Causes and symptoms of lemon diseases, home treatment
The lemon tree is susceptible to various infectious, viral or fungal diseases, like any plant. Diseases that arise in homemade lemon always affect its appearance, the state of the fruits, young shoots and leaves. Early detection of the problem and providing assistance to the plant will help prevent infection of the entire tree and even save it from death.
Diseases of lemon and methods of their treatment
The first symptoms of the disease are easy to detect if the condition of the plant is monitored daily during growing. Compliance with simple rules of care and maintenance, preventive measures will increase the durability of the tree.
Sheet mosaic
This is a dangerous viral disease that is transmitted to neighboring plants. It appears on the leaves of the lemon tree in the form of spots, mosaics, strokes from light to dark shades. At the same time, growth is noticeably inhibited, and the leaves gradually acquire a pale color, turn white, lose their shape, and become lethargic.
Leaf mosaic is not cured. To reduce the symptoms of the disease, it is recommended to feed the plant with fertilizer for prevention purposes, and remove it from other flowers in the quarantine house.
Important! If top dressing does not help, then the room lemon must be destroyed.
Citrus Cancer
It is not difficult to identify cancer on homemade lemon: brown spots appear on the leaves and fruits. In the advanced form of the disease, young leaves do not have time to grow, since they are deformed, take an ugly shape. Fruit ovaries wrinkle and stop developing.
No citrus cancer treatment is possible. In order to prevent and prevent disease, lemon is sprayed with liquid copper fungicide. This procedure is best done in the spring when the plant is actively growing.
Tristeza
Weak immunity leads to the viral disease of tristesis. The main sign is the falling off of all the foliage. Then the trunk and young shoots are covered with brown spots and gradually die off. Tristeza is not cured, but it can be transmitted from an infected plant to a healthy one. Therefore, when the first signs of the disease are found, the tree should be destroyed.
Important! Some varieties of homemade lemon carry the disease, while they themselves do not get sick. A stalk cut from a carrier of the virus will kill a healthy plant.
Gommoz
Hommosis disease begins in the lower part of the trunk, then gradually rises up and down into the root system. How does it manifest:
- gommous bags are formed - these are swellings under the bark, in which brown or yellow gum accumulates over time;
- then these areas crack, and the gum comes out, hardening in air;
- characteristic wounds appear on the trunk of the plant, the leaves gradually fall off.
In an advanced form, gommosis affects young leaves and fruits of a tree. Brown spots appear on the surface, gradually increasing in size. At the same time, the lemon continues to produce crops, but the fruits lose their taste. They become small, the skin darkens, the pulp inside rots and gives off an unpleasant odor. It is possible to treat a plant for gommosis, but this is a long process. To do this, cut out all areas of the affected bark and carefully clean the places from the gum. The wounds are treated with a 3% solution of copper sulfate, then Bordeaux paste is applied (copper sulfate, quicklime and water, mixed in a ratio of 1: 2: 12).
Anthracnose
The disease occurs due to the defeat of ascomycete fungi. Symptoms appear as brown, brown, or whitish spots on the surface of the lamina. A characteristic feature of the spots is the presence of a dark rim, which grows to the sides and merges with others.
Reasons, or why anthracnose occurs:
- increased soil or air humidity;
- lack of potassium or phosphorus in the soil (manifests itself in the form of rust on the leaves).
At an early stage, antifungal drugs are used to treat lemon: Cumulus DF, Fitosporin, coloid sulfur, 1% Bordeaux liquid solution.
Scab
It is very easy to distinguish scab, it looks like bulging warts. First, parts of the plant are covered with a yellow crust and sores, irregular spots appear, the skin of the fruit peels off. Over time, the affected leaves die off. To combat scab, the affected areas of the plant are removed, and it is treated with one of the following means: 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate, Strobilin.
Melseco
Melseco is an infectious disease that does not respond to treatment. After infection, the plant begins to dry out from the tips of the branches, a red tint appears on the cuts, the leaves are massively crumbled. Cause of infection: lack of artificial or solar lighting in the room during the winter.
Root rot
This is a fungal disease that manifests itself at the base of the plant. The trunk darkens, then the infection descends into the roots and affects the entire root. In this case, there is a complete fall of all leaves and the death of the citrus. Reason: waterlogged soil, stagnant water in the pot.
