White plaque on a tangerine tree. Scale insects and indoor lemons

One of the most common and dangerous pests There are aphids on indoor lemons and tangerines. It most often affects the plant during the period of active growth of young shoots, settling on them and quickly sucking the juice out of them. By doing this, it slows down its development; you can also observe that citrus leaves dry out and fall off, and young shoots dry out. In addition, aphids on indoor plants are dangerous carriers of various viral diseases which can lead to their death.

Appearance of aphids on a young shoot

Aphids on homemade lemons are usually insects small size, about 0.5 millimeters, light green, shade merging with young shoots. Larvae are lighter in color, adults are darker. Because of this color, it is difficult to immediately notice and take appropriate measures. This insect reproduces incredibly quickly; 15-25 generations can be born in less than a season.

Aphid on a plant leaf

In the earliest stage of aphid infestation, this insect can be seen on back side young leaves, on the ovary. If you see at least one such representative on a lemon and you have a suspicion that aphids live on the lemon, there should be no questions about how to get rid of it, you should take action immediately.

Adult aphids lay eggs in large numbers

Aphids - reasons for appearing on lemons

The leaf plate becomes deformed due to aphid activity

The signal can be deformed and sticky leaf plates and ends of shoots, the reasons for their appearance are aphids on lemon. In spring, the larvae appear first and are the first to be noticed. They settle in in large groups mainly on the young trunk and leaves. This is due to the peculiarities of their structure; they feed by sucking the juice from plants through the proboscis; in aphid larvae it is not strong enough, so it is much more convenient for them to use young citrus shoots. The larvae are very voracious, as they need energy for growth and development.

Aphids with wings can significantly expand the source of infection

But if the situation is neglected, then adult individuals will appear, which can lay a huge number of eggs in short time. When there are a lot of aphids, they begin to develop individuals with wings, which can migrate from plant to plant, lay eggs and increase the focus of infection.

Aphids: how to fight and what to do?

If it does appear on your home flowers, don’t be too upset. a large number of proven and practically guaranteed ways to get rid of aphids on lemons.

You can treat citrus for aphids at home different ways, depending on the degree of damage.

Colony of adult aphids on the back of a leaf

In the most radical way, after which the question should no longer arise: How to fight aphids on homemade lemons? - are industrial chemicals broad action. We use the following tools:

Fitoverm- one of the most widespread and proven as a highly effective remedy. It can be used both in the greenhouse and outdoors. If you take precautions, it can also be used at home. The wide-spectrum drug, in addition to aphids, also destroys other pests on lemons: spider mites, thrips. Treatment should be carried out several times at weekly intervals, as new populations may emerge from the eggs laid.

Fitoverm is a common and reliable means from aphids

Multi-purpose pest repellent – ​​Iskra Zolotaya

Some home gardening enthusiasts describe using dichlorvos against aphids on indoor citrus trees. The product is very aggressive and dangerous for the plant itself, so it should be used with great caution. The plant is placed in a bag and a cotton wool or napkin treated with dichlorvos is placed there for several hours. After completing the procedure, the leaves are thoroughly washed with water.
If the situation is very advanced and the aphid colony has already completely filled the entire crown of the plant, then you should apply mechanical method pest removal. The soil in the plant pot is covered with a bag or cellophane and the crown is washed with water and soapy water and cleaned with a soft brush.

Good old Dichlorvos

Adviсe

In nature, aphids are in symbiosis with ants, who feed on their sweet secretions, as if “grazing” them. Ants protect aphid colonies from pests and can transfer the larvae to new plants. When destroying aphids, you should also destroy ants.

After carrying out the procedures, a few days later you should spray the citrus crown with Epin to level out the stress suffered by the plant.

Folk methods of fighting aphids on lemon and tangerine

Aphids appeared on plants much earlier than chemical industry, so there are several folk ways fight against aphids on lemon, which help, if not completely destroy it, then greatly reduce its population. They can also be used as preventive methods for treating plants against pests of this type.

"Ladybug" to the rescue

Aphids have enemies in the natural food chain, that is, insects that feed on them. This is everyone's favorite "Ladybug". If you ensure that it lives next to plants, then the aphid will be destroyed in a natural way for nature.

"Ladybug" will gladly rid you of aphids

Garlic and Geranium will protect against aphids

Aphids cannot tolerate strong odors. Natural ways to repel aphids include planting garlic, peppermint or geraniums in close proximity to lemon and tangerine trees. The measure is rather preventive, since it may rather scare away aphids from your plants, but not destroy them.

