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I have two roughly 11' tall young sour orange (Seville, I believe) trees that I bought about a month ago and had planted in large containers. The leaves are curling upward and a lot of the leaves have damage, presumably from insects. Yesterday I sprayed the trees down really well and once dried, sprayed them with an insecticidal soap. Today, there are a bunch of small gnat-looking insects flying around the base of the trees. I didn't see them land on any of the leaves but thought that may be a clue. Any idea what I'm dealing with here?
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to add that I'm in the Phoenix, AZ area. Thanks again!
With the curling leaves and "dry" edges of the leaf damage; could this be chemical damage? And we have had problems with gnats and/or their eggs coming in bags of potting soil.
With the curling leaves and "dry" edges of the leaf damage; could this be chemical damage? And we have had problems with gnats and/or their eggs coming in bags of potting soil.
I never thought of chemical damage. I wouldn't even know what to suspect. When the nursery planted them, they put some sort of liquid fertilizer on the soil. Maybe over fertilization? I do think I have some sort of insect problem though since some of the leaves have holes and jagged, eaten-looking edges.
Well you piqued my curiosity so I did a bit of digging (no pun intended). I believe some of the leaf curl is due to my over-watering. With that, it appears that there is some sort of fungus or mold throughout the soil/mulch. Can anyone tell me what this is and how I should get rid of it? If it matters, I won't be eating the fruit so don't care too much about chemicals on the plant as long as it gets it healthy and growing. Thanks again!
Last edited by DetroitN8V; 09-21-2013 at 06:49 PM..
Yep, jagged edge = insects, but which, is what you would like to know Mold in the mulch may be from overwatering as you mentioned, and that is probably where the gnats are breeding. So, I haven't been any help at all If you rake away the mulch and let it dry out it may kill the mold, but don't let the trees dry out.
Last edited by ArkansasSlim; 09-21-2013 at 06:35 PM..
Reason: More info.
Yep, jagged edge = insects, but which, is what you would like to know Mold in the mulch may be from overwatering as you mentioned, and that is probably where the gnats are breeding. So, I haven't been any help at all If you rake away the mulch and let it dry out it may kill the mold, but don't let the trees dry out.
You've helped a lot, thank you! I now need to hope that someone chimes in that knows what kind of pests I'm battling and whether or not I need to take any measures other than drying out the mold to eradicate it.
Detroit,
You already applied insecticidal soap to the tree.
You should wait now, keep it watered, and see if in 10 days you
can see any more insects on the tree.
You did the right thing.
They will be fine.
Just make sure where you live, that you don't forget to water them
when they need it.
Read the instructions on the insecticidal soap carefully.
Detroit,
You already applied insecticidal soap to the tree.
You should wait now, keep it watered, and see if in 10 days you
can see any more insects on the tree.
You did the right thing.
They will be fine.
Just make sure where you live, that you don't forget to water them
when they need it.
Read the instructions on the insecticidal soap carefully.
Thanks. The soil has been very damp from me over watering and still is despite going 3 days without watering. I'm hoping that if I let the soil dry out a bit the fungus gnats will die off. I'm still wondering if they're harmful or more of a nuisance. I can see them crawling in the soil but have never seen them on the leaves.
Thanks. The soil has been very damp from me over watering and still is despite going 3 days without watering. I'm hoping that if I let the soil dry out a bit the fungus gnats will die off. I'm still wondering if they're harmful or more of a nuisance. I can see them crawling in the soil but have never seen them on the leaves.
Detroit, Darling Wife who is the gardener in this family (I'm merely an observer) said to rake up and throw away the affected mulch and replace it with new stuff. Also, she uses "Knock-Out Gnats Granules", not only in situations such as yours, but also on her house plants. She got it from one of her many garden catalogs but I'd guess any good garden supply store would have it, or something similar. The catalog states it "stops fungus gnats".
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Mold in the mulch may be from overwatering as you mentioned, and that is probably where the gnats are breeding. So, I haven't been any help at all 
If you rake away the mulch and let it dry out it may kill the mold, but don't let the trees dry out.
!
