Hi, im a newbie this is my first post. i wasnt 100% sure where to put but.

i have a lemon, orange, lime and some randon none fruiting citrus plant which are all being eaten by something. ive no idea what it is? below are some photos. even my peper plant is being eaten, can anyone help???

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007308.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007307.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007306.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007305.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007304.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007303.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007302.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...0082007301.jpg

On Aug 30, 9:34 pm, andy_con
wrote:
Hi, im a newbie this is my first post. i wasnt 100% sure where to put
but.

i have a lemon, orange, lime and some randon none fruiting citrus plant
which are all being eaten by something. ive no idea what it is? below
are some photos. even my peper plant is being eaten, can anyone
help???

I suspect you have more than one sort of bug/caterpillar doing damage
here. In mid-summer UK you could just put the citrus plants outside
and spray with diluted washing up liquid to discourage the infestors.
Leaving them outside will allow birds and ladybirds to pick off some
of the unwanted visitors. Not a cure but a considerable improvement.
Just remember to water them a bit more frequently than indoors and
they will thrive. And bring them in before any risk of frost.

[image:http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...082007306.jpg]

It looks to me from this picture like there is an infestation of red
spider on the older leaves (absolutely tiny ~0.1mm need a magnifying
glass to see the insects webs may be obvious). Silver pinprick damage
on old leaves and lack of vigour in new ones - the web might be
visible but you need a magnifying glass to see the pests.

BTW Don't put a recently sprayed plant in direct sunlight for a couple
of days. Wetting agents damage the surface waxes and the poor thing
can dessicate very quickly. I nearly killed a culinary Bay tree that
way.

Some mobile pest like meally bug is chewing at the leaves (leading to
deformed nibbled young leaves). Look under leaves for fluffy white
patches and treat with a small paintbrush dipped in meths. Same for
caterpillars. They are probably 1-2mm across.

Hope this helps - good hunting!

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Aug 30, 9:34 pm, andy_con
wrote:
Hi, im a newbie this is my first post. i wasnt 100% sure where to put
but.

i have a lemon, orange, lime and some randon none fruiting citrus plant
which are all being eaten by something. ive no idea what it is? below
are some photos. even my peper plant is being eaten, can anyone
help???

i keep seeing ear wigs on the plants and ants? could this be the problem, ive not seen anything else? i leave the plants outside all summer and am buying a mini green housing for the winter. i tried washup liquid yesterday, just some cheap tesco home brand stuff, i will check them when i get home from work.

[quote=Martin Brown;743920]
It looks to me from this picture like there is an infestation of red
spider on the older leaves (absolutely tiny ~0.1mm need a magnifying
glass to see the insects webs may be obvious). Silver pinprick damage
on old leaves and lack of vigour in new ones - the web might be
visible but you need a magnifying glass to see the pests.

what can i do to get rid of these bugs? can you buy a spray?

oh no i sprayed mine yesterday with washup liquid and left them out, there still out!!!

again can i buy a spray or something to stop them altogether?

Hope this helps - good hunting!

Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
andy_con writes:
|
| i keep seeing ear wigs on the plants and ants? could this be the
| problem, ive not seen anything else?

No. They are harmless.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"andy_con" wrote ((Snip))

i keep seeing ear wigs on the plants and ants? could this be the
problem, ive not seen anything else? i leave the plants outside all
summer and am buying a mini green housing for the winter. i tried
washup liquid yesterday, just some cheap tesco home brand stuff, i will
check them when i get home from work.

Ants suggests to me you also have Scale Insect on the plants, a very common
pest on Citrus. The Ants will be "milking" the insects for the honeydew.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

ok so what can i do?

i love my plants and really wana loose the bugs killing them

On 1/9/07 11:03, in article , "andy_con"
wrote:


Bob Hobden;744067 Wrote:
"andy_con" wrote ((Snip))-

i keep seeing ear wigs on the plants and ants? could this be the
problem, ive not seen anything else? i leave the plants outside all
summer and am buying a mini green housing for the winter. i tried
washup liquid yesterday, just some cheap tesco home brand stuff, i
will
check them when i get home from work.
-
Ants suggests to me you also have Scale Insect on the plants, a very
common
pest on Citrus. The Ants will be "milking" the insects for the
honeydew.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

ok so what can i do?

i love my plants and really wana loose the bugs killing them

Check out Googling on natural predators of these insects. We use them here
and they work. But they're not cheap and you must continue to use them
until the problem is cured and be prepared to use them again if it returns.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
andy_con writes:
|
| ok so what can i do?
|
| i love my plants and really wana loose the bugs killing them

If it's scale insects, scrape them off with a blunt knife. Tedious,
but it works.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 30 Aug, 21:34, andy_con
wrote:
Hi, im a newbie this is my first post. i wasnt 100% sure where to put
but.
i have a lemon, orange, lime and some randon none fruiting citrus plant
which are all being eaten by something. ive no idea what it is? below
are some photos. even my peper plant is being eaten, can anyone
help???

First I'm absolutely sure that you don't have scale insects because
you'd have seen them (and so would I on your pictures), they're flat,
as big as my little finger's nail, brown, and are seriously stuck on
the bark of the branches. There's also lots of sticky white substance
associated with them. You haven't mentioned that. You have aphids and
plant lice, hence the curled leaves but also the ants. It's too late
to do anything once the leaves have curled up. I would keep hosing the
aphids out and let the ants do their stuff or introduce predators. Are
your plant in a greenhouse with other plants?. Also the big chunks out
of the leaves look like a catterpilar's doing. It has now flown
away ... )