Black Powdery Mildew on Lemon Trees | Home Guides | ...

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/black-powdery-mildew-le...
Driven by Demand Media

SF Gate Home Guides

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/black-powdery-mildew-lemon-trees-47791.html

sfgate.com

Web Search by YAHOO!

Businesses

Black Powdery Mildew on Lemon Trees

by Judy Wolfe , Demand Media

Sunshine-yellow fruit, fragrant white blossoms and glossy green leaves make lemon trees (Citrus x limon) as visually appealing as they are commercially valuable. As many lemon growers can testify, however, that ornamental appeal often disappears beneath a coating unsightly black powder. Called sooty mold, this disfiguring substance signals that a lemon tree is also the victim of sap-consuming insects. Addressing the underlying pests eliminates the mold.
Sponsored Link

Transfer Money Overseas

www.OzForex.com.au

Moving Overseas Or Buying Property Abroad? Great Rates, Low Fees!

Sooty Mold Fungus

The Capnodium citri sooty mold fungus frequently targets lemons and other citrus varieties. All sooty molds, however, produce similar mats of powdery black fungal threads on foliage, branches and trunks. Sooty mold buries healthy lemon fruit and foliage beneath powdery, black fungal mats. The densely tangled threads often peel away in tissue-thin strips. While sooty mold doesn't feed directly on plants, it ruins lemon trees' appearance and may weaken them by blocking the sunlight necessary for photosynthesis.

Sooty Mold and Insects

Sooty mold attacks lemon trees already infested with one or more types of sap-sucking insects. Close inspection of your tree's mildew-covered shoots, foliage and twigs uncovers the culprits. Look for tiny, pear-shaped aphids clustered along the stems. Dome-shaped, immobile soft scales resemble tiny barnacles. Scale-related mealybugs appear as bits of cottony, white fluff. Adult whiteflies swarm from the leaves when disturbed; their difficult-to-spot, flat larvae remain attached. These pests consume more sap than they metabolize, secreting the excess as sticky, sweet waste called honeydew. Honeydew nourishes wind-borne sooty mold spores landing on the trees.

Sooty Mold and Ants

Honeydew-producing insects have strong allies among the local ant population. Like sooty molds, ants feed on the waste. They protect their supply by killing the insects natural predators, such as ladybugs, parasitic wasps, lacewings and destroyer beetles. Spreading slow-release boric-acid ant baits around the trees for the foraging ants to carry back to their nests eliminates the ant problem and lets populations of the predatory insects recover.

Cultural Control
Treating sooty mold requires control of the insects responsible for honeydew. Managing small insect populations by blasting the tree with water from a garden hose to dislodge aphids and whiteflies. Remove adult scale insects and mealybugs from the trees with a toothbrush or scrubbing pad. Avoiding high-nitrogen fertilizers limits the tender new growth attractive to Asian citrus psyllids and aphids. In the absence of honeydew, sooty mold starves, withers and eventually flakes from the trees.

Chemical Control
Saturating lemon foliage and branches with insecticidal soap, horticultural or neem oil suffocates aphids, scales, whiteflies and mealybugs without leaving a long-lasting residue harmful to their natural predators. Killing the larvae may require repeat applications. Treat adult Asian citrus psyllid with a foliar spray of carbaryl insecticide applied to the tree's new growth. On mature trees, this usually happens in spring and autumn, while younger lemons have growth spurts during warm weather. Spraying with carbaryl kills honeybees, so use the insecticide only as a last resort. To kill psyllid nymphs, apply the systemic insecticide imidacloprid to the soil around the lemon tree once a year, timed with new summer or early autumn growth. Always apply chemical sprays according to the label specifications.
Sponsored Links

Lose 8 Kilos of Belly Fat

Lose 8 Kilos of Belly Fat In Just 2 Weeks By Following This Diet Tip slimrecipes.net/Lose-Weight

Advanced Trees

1 of 2

03/08/13 12:58

Black Powdery Mildew on Lemon Trees | Home Guides | ...

50000+ Advanced Trees avail. 1-8m+ Buy Online Delivery Australia Wide timbertopadvanced.com

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/black-powdery-mildew-le...

Mining is Hiring again

Positions available for people with or without experience. Apply now. www.australia-mining.com

View Energy Opinions

from Our Nation's Experts on Australia's Energy Problems. AFR.com/Energy

References
University of California Integrated Pest Management: Citrus(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/citrus.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Sooty Mold(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES /pn74108.html) North Carolina State University Extension: Ornamentals and Turf -- Sooty Molds(http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/houseplants/note41/note41.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Aphids(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7404.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Scales(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7408.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Mealybugs(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS /INVERT/mealybugs.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Whiteflies(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7401.html) University of California Integrated Pest Management: Pests in Gardens and Landscapes -- Asian Citrus Psyllid(http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES /pn7401.html) MSUCares: The Plant Doctor -- Sooty Mold(http://msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1938.pdf)

Resources
TreeHelp.com: Citrus Diseases(http://www.treehelp.com/trees/citrus/citrus-iandd.asp)

About the Author

Judy Wolfe has owned her own writing business since 2006. She is a professional florist, holds a certificate in advanced floral design and had her Valentine's Day floral design published in "Super Floral Retailing." She spent her college summers tending her family's Santa Barbara avocado orchards. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature from California State Polytechnic Univeristy in Pomona.

Photo Credits
Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images
Suggest a Correction

Real Estate Appraisals & Consumer Rights

Real estate appraisals and consumer rights are directly ...

Examples of Prepaid Items in Real Estate

Understanding the concept of prepaid items in real estate ...

How to Obtain Cash for a Real Estate Auction

Obtaining cash for a real estate auction is something you ...

Who Decides Real Estate Escrow Disputes?

If a real estate escrow dispute occurs, a very specic ...

2013 Hearst Communications Inc.

2 of 2

03/08/13 12:58