The Lemon Tree Update
About three months ago I told you all about the nightmare we were having with our lemon tree because of the ants problem we have out here in country bumpkinland. I got some really kind and valuable advice from many of you in the comments section of that post, so before I write any further, I just wanted to say thank you for that - @denmarkguy, @weisser-rabe & @charter!
At that time we went out looking for the neem oil locally, but were only able to locate a product called OLEUM which at the advice of both the local garden centre as well as a local agriculture chain after showing them the pictures of the level of scale we were dealing with as well as the size of the lemon tree - would be a FAR better choice in getting the problem under control before the tree potentially suffocated completely. To give those of you who did not see or read that post, an idea of how bad the scale was... here are two pictures from that time...
Needless to say, the problem was out of control. So OLEUM it was, alongside a new 5 litre agricultural pressure sprayer. The first treatment we gave to the tree was a bit of a laugh actually, because we could not have picked a worse day to do it. The wind was pumping and so the spray was going everywhere - mostly onto us - so at least we know we were safe from scale in the the near future haha! Anyhooo, lol - I am not entirely sure how effective our first dose was, but it was good fun nonetheless. We then did another spray about a month down the line and then a third one now recently.
I am thrilled to say that whilst the tree still looks incredibly sad and has a long way to go until full recovery, there has definitely been a marked improvement and even some new growth on the predominantly "smothered and dead" side of the tree. The level of scale on the existing lemons has also diminished significantly. The product detail did say that that it may take weeks before the dead scale actually falls off, so we may not really have even seen the full effect of the last spray yet - which was a particularly thorough one, as we went through 10 litres of the diluted mixture and made sure to drench every inch of the tree.
So I am guessing we will need to continue the monthly treatments - I am actually not sure if we can do it more often than that?! In addition to that, I think we will be calling the exterminators in again to come and give the property another dose against the ant problem. They initially advised doing it once a year, but given the level of the problem... I think that twice a year may be a better idea for us... at least for the next year or two, just until it is brought down to a manageable level.
On the note of "problem solving" I was hoping to once again pick some knowledgeable brains about another product which we were advised to get and use in addition to the Oleum - but have not yet done anything with, because I actually forgot about it... and that is "copper soap". Have any of you used it before? I know you mentioned staying away from soapy solutions @weisser-rabe, but was not sure if this actually fell into that category...
Nonetheless, soapy suds aside - I am really happy to see a little bit of progress on this rather large tree. I would be absolutely GUTTED if such a beautiful and established tree turned up it's toes... because not only does it grace our garden with so much fruity beauty, but there is nothing better than being able to pick your own fresh lemons! So here's keeping fingers crossed that the progress continues!
Oh, and one last thing - I was considering pruning the tree a little bit to get rid of some of the dead, but have been cautious because I know the tree is already under stress. Your thoughts?
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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I hope the spray works for your lemon tree and it gets back to normal as soon as possible
Thank you @treyball!!! That makes two of us :)
I think you can use that without worrying: Lemon trees have quite hard leaves. They can take it...
They actually like to stand alone so that they can get all the light unhindered. In summer, the branches and twigs should even be thinned out so that there is enough light in the centre. So I would only arrange low shrubs around the trunk area, if at all...
Ok great - good to know, thank you!!!
Oh thank you for this @weisser-rabe! I will definitely do that when the warmer season comes around. As for the shrubs - there is nothing around the bottom of the tree currently, so I think I will just keep it that way and rather opt for other methods to keep the ants off the trunk.
Thank you again for your wisdom xxx
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