The pungent smell of geranium repels aphids

Pest ash

A well-proven folk remedy to kill aphids is the use of wood ash. It is either sprayed on the leaves of plants, or mixed with a soap solution, washed or treated with leaves. Ash is also a good preventive measure for plants against root rot.

Zola is beautiful folk remedy from aphids

May the force be with you in the fight against aphids and may you have good harvests!

We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with ways to combat other pests on homemade lemons and tangerines, such as Spider mite and Trips in our article.

Lemon is a delicate plant that is loved by many pests. We have already discussed - it's time to talk about pests.

Shchitovka

Perhaps the most common pest of lemons. These are insects that appear as small brownish spots on the underside of leaves. As a rule, scale insects settle on weakened plants, and you need to fight them as quickly and persistently as possible. If scale insects have moved to top part leaf, which means there are too many of them in the near future homemade lemon may die. Sticky secretions are also the work of scale insects. As a rule, at this stage the plant dies; usually control measures in this case are ineffective.

Fighting methods:

1. You can fight scale insects with a soap mixture - for this, take transformator and green soap in a ratio of 4:1, pour 20 g of the soap mixture into 1 liter of water, and then spray the lemon with this solution. You can treat the lemon with the same mixture using a toothbrush - this method is even more effective, since you mechanically remove pests from the plant.

2. 50 g of tobacco leaves are poured into 1 liter of water. After two days, you can wash the lemon leaves with this infusion. The procedure will need to be repeated several times.

3. Based on 1 liter of water - 4 g of green soap and 2 g of anabasine sulfate. You can wash or spray the lemon with this mixture, and after a day give it a shower. clean water. The procedure is repeated after a week.

4. Blend the onion with a blender until a homogeneous mass is formed. Make “compresses” from the pulp on the affected parts of the plant, and then wash off.

Chervets

The scale insect is an insect ranging in size from three to six millimeters. Signs of lemon insect damage are sticky discharge on the leaves, their yellowing and falling off. The control method is the same as point 1 in the list of methods for eliminating scale insects.

Small insects of green or black color.

Fighting methods:

1. Similar to point 2 in methods of combating scale insects.

2. Chop the peeled garlic cloves and add water. After a day, the infusion can be used to spray lemon.

3. Spraying with any of the infusions - hot pepper, nightshade, yarrow - will also help fight aphids on lemon.

Spider mite

Is there a cobweb on the underside of the leaf? Are the leaves turning yellow, drying out, curling, or do they have white dots on them? Most likely, your lemon is damaged by spider mites. It often starts in dry air and high temperature. For prevention, you can bathe lemon in warm water or spray frequently. To combat ticks, use the tips below:

Fighting methods:

1. Bathing lemon in warm water.

2. Spraying with infusion of yarrow, nightshade, dandelion; tobacco, garlic and onion peel also great for controlling spider mites.

3. Pollinate the plant with sulfur.

Paduras

Start on wet soil- Your lemon is most likely getting over-watered. Paduras are white insects that hop around in the lemon pot.

Control methods are to let the earthen clod dry, and then sprinkle the soil with Persian chamomile powder.

Earthworms

Found in lemon soil mixture if you overwater it.

Control methods are to pour water on the lemon, heated to exactly 40°C, and when the worms come out, collect them. Repeat the procedure.

Pesticide

To control pests of indoor lemons, you can use ready-made pesticides - in flower shops they are presented in a wide variety. But when using these tools, it is important to know a few rules for working with them:

1. Work only with gloves.

2. Before starting work, cover the soil with cloth or paper to prevent toxic chemicals from getting into the soil mixture.

3. Flowers and young fruits must be covered—spraying agents must not get on them under any circumstances!

4. If it's hot, postpone spraying.

And let your plant always be healthy - most importantly, lemon pests must be destroyed in a timely and persistent manner!

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Until recently, a healthy lemon tree weakens and grows worse, the leaves on young shoots become smaller. With such symptoms, it’s time for the plant owner to think that the cause is scale insects on the lemon, and how to get rid of the uninvited guest?

How to detect the presence of this pest on indoor tree? Unlike other insects that crawl or fly, the adult scale insect is practically motionless. But this does not stop her from causing serious damage to especially young plants.

At first glance, it is not at all easy to detect a scale insect on a lemon, because it looks like a small waxy growth ranging in size from 3 to 5 mm. Depending on the species, pests are located on the back of the leaves, on the side shoots and trunk, that is, wherever they can tightly attach to the surface.

Without proper attention, scale insects on lemons quickly multiply and, sucking juices from shoots and leaves, weaken the plant.

