I believe that is cottony cushion scale insects. Unfortunately I don't know how to treat for them but I'm sure someone here will! Also if it were my tree, I would rip it out and put a new tree in that doesn't have rootstock growth that large. Just my opinion!

Kristopher

This post was edited by krismast on Mon, Mar 18, 13 at 18:25

It does appear to be scale; and if it is just on one limb, you can remove it by hand, or with a swab dipped in alcohol.

Your tree is not likely half lime and half lemon; it is more likely half lime and half sour orange (rootstock). Cut off the sucker; it will never produce decent fruit.

Thanks so much for the alcohol tip! We'll stop by the store and pick some up tonight! We still live in the desert, but this house is in zone 19, so we stay a couple nights a week at a motel while the remodel happens.

I'm including a photo of the sucker. I don't know what it is, but there are no thorns anywhere on the graft or the sucker, and the sucker produces really tasty lemons! I just walked back down the hill and discovered a tag on this old tree. It's a Bearss Lime, and I have no clue what the sucker is, but it produces an abundance of juicy good fruit too!

The funny thing is, both fruits are kind of half green, striped with yellow. Then some are all green and some all yellow, but there are those striped ones. They taste like lime and are green inside.

Suzi

This post was edited by desertdance on Mon, Mar 18, 13 at 20:32

Well, it could be a Bearss Lime on Rough Lemon rootstock. Remember, limes do turn yellow when they're actually ripe. Just that commercially, limes are picked before they're competely ripe, which is why they're still green :-) I like my limes riper, so I let them start to turn yellow before I pick them. If you like the "lemons", then you can keep the rootstock sucker. You'll know if the fruit is a lemon or lime by scraping the skin. Both will have their own respective distinctive smell - either lemony or lime.

Patty S.

Thanks Patty!

I'll have a dozen more questions on here, I'm sure! There are several citrus trees on the property!

Tackling a different one today AFTER we take care of that scale issue!

Suzi

also get rid of the fallen fruits under your trees.

If those things are soft, they're mealy bugs. I get them sometimes on my citrus and pine trees. Easy to get rid of. I just use a water nozzle to blast them off, Once in a while, they return, but it takes a while.

These are not mealybugs. Cottony cushion scale is very difficult to control...and can lead to the demise of citrus if left unchecked. Your good image shows a number of female scales carrying full egg sacs around with them. Each sac holds many hundreds of bright red eggs. Tear open one and take a look for yourself.

After the eggs hatch, the 'crawlers '(hatchlings) take off and go exploring....as a matter of fact, this particular scale stays mobile. Early instar stages look entirely different from their highly recognizable egg parents, which makes their control even more difficult. Hand wiping with alcohol a nearly futile option. I believe I see one of the earlier nymphs in the picture...at 3:00 o'clock just to the right of the adults. The younger crawlers are much too small to observe easily.

You should do a bit of research that you know what cottony cushion scale insects look like in all stages. Also important is recognizing the beneficial critters that usually do a great job of control for us. A species of ladybug, the Vedalia beetle is the most important predator of these pests. There are no good chemical controls.

This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Tue, Mar 19, 13 at 18:18

Well, we smashed every egg sack we could find with a paper towel soaked in alcohol. We found a ton of those scale sacs, and destroyed them all. They are in the outgoing trash.

Thanks for all the help!

Suzi

Suzi, just so you know, Rhizo is our resident entomology expert (amongst other expert areas). You can take Rhizo's recommendations to the bank :-) Good luck with your property, I know it's a big undertaking, but I know when you have things all cleaned up, and spiffed up, it will be spectacular!

Patty S.