing viral diseases.
Viral and bacterial diseases
Some of these diseases are treated quickly and painlessly for the plant. However, there are diseases that are difficult or impossible to treat. Such a disease is a soot fungus, which greatly weakens the plant, leads to drying and weakening in growth. You can recognize the disease by the ashy bloom on the leaves. It is not difficult to cure a plant. You need to rinse it with warm water using a dish sponge. It is recommended to ventilate the room where the lemon was before putting it back.
Another disease is scab. It affects the leaves and branches of the plant. Scab is characterized by the appearance of spots on lemon leaves, which gradually darken and become soft. Diseased areas of the lemon rot and fall off. The disease is carried by wind or insects. The fight against the virus must begin with preventive measures. IN spring period treat the culture with a two percent solution of copper sulfate. If the disease does appear, immediately destroy the affected areas of the plant. Treat the rest with Bordeaux mortar.
Another fungal disease that can infect indoor lemon - warty. Judging by the name, you can determine the main symptom of the disease. The fact is that growths form on the leaves of the culture. However, they are not as harmless as they might seem. The fungus depletes the plant and destroys future harvest. The methods of struggle are the same as with scab.
root rot
Infection is much more difficult to deal with. The most common lemon diseases are gummosis and root rot. The first infection is characterized by rotting and cracking of the tree bark. In this case, you need to water the culture with warm water.
The main purpose of root rot is evident from the name. The infection affects the roots of the plant. If the lemon leaves wither, the branches dry up, and the leaves begin to fall off prematurely, then this is root rot. Infection control measures are as follows. Remove the tree from the container, and clean the roots from the ground. The affected soil is sterilized. Pour new soil into the container.
We cut off the rotted parts with a knife. We place the root system of the lemon for about sixty minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate. Next, the plant is removed from the solution and slightly dried. Treat the cut points with wood ash. Then the treated plant is planted in a new place of growth. However, the work did not end there. You need to keep a close eye on the lemon and fertilize it constantly.
So, we have listed the main lemon diseases, and also told what their treatment is. Lemon pests are no longer afraid of you.
Very often lemons and others citrus plants grown in protected ground, but even in such conditions they can be damaged by various diseases and pests.
Citrus plants are most commonly damaged by red spider mite. It is very small and almost invisible to the naked eye, so it is not always possible to identify it in a timely manner. An adult female tick reaches only 0.4 mm in length, and the male is even smaller - 0.3 mm.
Most often, attention is paid to this pest when the foliage turns yellow and falls massively on the plant, especially on the tops of young shoots, which, when naked, are wrapped in a thin cobweb. It multiplies very quickly and spreads throughout the plant.
The tick pierces the tissue of the leaf, bark or fruit with its proboscis and sucks the juices out of them, which is why they change their natural color to pale yellow. The skin of the fruit becomes coarse and acquires a pale gray color.
The female lays eggs in the zone of leaf veins, which she attaches with a thin cobweb. A week later, a young generation of ticks appears. One female during her life (about 10 days) lays from 50 to 100 eggs.
Control measures
Most affordable way control of red spider mites - pollination of damaged plants with sulfur (crystalline sulfur ground into flour), which is most effective at a temperature of 17-20 ° C. Before this, the plant is moistened with water from a spray bottle, and then powdered sulfur is collected in a gauze bag and the plant is pollinated, covering the leaves and bark as much as possible.
Sulfur has a detrimental effect on the mites, but the eggs remain intact because the web prevents it from reaching their surface. Therefore, after 7-8 days, a new generation of ticks appears. For their complete destruction, the treatment is carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 7-8 days.
Use a water-oil emulsion: 1 tsp. machine oil or any vegetable and 1st.l. washing powder is well stirred in 1 liter warm water. Sprayed with a solution from a sprayer, having previously covered the soil with a film and wrapped the plant bole with a dense layer of any material that absorbs moisture well (gauze, bandage, cotton fabric).
The whole plant, to a single leaf, is well moistened with a solution and after 2-3 hours it is thoroughly washed with warm water, making sure that the contaminated flowing water does not get into the soil. Spraying is repeated at the same interval as dusting.
Shchitovka brown
Brown scale insect is a common pest that is quite easy to identify on affected plants. She settles on leaves, young shoots and fruits. When plants are damaged by scale insects, leaves and young shoots become sticky.
