Are there squiggly gray lines on the leaves? If so, it's citrus leaf miner.

Kristopher

Was it recently purchased and re-potted?

Did you follow the directions on the fertilizer package?

Josh

Well, I used only one Miracle-gro and a minimal amount of general fertilizer. There are also many small black ants on these citrus plants...This symptom of curling / white stripped leaves also occurs with my other 2 Kumquat plants in their pots. Here is a close up picture on the leaves...Is this leaf miner, please help confirm.

Well, I used only one Miracle-gro and a minimal amount of general fertilizer. There are also many small black ants on these citrus plants...This symptom of curling / white stripped leaves also occurs with my other 2 Kumquat plants in their pots. Here is a close up picture on the leaves...Is this leaf miner, please help confirm.

{{!gwi}}

Yes, definitely leaf miner!

Kristopher

Thanks Kristopher. I just used Bayer Insect Control and hope it helps saving my plants.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/10/10095a92-5ed4-44f3-a400-97ee192b2c41.pdf

HAVE YOU TRIED A SPRAY TO FEED? I JUST PURCHASED ALASKA FISH FERTILIZER (5-1-1) TO TEST ON A FEW SATSUMA'S (WE HAVE 600); HEARD IT WAS GOOD AS A NATURAL PESTICIDE AND FOOD.

HAS ANYONE SPRA YED CITRUS USING ALASKA FISH 5-1-1?

Citrus lead miner, larve of small whitish moth. they lay their eggs on the new leaves. i spray once a week when the new growth emerges. Spinosad is a great spray.There are several other that work well

Message should have read citrus leaf miner instead of lead miner, my mistake.

Houston, this is Citrus Leafminer, and the damage is done. You can stop further damage, but the affected leaves are damaged. Now, this is not fatal, it is mostly just a cosmetic issue, so not to worry. You now know when CLM hits in your area, so next year, be sure to put down Bayer Advanced about 2 weeks before now (say, early June/late May), and your trees will be protected. Don't worry about the ugly leaves, leave them on the tree as your young trees need all their leaves right now to generate energy for the tree. For those who do not want to use Imidacloprid, you can spray with a combination of Spinosad and a hort oil (like Volck or Neem oil), every 3 weeks during the season. Just do not use hort oils if your temps threaten to go above 85 degrees. Which is nearly every day now, in Texas.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aggie Hort: Citrus Leafminer

Actually, Patty, it's way over 85ð every day here. It was officially 107ð yesterday, a new record!

Houston, those Citrus Leaf Miners have been around for a while now. You can either use the Imidacloprid like Patty says, or use Spinosad one week and Neem oil the next week, alternating the two, for several weeks, while they are actively laying their eggs, which as you can see is right now. The TAMU article doesn't give an exact spray schedule, but that's what TreeSeach Farms recommends, and they grow most of the citrus that are sold here, and have researched varieties that will be healthy and productive here. You need to alternate the two so the CLM won't become resistant to either. If you only use Spinosad, then eventually resistant CLM will show up.

I haven't treated them at all, and my citrus all look bad, but they are still productive.

Citrus doesn't need fertilizing very often, I do it about once a year. They don't need to be fertilized when they're newly planted, it can damage the roots (this goes for any plant). But please don't use Miracle Gro. Are you close to Southwest Fertilizer, at Bissonnet and Renwick? They have two different citrus fertilizers. And they have some organics that will work well on citrus, too, if you prefer that. Buchanan's in the Heights will also have citrus fertilizer, and so will RCW, which is on the northwest side of the Beltway.

And in our area, you shouldn't let it produce fruit the first year. It needs to spend a year making a strong root system, rather than focusing its energy on fruit. You'll be rewarded in the future if you do this with large harvests. I have a satsuma and it is about 6 years old and I'm getting about 15-20 fruit every year now. It's hard to pick those small fruit off, believe me, but it's very rewarding in the future.

My Satsuma is in its first year at my house. It's 4 or 5 feet tall and has maybe ten fruits forming. Here it is middle of April in Houston and it has hardly grown. Leaves are curling, not much new growth. Now it does only get 3.5 - 4.0 hours of direct sun. What is theprognosis?

Is this Satsuma planted in ground, or in a container? How do you fertilize it and what is the soil like?

Planted in the ground last fall, where I pulled a Gardenia bush out.. Soil is clay, with some potting mix. I've added some blood meal, soil has lots of phosphorous, No bugs that I can see.

Post back in a week or so and let us know how the blood meal is working