When Life gives you Lemons
As if it isn’t bad enough that the ants around here are pretty much taking over and eating our from the foundation up - yesterday I discovered that this is not the only trouble they have been causing… and I am less than happy!!
From a distance I had noticed that my lemons seemed to have what is often called “sooty mold” on them, but to be honest - and with much regret now, I did not take a propert, close up look and had sort of filed the rectification of that problem on my “to do list”.
But yesterday, I was out in the garden with the dog and I decided to go take a closer gander at my lemon tree. Well, first I got the total heebie jeebies and then I just wanted to cry!!! It is beyond riddled with scale, so much so that at this stage, I don’t even know if it is going to be possible to completely get rid of it.
Until now, I did not have much knowledge of scale - and the only info I am armed with at current is what I read yesterday. I do have recollection of my mom telling me years ago that a mild mixture of dish soap and water sprayed onto the plant can help erradicate it… but in this instance, there is simply no way I would be able to stand with a little spray bottle and manage to cover the whole lemon tree.
Not only that, but from what I can tell - there seems to be a fair amount of mixed opinions regarding the efficacy of soap water, bi carb and pretty much most of the other “home remedies” which are suggested for plant scale.
Through my recent reading I have discovered that though plants only generally become susceptible to things like scale if they are unhappy or stressed - which is logical, I did not realise that ANTS were likely the real perpetrators and masterminds behind the massive acceleration of the problem. Grrrrrr!!!!!
As I mentioned in my post the other day - we have a huge ant problem here… like MASSIVE and those little critters are seriously starting to pee me off now! So as it turns out, though the ants don’t seem to be the initial cause of the scale, and citrus trees are prone to cases of such… they do have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with them because they actually FARM the damn things by protecting and moving the larvae - ultimately increasing the growth rate and population of scale. The reason they do this is because the ants feed off… the sap which the scale obtain… so it is a win win relationship - except for my lemon tree and me!
I am so utterly frustrated by this whole ant thing - even though I know if I had paid closer attention to my lemon tree sooner, I would likely be faced with a far less mammoth task. To be honest, I don’t even know if the tree can make a full recovery from such a chronic infestation and even if it can, I am still lumped with the problem of the ants!
I am obviously looking into preventative measures to stop the ants from getting on to the tree in future, and I now need to go down to the nursery to see what they can offer me to start trying to get this problem under control, because as it stands now - the one whole half of the tree is dying because it is literally being suffocated.
Just looking at these pictures makes me itch, lol
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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When life hands you lemons, make lemonade :) Years ago I had a similar problem with the apple tree in the yard. I can advise you to regularly clean the area around your lemon tree to remove any food or debris that may attract ants. You can also use organic mulch around the base of the lemon tree to deter ants. Some types of mulch, such as cedar shavings, emit an oil that is toxic to ants and repels them. If there are too many ants, treat with a suitable insecticide. If that doesn't help, you can add natural enemies of ants to your garden, such as ladybugs, spiders or lion ants :)))
TEAM 1
Congratulations! This comment has been upvoted through steemcurator04. We support quality posts , good comments anywhere and any tags.Yes I am definitely going to have to do something there. I have planted some mint there in the interim... but I do think extra action is going to be necessary.
I was not aware that mulch was disliked by them - thanks for that tip! Bad for the ants and good for the tree - a win win!!! YAY! :)
Bought one yesterday and the pressure pump to spray the tree... so will probably do that in the next day or so when I have a gap.
Thank you so much for the tips. I have really gotten some great advice via the comments of this post, so am really grateful to you and everyone else for sharing all your tips and knowledge :)
So I strongly advise against using soapy water - you will damage more than you save.
Ty-ty has a theory that you have to offer the guys (ants) alternatives. Lay a syrup trail in areas where they don't bother...
Another idea: tufts of (really thick!) human hair. Dust it off at the hairdresser's and spread it over a large area. Don't ask me why, but they don't like it at all and move away.
Thank you for that. I would be devastated if that happened.
Excellent idea too. I was throwing out dog biscuits lol because they seem to like those too haha! but syrup makes sense!!!
hahaha!!! That is hilarious - who would have thought. Wish I had known this before I went to the salon the other day and chopped off all my hair lol
Thanks so much for all the tips!
Much appreciated! xxx
Incidentally, the hair is also effective against wild boar. Just in case ;-))
TEAM 1
Congratulations! This comment has been upvoted through steemcurator04. We support quality posts , good comments anywhere and any tags.Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...
Get thee to a nursery and get your hands on some natural Neem Oil. You'll love it for all of your gardening... it's stinky but it's natural and non-chemical, and harmless for humans and pets and birds and such. It goes a long way... 1/2 tablespoon or so per litre of water. Since you have fruit trees, consider investing in one of those hand pump plant sprayers that holds about 5l.
xo
Neem is great because it deals with a wide range of pests from aphids to scale to beetle larvae and more. Looks like you have a kind of armored scale there, so you'll probably need to do multiple applications.
Thank you for that info @denmarkguy!!! Much appreciated - I had read a few forum threads and yes, did notice that quite a few people mentioned this neem oil, so I have added it to todays shopping list after reading this now.
Yeah, I am soooooooooooo over these ants and all the "pain in the arse" they bring, lol.