I purchased a young meyer lemon tree from a local chain store and it came with a lot of buds. I did not remove them (even though a lot of websites suggest that to help a young plant grow) and I just let them grow and now I have about 10 lemons on the plant. A few months ago during the hot summer, I discovered syrup like substance on most of the leaves and something like sugar or crystal substance were also found on the back of the leaves. I sprayed the plant with a 3-in-1 pesticide (for fugus, mites etc.) and that seemed to have taken care of the problem. Now the weather is getting a lot cooler and the same thing is happening again. And this time, I also see bug-like creature (with long white legs) on the leaves too. Can someone tell me what is going on? I do not want to lose the plant and the lemons on it are turning yellow...
Citrus plants are very attractive to a number of insect problems - sucking insects like various scale, whiteflies and aphids are most common and all will produce that syrupy-like substance, known as honeydew. Is your plant indoors or out? If outside, just hosing it down periodically with a sharp stream of water should help, as moist, humid environments are not to these guys liking and the water does have an ability to dislodge them as well. Indoors, I would limit my spraying to something like Neem oil rather than a commercial synthetic pesticide that might carry a much higher degree of toxicity to you. And I'd also think twice about what I was spraying if I intended to eat the fruit. Neem is quite safe.
FWIW, I was just in SoCal and had the opportunity to examine several citrus trees in a client's garden - they were all heavily infested with scale, older leaves quite covered with sooty mold and yet they were still producing lots of lemons and limes.
Mine bore fruit from the beginning. At first the fruit 1st appeared in Jan/feb/march and ended in Nov/Dec. Now it looks like it will bear fruit year round. I have some bigger than golf balls, some brand new babies and lots of flowers. I use the gradular citrus fertilizer about every three months. I usually buy shultz, but bought the miracle grow citrus shake and feed last time (at Walmart) and have lots of blooms. Mine is a meyers Tree, not dwarf and is potted. I live near san antonio in New Braunfels. You have my email now if you want to reach me. anntl@satx.rr.com