This pest is very difficult to deal with. For a year, the scale insect gives up to three generations. The fight against it is most effective during the period when young larvae appear - “tramps”, which creep along young leaves and shoots. Unlike adults, young offspring do not have shields on their bodies and are easily damaged when sprayed with various solutions.
Control measures
To combat scale insects in the larval stage, many different means are recommended.
One of them is a solution of green soap (300-400g per 10 liters of water). First, the soap is well dissolved in a small amount of water, and then the solution is brought to the desired volume.
Apply transformer oil solution (with or without soap) or soap-kerosene emulsion: 5g laundry soap or washing powder and 10 g of kerosene per 1 liter of warm water.
The bottom of the leaves is smeared with 9% vinegar, and after a week the plant is washed with water.
Quite effective is the drug ultracid - a gray powder that looks very similar to cement. Its solution (25-30 g per 10 liters of water) is sprayed on damaged plants.
Aphid
Aphid - very dangerous pest and everyone needs to fight it. available means. This small light green insect settles on young leaves, shoots and buds, forming entire colonies. It reproduces very quickly and gives more than 15 generations per year. Aphids feed on the sap of plants, so they are significantly suppressed, their growth slows down, leaves and shoots curl, and the processes of respiration and photosynthesis are disturbed. Places inhabited by aphids are covered with a sticky liquid.
Control measures
Recommend spraying with a solution of green soap or any washing powder, water- oil emulsion, a solution of potassium permanganate.
When treated with an oil emulsion, the soil is protected. After 3-4 hours after treatment, the plant is washed with warm water, taking all precautions, preventing the remaining solution from entering the soil.
Chervets
Another pest is a worm, very similar to a scale insect, although it does not have protective shields on its body. Instead, its dorsal part is covered with a waxy coating or growths of various shapes, by which its appearance is determined. In conditions closed ground both the mealybug and the Australian grooved bug are found.
The mealybug protects its body with off-white, yellowish mealy secretions. During breeding, the female lays eggs on branches and leaves, attaching them with a cotton-like mass. One female can lay up to 200 eggs.
Young and adult insects are very mobile, so they quickly spread through the plant. Most often, they accumulate at peduncles, stalks, near the ovary and fruits, sucking the juice out of them. This leads to the depletion of the plant, shedding of fruits.
Control measures
To combat the worm, the same means are used as with the scale insect: water-oil emulsions, green soap solution or ultracid.
Gum treatment
Signs of gum disease most often appear in the zone of the root neck, on the trunk, skeletal and overgrowing branches, less often on the roots and even on the fruits. The symptoms of the disease, regardless of its origin, are very similar in all parts of the plant. First, small swollen thickenings appear on the bark, which eventually crack and secrete gum in the form of a viscous liquid of golden yellow or Brown. In places where gum is released, the bark becomes brown and rough, and then lags behind the tree throughout its entire thickness, including the cambium.
Gommosis may not be accompanied by the outflow of gum, but brown spots simply appear on the bark. Damaged bark dries out, cracks and falls off the tree.
The development of the disease, most often, begins from the root collar or stem of the tree, from where it spreads up to the skeletal branches and down to the roots. In damaged plants, the leaves turn yellow, curl and fall off, the tops of the branches die off, and the fruits dry up immature right on the branches.
Control measures
The roots and the zone of the root neck of the seedlings are treated with a 1% solution of copper sulphate for 5 minutes before planting. After that, the roots are washed in water.
spotting
Most often, brown spotting occurs on citrus leaves. Irregular spots appear on the underside of the leaf. They are numerous and favorable conditions spread over the entire surface of the leaf plate.
This disease of fungal origin affects not only the leaves. It occurs on shoots and even on fruits. The main source of infection are damaged leaves.
Control measures
Fallen leaves are collected and burned, as well as fallen ovaries and fruits.
Plants are sprayed with 1% Bordeaux liquid or its substitutes: phthalan, polycarbacin, etc.
Black
Niello is a disease that results in the formation of black plaque on the leaves and fruits. With mass distribution, the black damages the entire leaf blade, the foliage turns yellow and dies.
One of the reasons for its appearance is the discharge of aphids and scale insects, on which various fungi settle and multiply.
The black has a negative effect on photosynthesis, leads to premature leaf fall, and a decrease in yield. With the mass spread of the disease, the quality of the fruit deteriorates and the plant has an oppressed appearance.
Control measures
Timely control of scale insects and aphids will protect plants from many fungal diseases.
With a strong development of the disease during the period of fruit growth, spraying is recommended.
1% Bordeaux liquid with an interval of 10-14 days.
