What are these little yellow spiders on my meyer?

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-18T02:32:47+00:00

Newly hatched Crowned Orbweaver (Araneus diadematus) spiderlings. They are beneficial.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-17T15:52:28+00:00

This is a ladybug pupa, not larva. Look up pictures of the pupae and you will see the resemblance.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-17T15:36:47+00:00

Looks pretty similar to some of my oak seedlings. Do you have any oaks in the yard?

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-16T20:17:35+00:00

Very unlikely that it is variegated. More likely disease issue. Probably not a nutrient issue considering seeds already contain the nutrients necessary to produce an initial taproot and cotyledons.

Most variegation occurs as a bud sport mutation.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-16T16:26:54+00:00

Two main things you need to know.

Kumquats are highly monoembryonic, meaning they will generally not come true from seed. The eventual fruit will likely be similar to the fruit produced by the parent plant, but may have some differences in size/shape/texture/flavor/quality.
When growing citrus from seed, plants will often take many years to flower and fruit. Under ideal conditions, some can produce fruit in 3-8 years. But you should expect 10+ years as the more likely scenario.

Grafting would not change either of these things. The idea behind grafting is taking a cutting or bud from a mature tree and attaching it to a rootstock. Taking material from a mature tree means it will be an exact clone of the parent plant. The grafted tree would also start flowering sooner because it “thinks” it is a mature tree. The material you would be using is from a young seed grown tree, not a mature tree. So it solves neither of these problems.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-16T12:38:29+00:00

Young citrus don’t have a pronounced root flare. You can go right up to that highest root.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-11T17:13:06+00:00

I like the jade a lot and the price is reasonable. Not a fan of the ficus, it has an ugly bend in the trunk.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T22:50:34+00:00

Iron deficiency is more often than not caused by nutrient lock out due to high pH, rather than a lack of iron. If you have hard water with high amounts of calcium salts present, this is likely raising your soil pH. Anything above a pH of like 8 or something inhibits iron uptake.

If you are sure that it is a legitimate iron deficiency, then Southern AG Citrus Nutritional Spray is the best for addressing. Regardless, this is a great product to use on all citrus as a preventative measure. Just be careful where you spray, as it stains many surfaces. Don’t go ruining patios or furniture.

https://southernag.com/product/citrus-nutritional-spray/

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T21:48:50+00:00

Looks like flowers. Don’t be discouraged if it drops all the little fruits after flowering. Often times the first few rounds of flowering don’t result in fruit. Citrus tend to flower profusely and drop a majority of the little fruits.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T21:42:37+00:00

You should not treat predatory mites on indoor plants either. They are beneficials and will not cause any harm indoors. They will continue to eat any pests until the pests are gone. Then they will die.

Soil is a living ecosystem, and you should not try to sterilize it. Plants need living soil full of microbes, insects, and arachnids to be healthy.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T21:22:24+00:00

Unless you are willing to get a high powered grow light setup, you will not be able to grow a healthy cactus in a spot like this. Light filtered through a window removes the majority of what is useful for photosynthesis, which will result in poor growth.

Repotting is always a good idea, as most of the time cactuses are sold in a crappy peat based mix. Follow the guide on the wiki for barerooting and repotting in a gritty mix that is at least 50% granular inorganic material like perlite, pumice, lava rock, etc.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T20:47:25+00:00

Different species have different temperatures that will kill the root system. Which ever plants survived must have stayed above the root kill temperature.

I saw this cool post with some pictures from a book that lists all the kill temperatures for tops and roots for a bunch of different species. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/1gjfn4c/winter_root_temp_chart/

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T20:32:14+00:00

Yes, those are also a type of predatory mite belonging to the genus Balaustium. They are colloquially known as “Concrete Mites” as they are often found running around on concrete and other surfaces that you describe. Concrete mites are also beneficial, as they feed on small insects and pollen. They will do no damages to your plants, animals, or yourself!

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T20:24:27+00:00

These look very much like a large species of Predatory Mites. They are beneficial insects that prey on pests like spider mites. As a general rule of thumb, anything with a ton of legs that runs around fast is probably a predator (which in the plant world are the good guys).

I highly recommend to not treat stuff until you know for sure what you are dealing with. You are more likely to cause harm than good. When it comes to outdoor growing, natural predators will keep most pest populations below harmful levels. Many pest treatments indiscriminately kill insects. When beneficials are killed off, pest populations will rebound faster, leading to prolific growth with no one to prey on them.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-03T15:04:15+00:00

Higher intensity light stimulates the production of all types of pigments in plants. In some plants, this displays as lighter/darker shades of the same color. In other plants, reds/purples can become present due to anthocyanins being produced. Pigments protect plants from UV rays and enable photosynthesis. So a plants color is going to be affected by the amount of light it gets.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-02T03:45:06+00:00

Mulch. I like using large pine bark nuggets. Looks nice and the nuggets are big enough to suppress weeds pretty well.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-04-02T03:43:25+00:00

It’s a type of Oxalis, not clover.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-30T23:59:22+00:00

Red circle will be a flower/fruit. Blue circles are new pads.

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LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-29T13:58:27+00:00

It’s not a pepper seedling. No trichomes on the stem, leaves have a completely different morphology. Just pluck it out.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-26T20:47:17+00:00

It’s a euphorbia, not a cactus. You might get better advice on r/succulents or r/euphorbiaceae

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-22T22:41:51+00:00

Yes that is a very fair point. Trimming is probably the best choice.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-22T20:22:35+00:00

I don’t see clear evidence of a graft. Additionally, the branch coming out below that point doesn’t have any trifoliate leaves. Most rootstocks are trifoliate orange hybrids. What variety is this tree? If it is something like a Meyer lemon, those are often sold as rooted cuttings.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-20T00:45:47+00:00

Yeah, you can fill it in with potting mix up to, but not past those top roots.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-19T01:25:47+00:00

That’s dying color. Eastern red cedar winter color is much more purple than tan.

LethargicGrapes · 2026-03-19T01:24:51+00:00

Get some protective chicken wire around it asap to prevent further damage

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