Xtremehorticulture

Leaf Miner in Lemon Leaves

Q. My potted Myer lemon tree has “wrinkles” on the leaves. The nursery told me that the leaves have an insect living inside the leaves.  I used whatever product was sold to me last spring and the leaves still look wrinkled. This is my second year having the tree and it has 12 lemons on it. Leaf miners on Myer lemon is usually a “greenhouse problem” with warmer temperatures. A. The nursery was right. The leaves of your Myer lemon have leaf miners inside of them. But the product you were using was wrong. Leaf miners are usually small flies that lays eggs on the surface of the leaves. these eggs hatch and the “maggot” of this fly tunnels between the outer surfaces of the leaves. Previous to yours, the only place I ever saw leaf miner on Myer lemon were in another country grown inside a plastic tunnel they called a “greenhouse”. Leaf miner infestation of tree leaves of Myer lemon is usually a greenhouse problem but here it was growing in a container. By the way, Myer lemon is a bit too large for container growing unless you use a very big container.            There is no insecticide I would use to control them. The usual method used is to hand remove or pick the infested leaves and immediately destroy them.  Leaf miners found inside tree leaves are usually a minor problem when growing citrus. Their life cycle can be easily interrupted by removing infested leaves. Leaf miners are more of a problem in leafy greens like spinach and lettuce.  A word of caution. These leaves must be destroyed soon after they are removed, or the leaf miner insect will emerge, mate and continue to infest other leaves.            I guess if you were to use an insecticide for controlling leaf miner then I would spray a systemic insecticide like imidacloprid if it is labeled for food crops. But in your case the easier and safer method is to remove infested leaves and immediately destroy them and interrupt the insect’s lifecycle.

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Lemon Can Get By On Few Hours of Sun During Winter But Not Other Times of Year

Q. I have a Meyers lemon that is currently potted.  Now that I have lived through a winter here I have paid better attention to my sun. There are two spots along the back wall that get maybe 3-4 hours of direct sunlight at the shortest time of year.  Do you think it would survive being planted against a warm cinder block wall with only that much sun?  Gloria Caruso’s immature Eureka lemon in Las Vegas A. Meyer lemon will freeze back in our harshest microclimates in the Valley. On the other hand some of the more tender citrus, such as the limes, can handle our winters just fine if they are placed in the right microclimate. The number of hours of sunlight in the winter is probably not as important as the number of hours for the rest of the year. Certainly four hours of sunlight is far too short for nearly all fruit producing and flowering plants if this light is during the spring, summer and fall months. But if this plant receives eight or more hours during these non winter months, when temperatures are at least warm, it might do just fine. To protect from freezing temperatures in the winter it is best that it’s placed near a very warm winter wall with very little exposure to wind. Some people wrap or drape them with materials and other use heat sources such as Christmas tree lights along with draping.

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