PLANT DOCTOR
Citrus Pest Watch
Hopefully you’ve finished your spring cleaning but now it’s time to check out that citrus tree you’ve got in your backyard.
Our plants put on lots of fast growth in the garden but so do the bugs good and bad.
Being pro-active is the best way to beat the pests that seem to plague citrus more than any other plant in the garden.
Some gardeners do this by spraying their citrus over the winter months with horticultural oil.
For a lot of insect pests, sprays are effective if you’ve timed it correctly, because as the pests mature or evolve into the next stage, sprays may become ineffective.
Let’s find out what to look out for. I'm talking with was Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au
PLAY Citrus Pest Watch_15th November 2017
Two types of pests to watch out for and for some states, the extra pest of fruit fly.
Group 1 is the sap suckers which include aphids, mites, mealybugs and the citrus stink bug.
The best time to hit these pests in Spring, particularly the citrus stink bug. The reason being that coming out of winter, the juveniles are small, pale green and susceptible to the oil sprays such as Eco Oil.
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Citrus pests photo M Cannon |
Group 2 are the chewing pests. such as citrus leaf miner and caterpillars. The leaf miner pest is actually a very small moth that lays its eggs on new leaf growth.
The hatching larvae then tunnel into the tissue causing the leaf disfigurement or curling and the silver trails.
Leaf miner can be organically controlled with pheremone traps that are hung in the trees.
As for the caterpillars, a lot of the will turn into beautiful butterflies, so decide what you would rather; a few chewed leaves or some orchard swallowtail butterflies?
If you have any questions about citrus pests either for me or
Steve, why not email us realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675