Why do lemon leaves turn yellow? There are several reasons for this. During their life, insects secrete a sticky substrate that gradually covers everything around them. Honeydew not only helps detect the pest, it:

• closes the stomata on the leaf blades and thereby disrupts the process of tissue respiration;
• becomes a breeding ground for sooty fungus, whose presence is revealed by characteristic black spots on leaf blades and young stems.

Disruption of the photosynthesis process, depletion due to feeding of an ever-increasing number of pests, as well as the addition of concomitant infections - these are the main factors leading to yellowing, wilting and loss of foliage. After the leaves comes the turn of green shoots. If lemon diseases are associated with insects, the plant is in danger of dying.

To get rid of scale insects on lemon, you need to detect them as early as possible and remove adult insects mechanically.

Pests settle in colonies located on stems and the backs of leaves. Sometimes scale insects can be detected on the ovaries. Therefore, these areas are subject to especially thorough inspection.

The attachment points of the scale insects on the lemon are wiped with an alcohol-containing liquid, and then the entire plant is treated with a systemic insecticide. One procedure is not enough. Since the plant may have pests in different stages of development, the treatment is repeated a couple more times with an interval of 7–10 days.

As preventive measures, a citrus grower should:

• monitor the cleanliness of the soil under the plant;
• timely trim dead and weakened shoots, especially those that attract pests;
• treat cuts and other wounds with garden varnish;
• arrange a month-long quarantine for all new plants or crops that have returned to the windowsill from a summer “vacation” in the garden.

By adhering to these simple rules, you can not only seriously reduce the risk of scale insects appearing on lemons, but also protect your green pets from attacks by other dangerous insects:

• false scale insects;
• miner flies;
• aphids;
• gall flies;
• mealybugs;
• spider mite.

A decrease in growth rates, yellowing and falling of leaves, and refusal to bear fruit are caused by violation of the conditions in which citrus fruits are kept.

For example, excessive dry air in the room leads to the proliferation of spider mites. The microscopic pest is no less dangerous than the scale insect on lemon, but you can get rid of it in similar ways, using home remedies and modern acaricides. True, it is important to correct care errors.

In addition to insects and mites, harmful fungi and pathogenic bacteria attack the health of lemons. These pathogens of lemon diseases are spread by drops of water, wind, or fall onto healthy specimens from already infected plants. The created conditions of detention play a significant role in the spread and rate of reproduction of microorganisms.

And on the leaves and fruits of the affected lemon, brown, black or gray spots, the tissues on which gradually die:

• the foliage withers and falls;
• shoots stop growing, become weak, non-viable;
• fruits lose quality or fall off at the ovary stage.

Diseases of homemade lemon caused by pathogenic microflora and fungi can be treated with fungicides, but it is very important to take care of the crop in order and return it to proper conditions. In order for a homemade lemon to recover faster after an illness, all buds and flowers, as well as unripe fruits, are removed from it. Be sure to carry out sanitary pruning and feed after completion of treatment.

Video about a simple way to combat scale insects on lemon

It is not so easy to detect spider mites on lemons: they settle on the underside of the leaf, the size adult- no more than 1-2 mm.

There are several varieties of mites that damage plants. You should know that all of them are not insects, they belong to the order of spiders, so remedies against the former may not work. The common spider mite most often lives on indoor plants - this pest is omnivorous, affecting both citrus fruits and roses, dracaenas, fuchsias, and palm trees.

On citrus fruits there is also the Atlantic spider mite, which, in addition to lemons and tangerines, loves palm trees, and the red spider mite, which settles on callas, orchids and nightshades. The latter variety is very prolific, and the higher the air temperature, the more actively it lays eggs. In the cold it hardly reproduces. Can't stand cold showers. The Atlantic pest is characterized by increased resistance and is very tenacious even in high humidity, which other varieties do not like.

• insecticides;
• irradiation of the plant with a UV lamp;
• pyrethrum infusion (2-3 g per 1 liter of water).

Prevention and home remedies

All ticks are poorly tolerated wet air, therefore frequent spraying, periodic warm shower for plants - a good preventive measure. Timely removal of faded buds and old yellowed leaves may be useful. Mite eggs can retain live larvae for five years, so even with the apparent complete destruction of pests, there is always a risk that they will infect a plant or a collection of crops. Therefore, it makes sense to monitor the sterility of the soil when replanting a flower or washing its roots.

Another, albeit indirect, method of prevention is healthy plants with strong immunity.

