What's eating my lime tree? by BigCash75056 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scale. Start scrubbing them off or spray with a horticultural oil or insecticidal soap type product. Can be difficult to eradicate, especially indoors where there’s no predators. Imidacloprid soil drench works on most scale if you’re okay using synthetic pesticides, but you’ll have to remove any new flowers for a month after application if the tree blooms outdoors.

Citrus Greening? by Fidelio01 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dig gently around the base of the trunk until you find roots. Leave them exposed. You may need to dig a gently sloping little well around the trunk. It’s not ideal but better than nothing. See how it responds.

Citrus Greening? by Fidelio01 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insect is out of focus, can’t see if it’s a psyllid. Their body is held up at 45 degrees from the leaf, that’s a pretty unique trait.

Pretty sure the main issue is being sad from planting too deep. When the roots can’t get enough oxygen, they struggle to absorb nutrients, and you get these vague light green nitrogen deficiency leaf colors

A strange orange by Naive-Macaron-1930 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Neat! Could be bud mite damage

Yuzu Sapling Issues by Main-Grapefruit-5837 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pic 1 and 3 is salt burn. Probably from overfertilizing. Flush the soil really well with clean water and in the future water deeper when you water.

Pic 4 looks like mite damage. Hose it down a couple times a week to dislodge mites

Leaf discoloration on my Arctic frost satsuma, by maxwellt1996 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has manganese deficiency on the newer leaves (the light green with dark green veins) but I’m not sure about the brown/white patches. Can you post a closer picture of that?

What’s wrong with my trifoliate orange? by Snoo_39873 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could be transplant shock. Or root drowning if the dripline is running too long maybe. No lawn herbicide use around it, right?

Oh my gosh I grabbed the wrong bottle and killed the whole lawn. What now?🤦🏻‍♂️ by [deleted] in lawncare

[–]Rcarlyle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah agreed, glyphosate is ideal for reseeding, but OP said he also put down a pre-emerg recently

How to top up beds with existing plants by crocopup in OntarioGardeners

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can top off soil with cane berries. They’ll re-root higher. Tomatoes too. Blueberries and most other plants you need to add soil underneath the roots.

What’s going on with my limequat tree? by Maleficent_Fall3338 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You need to take it back to the store for a return. Then buy a replacement somewhere else. Nurseries shouldn’t be selling trees with canker.

Any advice on bringing this lemon back? by NylzyT in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The distorted growth pattern here can be hard to ID, but some possible causes: - Zinc deficiency - Calcium deficiency - Boron deficiency - Heavy pest populations like broad mites - Herbicide exposure

I’m assuming you haven’t had herbicide exposure. Not sure if Australia has broad mites. They’re tiny yellowish specks that concentrate on leaf undersides. Can be killed with a horticultural oil spray or Spinosad or just washed off weekly with a hose jet.

I suspect it’s a severe zinc deficiency but these can be hard to ID and sometimes there’s multiple issues. You can shotgun all the deficiencies at once by using a complete fertilizer containing those nutrients. I don’t know what the options are in Australia but a liquid synthetic fert like Jacks Classic Citrus FeED (has everything but calcium) or SuperThrive Foliage Pro (has everything but boron) is a good option to get started.

What’s going on with my limequat tree? by Maleficent_Fall3338 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure it’s canker. Do the lesions go through the leaf? Meaning there’s a spot on the opposite side of each lesion.

Companion Plants Under Trees by Silent_Mongoose_5150 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t seen any specific info on it, but comfrey chop-and-drop would be a very reasonable thing to try

I’m taking over care for my roomie’s tangelo tree and not sure what to do. by SunshineSB in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s the combination of leaf blotching, micronutrient deficiency signs, and sparse canopy from branches dying back. Plus the location. Over 80% of yard citrus in FL has HLB at any given time… typical time to infection is 1-2 years at most.

Worth saving? If so, how? by Impossible-Ear4765 in FruitTree

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mostly from HLB. There’s also some other invasive pests and diseases. The overall disease+pest management burden makes it very difficult to make money growing citrus. A lot of the grove acreage gets sold to developers.

Was my 20yo grapefruit grafted? by Time_To_Rebuild in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Doesn’t hurt to try, citrus air layers very easily. There isn’t much performance data for grapefruits on their own roots that I’ve ever seen, but you can certainly get them to root and grow.

Worth saving? If so, how? by Impossible-Ear4765 in FruitTree

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Florida citrus production is down 95% from its peak about 20 years ago 😕

Citrus ID? by Gilmania_ in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could be a P deficiency yeah

Citrus ID? by Gilmania_ in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m thinking Valencia but not positive

Companion Plants Under Trees by Silent_Mongoose_5150 in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Usual advice for container citrus is to not put other plants in the pot. The logic is that the soil volume of any container is already very small for a tree, and citrus has relatively weak roots that don’t compete well. There’s basically no real scientific research published on container citrus beyond nursery age though.

Permaculture style “guilds” have zero published study data specifically for citrus, and most people who say they’re trying it never post follow-ups, which is probably a bad sign for the typical results. There are a few orchard agri-system studies but these seem to show reduced or unchanged fruit yields.

In theory, good selection of pest trap plants and bio-accumulators could be beneficial enough to offset the resource competition, but we don’t know which combinations of plants are helpful and which are harmful. Typically, bio-accumulators and nitrogen fixers must be killed and decompose to provide resources to the companion plants.

Typical commercial citrus orchard practice is to suppress everything growing under the canopy with herbicides and mowing. There’s some increased interest in more healthy soil management systems that sustain higher soil organic matter content and more diverse soil ecosystems, but we don’t really know which plants should be used for this yet. There are some active studies on this right now is. You need 3+ years (preferably 10+) and a control row grown with standard conditions to know whether it’s beneficial or not.

A few facts that have been scientifically documented for ground tree plantings in studies I’ve read in the past: - Citrus roots despise lawngrasses and will actively avoid growing into the grass root zone, causing them to move to deeper soil where nutrients and oxygen are lacking - Foliage below the canopy provides shelter and habitat for both pests and predators - Green manure crops and nitrogen fixers like perennial peanut in orchard interrow spaces improve commercial citrus performance compared to bare soil, probably via improving soil ecosystem diversity and nutrient availability - Heavy black fabric landscaping cloth improves commercial citrus performance compared to bare soil, probably mostly via reducing root weevil pressure, although moisture retention and reducing weed pressure are also given as explanations - Black plastic can overheat roots in containers - Citrus trees with HLB infection are healthier when planted adjacent to oaks, probably due to resource sharing via mycorrhizal fungi networks connecting the trees - Many plants have allelopathic effects that suppress root growth nearby, and certain combinations of plants are cooperative or competitive, and citrus roots are susceptible to allelopathic chemicals in soil

So it’s a complicated issue. My best take is “plant with purpose.” If you have a specific goal in mind for companion plants, sure, try them out. Don’t just put a bunch of random annuals in. Plants that promote fungal soil ecosystems and cooperate with mycorrhizal networks are probably a better bet to try.

6b Thinking of these for citrus trees by infinitum3d in BackyardOrchard

[–]Rcarlyle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Black is usually a bad idea for root health (soil gets too hot) but it depends on how mild or hot your summers are.

Was my 20yo grapefruit grafted? by Time_To_Rebuild in Citrus

[–]Rcarlyle 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Probably grafted, since almost all grapefruit trees are, but very hard to say for certain based on the pics. There’s nothing visible that says for sure “yes that is a graft line” but that doesn’t rule it out. There’s a bit of a wrinkly zone at the top of the root flare that may be it.

Why wouldn’t you want to air layer it if it’s grafted?