hi all,

I am in Brisbane, Qld, Australia. I have recently used a homemade recipe for
white oil and sprayed my 3 small (about 1m tall) citrus trees with it for
leaf-miner (I have since read that leaf-miners are generally dormant in
winter anyway, but oh well, not to worry). The ingredients where 1 cup
vegetable oil, 1.5 cups water and a teaspoon of dish-washing liquid.

Since spraying with the oil about 2 weeks ago, I have noticed a considerable
amount of leaves have fallen from the trees and some small shoots on the
tahitian lime have shrivelled and 'burnt' after the application of the
spray?!

Understandable I am quite worried and have given all 3 trees a big drink of
4-Vital and an Organic liquid fertiliser and a dressing of dynamic lifter.
Is this the best course of action now?

Has anyone heard of this leaf drop in conjunction with a white oil spray?
What more can I do for the trees?

Thanks,
Mick

highly unlikely that mixture would do any harm, in my opinion

there have been some very cold nights in brisbane recently though

"MC" none wrote in message ...
hi all,

I am in Brisbane, Qld, Australia. I have recently used a homemade recipe
for
white oil and sprayed my 3 small (about 1m tall) citrus trees with it for
leaf-miner (I have since read that leaf-miners are generally dormant in
winter anyway, but oh well, not to worry). The ingredients where 1 cup
vegetable oil, 1.5 cups water and a teaspoon of dish-washing liquid.

Since spraying with the oil about 2 weeks ago, I have noticed a
considerable
amount of leaves have fallen from the trees and some small shoots on the
tahitian lime have shrivelled and 'burnt' after the application of the
spray?!

Understandable I am quite worried and have given all 3 trees a big drink
of
4-Vital and an Organic liquid fertiliser and a dressing of dynamic lifter.
Is this the best course of action now?

Has anyone heard of this leaf drop in conjunction with a white oil spray?
What more can I do for the trees?

Generally the only problems that can arise from a oil spray is spraying the
plant in the heat of the day, or in the morning of a hot day. Some brands of
spray oil (maybe all?) do warn not to spray when temps are likely to exceed
30degs cels. I assume the temp didn't get that high, or close, but if it did
it could possibly be the cause.
Only other problem is I have been told spraying both sides of all the leaves
can actually suffocate the leaves. I wasn't sure on this theory, but a few
weeks ago I checked my old tech notes, and it was a warning about it.
Other than those 2 possibilites, and with everything else being unchanged
(watering or lack of), then I have no idea.
Don't over water them, just keep the ground moist. Hopefully they will
recover.

Good luck

Thanks,
Mick

Thanks for your replies guys,

It certainly has been COLD in Brissy lately! Maybe not to southern
standards, but in an old Qlder that is designed for summer temps, lately it
has felt to me like it could snow at any time! It's colder at 10am inside
the house than out!!!

I did spray both side of the leaves, as I thought this was required for the
spray to be effective?

Oh well, fingers crossed ... I am trying my hardest not to kill them with
kindness ( overwatering). I planted them into quite a clay-based area of
the garden, so I presume the soil would 'hold' quite a bit of moisture?! I
dug a nice big hole to plant into though, backfilled with good soil and
built up the ground around each tree and mulched heavily with sawdust/manure
and then straw, so hopefully this was the correct procedure?!

Cheers again and any more advice would be welcome!
Mick


"Andrew G" wrote in message
...
Generally the only problems that can arise from a oil spray is spraying
the
plant in the heat of the day, or in the morning of a hot day. Some brands
of
spray oil (maybe all?) do warn not to spray when temps are likely to
exceed
30degs cels. I assume the temp didn't get that high, or close, but if it
did
it could possibly be the cause.
Only other problem is I have been told spraying both sides of all the
leaves
can actually suffocate the leaves. I wasn't sure on this theory, but a few
weeks ago I checked my old tech notes, and it was a warning about it.
Other than those 2 possibilites, and with everything else being unchanged
(watering or lack of), then I have no idea.
Don't over water them, just keep the ground moist. Hopefully they will
recover.

Good luck

"MC" none wrote in message ...
Thanks for your replies guys,

It certainly has been COLD in Brissy lately! Maybe not to southern
standards, but in an old Qlder that is designed for summer temps, lately
it
has felt to me like it could snow at any time! It's colder at 10am inside
the house than out!!!

Well I'm on the Mid North Coast, NSW, and my Fiance came from Brisbane. She
is finding the day temps here of around 23degs (though past few days lower)
seemingly cold, even after 4yrs of adjusting LOL.
Anyways, I doubt it has reached high 20's there, so I still guess that isn't
a problem.

I did spray both side of the leaves, as I thought this was required for
the
spray to be effective?

So did I, until recently. Though the main experience I've had with spray oil
(DC Tron Spray oil is what we use, a petroleum oil) is at work, I never
sprayed both sides of the leaves, simply due to it being impossible in the
situation we had to use it.
A workmate brought the subject up while we used it, on whether or not it
would suffocate the plant when sprayed to both sides, since it suffocates
selected bugs.
Another workmate said it did, he learnt it at Tech. It made me remember
something about it, and a look through my tech notes showed it can harm the
plant.
I too wondered how it can get all of the bugs targeted, then again, maybe
that's why repeat applications are sometimes needed?
Perhaps the oil can easily get to the miners through the top of the leaves?

Oh well, fingers crossed ... I am trying my hardest not to kill them with
kindness ( overwatering). I planted them into quite a clay-based area
of
the garden, so I presume the soil would 'hold' quite a bit of moisture?! I
dug a nice big hole to plant into though, backfilled with good soil and
built up the ground around each tree and mulched heavily with
sawdust/manure
and then straw, so hopefully this was the correct procedure?!

Sounds fine to me, as long as the sawdust had already broken down. ie was at
least a few months old before applying. Still, can't see it harming the
plant too much other than a Nitrogen deficiency, even then the straw mulch
would counteract that as long as it too was aged slightly (not green)

Cheers
Andrew

Cheers again and any more advice would be welcome!
Mick


"Andrew G" wrote in message
...
Generally the only problems that can arise from a oil spray is spraying
the
plant in the heat of the day, or in the morning of a hot day. Some
brands
of
spray oil (maybe all?) do warn not to spray when temps are likely to
exceed
30degs cels. I assume the temp didn't get that high, or close, but if it
did
it could possibly be the cause.
Only other problem is I have been told spraying both sides of all the
leaves
can actually suffocate the leaves. I wasn't sure on this theory, but a
few
weeks ago I checked my old tech notes, and it was a warning about it.
Other than those 2 possibilites, and with everything else being
unchanged
(watering or lack of), then I have no idea.
Don't over water them, just keep the ground moist. Hopefully they will
recover.

Good luck