Conditions suitable for lemon, sufficient lighting, timely replanting and pruning, periodic spraying with stimulants (Epin) will ensure that pests, even if they exist, will not be able to cause significant harm to the plant simply because the walls of the vessels are strong, elastic and quickly regenerated. Temporary or long-term disruption of care ( withered leaves, heat, dryness, draft) - and mites quickly occupy the weakened plant.

It is not always possible to use strong drugs at home, for example, there may be children in the house or it is not possible to ventilate the room well. Please note: no “home” method can guarantee complete destruction, since the mites are very small. The following will help to partially cope with the pest on the lemon tree:

Various drugs

Eat general rules for all drugs:

About the tools themselves:

Very poisonous drugs include those containing carbosulfan; it is better not to use them (Marshal drug).

Preparations in powder form do not always “stick” to plants well, so you can first spray the affected areas with stimulants (it is advisable to combine them with acaricides, that is, the above drugs), for example Epin or Zircon, and then treat them with powder.

Biological method

The only enemy spider pest is a predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis. Its main and almost only food is spider mites. This predator is completely safe for humans, pets and plants. Using a mite against its kind is easy and pleasant; there is no need to waste time on tedious running around with spraying, soap, wrapping plants with film or washing clothes after treatment. In a day, the predator is able to find and eat 5 mites or 10 eggs, and it works ahead of the curve; spider mites reproduce more slowly. True, as soon as the entire population of spider mites dies, the predator also dies for lack of food.

Types of predators

There are two types of predators:

1. Phytoseiulus. It reproduces very quickly; the more active hunters are females, who are able to dine on more than 20 adult spider mites per day, while simultaneously laying 2-6 eggs. The females are quite mobile; having eaten all the pests in the accessible area, they move further. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are also considered the only food for the spider mite colony. Phytoseiulus loves high humidity air and average temperatures. The number of predators is calculated by eye, depending on how heavily infested the tree is and what size it is. For mild damage, 10 or 20 ticks will be enough, for medium damage, from 30 to 50 individuals will be required.
2. Amblyseius. It feeds not only on ticks, but also on thrips. It is very popular among greenhouse owners abroad. The only drawback of Amblyseius is that it is weakly capable of searching, that is, it feeds where it is planted. Therefore, it should be placed in close proximity to the colony. In addition, the density of predators and prey should be observed. Amblyseius is usually used for prevention.

The arsenal of methods to combat ticks is wide; it is most effective to use their combinations. If the collection of citrus fruits is large, it is worth considering biological methods, as the safest, most effective and least troublesome.

Indoor lemons are no longer exotic. Very easy to care for, they delight not only with year-round greenery, but also from time to time with real fruits.

Spider mites on lemons do not immediately reveal themselves. A tiny insect, no more than a millimeter in length, reveals itself by leaving traces of its vital activity - a thin cobweb on the foliage and trunks of plants. The most favorite habitats are the undersides of leaves. The pest itself is red, and its larvae are green.

Both of them cause significant harm to indoor lemons - they feed on the juice of the plant. As a result, the citrus suffers from a lack of liquid and minerals, and the foliage begins to turn yellow and fall off. Considering how quickly the pest multiplies, you can lose not only your favorite lemon, but also other houseplants: The mite infects neighboring flowers quite quickly.

How to remove spider mites

As soon as a spider mite is discovered on a lemon, control measures should be taken immediately.

Chemicals

There are many insecticidal preparations against domestic citrus pests. Any department for flower growers can offer a huge number of them.

Which one should you give preference to?

The most popular “chemicals” are:

• Demitan. A product with phenazachine as an active substance of contact action, preserving protective properties up to 2 months. Demitane is toxic by inhalation. That is why processing is carried out, observing precautions and using means personal protection(respirator and gloves). Toxic to fish, low toxic to warm-blooded animals;
• . The spraying solution is prepared in the following proportions: for each liter of water – a milliliter of the drug. Actellik kills not only ticks, but aphids;
• . A low-toxic product that is effective not only against mites, but also against a number of other household pests on flowers. Treatment is carried out several times at intervals of 3-4 days.

Traditional methods

Chemicals can quickly kill pests on lemons. But if the tree is fruit-bearing, if there are fruits on it, such treatment can be dangerous. If a spider mite appears on a lemon, how to fight it with folk remedies without wasps?

When a spider mite appears on a lemon, how to get rid of it without treatment? The insect doesn't like high humidity, and if you move the plant to a cooler and less dry place, regularly water and spray with water, the pest will disappear by itself.

Conclusion

Very often spider mites appear on indoor lemons; not all gardeners know how to deal with them. But the belief that the fight against this pest is incredibly difficult is wrong. It is quite possible to get rid of a tick, the main thing is to choose the right method.