i have a 12 year old meyer lemon tree, bought it last year, we have it in our conservatory, south facing
at the moment we have 6 yellowish lemons & 3 green ones on it, about 150 flowers on it with dark green leafs too, though the odd dried up curly leaf has fallen, i do the water testing with a finger,
but ive just noticed on some of the stems is what looks like very small cotton buds? i used a cocktail stick to gently remove it & it pulls away in long threads, its like holding cotton between your fingers & stretching it?
ive also now noticed its also on the top of the lemons where its attatched to the branch, what is this?
please help as i cant find anything to do with this in my books

"debbie_7155" wrote in message
...

i have a 12 year old meyer lemon tree, bought it last year, we have it
in our conservatory, south facing
at the moment we have 6 yellowish lemons & 3 green ones on it, about
150 flowers on it with dark green leafs too, though the odd dried up
curly leaf has fallen, i do the water testing with a finger,
but ive just noticed on some of the stems is what looks like very small
cotton buds? i used a cocktail stick to gently remove it & it pulls away
in long threads, its like holding cotton between your fingers &
stretching it?
ive also now noticed its also on the top of the lemons where its
attatched to the branch, what is this?
please help as i cant find anything to do with this in my books


--
debbie_7155

It's mealy bug/scale insect. Inside the cotton like ball you will find a
small pink sap sucking insect.
This site tells you more about it-I do not know if their product is any use
http://www.greengardener.co.uk/mealy.htm

"debbie_7155" wrote in message
...

i have a 12 year old meyer lemon tree, bought it last year, we have it
in our conservatory, south facing
at the moment we have 6 yellowish lemons & 3 green ones on it, about
150 flowers on it with dark green leafs too, though the odd dried up
curly leaf has fallen, i do the water testing with a finger,
but ive just noticed on some of the stems is what looks like very small
cotton buds? i used a cocktail stick to gently remove it & it pulls away
in long threads, its like holding cotton between your fingers &
stretching it?
ive also now noticed its also on the top of the lemons where its
attatched to the branch, what is this?
please help as i cant find anything to do with this in my books


--
debbie_7155




Most likely mealy bugs. The insects may be covered in a white
cotton wool like substance, although they can come in other
colours as well.

There are pictures of the insects on here.

http://www.biopol.nl/UK/MealyBugs.htm

The standard remedies include dabbing them with methylayted
spirit, while others claim a soapy insecticide - i.e
dilute washing up liquid can work. More info on here -

http://ipmofalaska.homestead.com/files/mealybugs.html

Mealy bugs can be a particular problem on citrus and it's most
likely your plant was already hosting eggs when you bought
it last year. They can be a real problem if allowed to get
out of hand, and so regular inspection, especially the underside
of leaves, and treatment where necessary, is advisable.


michael adams

....

"michael adams"wrote after...

"debbie asked
i have a 12 year old meyer lemon tree, bought it last year, we have it
in our conservatory, south facing
at the moment we have 6 yellowish lemons & 3 green ones on it, about
150 flowers on it with dark green leafs too, though the odd dried up
curly leaf has fallen, i do the water testing with a finger,
but ive just noticed on some of the stems is what looks like very small
cotton buds? i used a cocktail stick to gently remove it & it pulls away
in long threads, its like holding cotton between your fingers &
stretching it?
ive also now noticed its also on the top of the lemons where its
attatched to the branch, what is this?
please help as i cant find anything to do with this in my books

Most likely mealy bugs. The insects may be covered in a white
cotton wool like substance, although they can come in other
colours as well.

There are pictures of the insects on here.

http://www.biopol.nl/UK/MealyBugs.htm

The standard remedies include dabbing them with methylayted
spirit, while others claim a soapy insecticide - i.e
dilute washing up liquid can work. More info on here -

http://ipmofalaska.homestead.com/files/mealybugs.html

Mealy bugs can be a particular problem on citrus and it's most
likely your plant was already hosting eggs when you bought
it last year. They can be a real problem if allowed to get
out of hand, and so regular inspection, especially the underside
of leaves, and treatment where necessary, is advisable.

Could also be Scale Insect at the breeding stage but in that case you would
see the old brown scales within the woolly stuff.
Scale Insect is probably the most common Citrus infestation. Certainly is
with me, and I just blast it off with a sprayer pumped up to max filled with
Bio Insecticide (made from Rape Seed Oil).

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

thanks everyone who replied to me,
Bob, i think you could be right to what you said, as i did forget to mention inside the cotton like thing there were like brown bits inside?
but only in a couple of what i saw
i will tomorrow get right on top of it,
will the lemons still be ok to eat? as some of it is right at the tip on the lemon,where the stem is joined to the lemon

ive just checked the links here & yes it definatly is mealy bugs..i will have to get some stuff to spray it tomorrow, as long as it doesnt harm the fruit

debbie_7155 writes

debbie_7155 Wrote:
thanks everyone who replied to me,
Bob, i think you could be right to what you said, as i did forget to
mention inside the cotton like thing there were like brown bits
inside?
but only in a couple of what i saw
i will tomorrow get right on top of it,
will the lemons still be ok to eat? as some of it is right at the tip
on the lemon,where the stem is joined to the lemon

ive just checked the links here & yes it definatly is mealy bugs..i
will have to get some stuff to spray it tomorrow, as long as it doesnt
harm the fruit


The lemons will be fine to eat if you wipe the mealy bug off. I would be
very doubtful indeed about eating lemons after I had sprayed the plant
with any pesticide.

--
Kay