To treat root rot, the following steps are taken:
- take out a lemon tree from a pot and examine the root system;
- if damaged, dark, soft or moldy roots are found, cut them off with a sharp knife;
- the cut point is crushed with charcoal, previously crushed;
- transplanted into another container, with fresh dry soil.
The transplanted tree is not watered for two weeks. This will help prevent re-infection.
Plant pests and how to deal with them
Pests dangerous for homemade lemon cause no less damage to the plant than fungal and viral diseases. To combat, both chemicals and folk remedies are used.
Spider mite
If a thin web is found on lemon leaves, it means that the plant has been attacked by a spider mite. It is not possible to see it with the naked eye due to its small size. The arachnid insect feeds on tree sap. Because of this, the leaves begin to turn yellow over time.
Important! The reason for the occurrence is insufficient humidity in the room.
To combat the spider parasite, use:
- chemical agents with acaricidal action: Actellik, Fitoverm, Neoron, Flumite;
- folk remedies for spraying: infusion of garlic or onion, soap solution.
Also carry out three-time treatment with 1% boric acid solution, with an interval of 5-7 days.
Shield
The lesion of a lemon with a scab is easy to establish by the presence of sticky leaves and black dots on them. Microscopic parasites settle on the back of the leaves, and bumps form on the surface. The larvae that hatch from the eggs laid by the female quickly spread throughout the plant.
Adult scale insects are covered with a special shield that protects them from insecticides. Therefore, they are removed from the plant by hand. Using a soap solution and a cotton swab, wipe the surface of the leaf plate on both sides and the stem.
Then young larvae are killed. To do this, use such insecticides as: Bankol, Inta-Vir, Aktellik, Aktara. After a week, it is recommended to repeat the re-treatment to avoid re-infection.
Worms
Mealybug is visible on the plant due to its white color and powdery bloom on the back. These are sucking small insects that infect young tree shoots, leaves, ovaries. As a result, it weakens and withers.
At the early stage of damage, when there are few pests, folk methods are used:
- A cotton swab is moistened in soapy water and the leaves and trunk are wiped.
- Spray 3-4 times a day with infusion of tobacco, decoction of cyclamen, infusion of garlic or tincture of pharmaceutical calendula.
It is not possible to get rid of parasites in a neglected form with the help of folk remedies. For this, chemicals are used such as Confidor, Mospilan, Ankara, Calypso.
Common aphid
Young leaves and shoots of the lemon tree like to infect the common aphid. An adult pest has wings, with which it flies, and a light green color, therefore it is clearly visible on the plant. First, it sucks the juice from the bottom of the leaf, then moves to the outer surface. In places of infection, sticky drops appear, which gradually cover the entire surface, the leaves curl and gradually dry out.
If all or most of the lemon tree is already infected, then chemical agents are used, since traditional methods are not very effective, for example:
- Karbofos;
- Aktofit;
- Inta-Vir;
- Commander.
With a small degree of damage, the branch should be cut along with the aphids and destroyed.
Root aphid
This pest is detected when a tree is transplanted into a new pot or by external signs. The plant becomes lethargic, yellow spots appear on the lemon leaves, growth slows down. The root aphid is white and parasitic in the ground, damaging the young suction roots.
To get rid of this type of aphid:
- take out a lemon from a pot, examine the root system;
- cut off damaged roots and gently rinse under running water;
- then immersed in an insecticide solution (for example, potassium permanganate) for 10 minutes.
The lemon tree is transplanted into another pot with a new substrate. The old pot must be disinfected and the soil discarded.
Preventive measures
Timely preventive measures will help prevent bacteria and pests from infesting the lemon tree.
What measures to take:
- To kill the larvae, the soil is disinfected. To do this, the substrate is steamed at a very high temperature: + 80 ... + 85 ° C for 25-35 minutes.
- Quarantine will help prevent bacterial and viral infections. The newly purchased flower is placed away from the rest, and observed for two weeks.
- They create optimal conditions for growth: air temperature - from + 15 ... + 25 ° С, humidity - 75-85%.
- Irrigation with soapy water is done once a month.
- Water is used for irrigation with the addition of Fitosporin, a biological fungicide that feeds the plant.
The use of special complex fertilizers will help strengthen the immunity of homemade lemon and make it resistant to diseases.
The citrus tree is susceptible to parasite attack and fungal, viral diseases.The reason may be a violation of growing conditions or infection from other plants. To avoid the death of the tree, regular preventive measures are carried out, feeding, spraying and inspecting homemade lemon.
