Hello all - I am very new to this whole gardening thing as we have recently bought a home with a nice backyard, a citrus tree (of some sort) and a Papaya tree. I am enthusiastic about this, but need to know more about the citrus tree and how to properly take care of both the citrus and the Papaya. The citrus looks mature and I have determined that it does have sooty mold (after observing an abundance of whiteflies), but seems to be producing fruit. The citrus tree had nothing on it when we first moved in at the end of April and now has golf ball sized green balls which are perfectly round and rather hard. I cut one open, but can't tell yet if it smells like lime, orange or grapefruit. Have a look and let me know what you think! Also, what is the best way to get rid of whiteflies and the black sooty mold without contaminating the fruit or hurting the tree?? The tree may also have scales, but I am not sure.. Also does anyone have an idea of how old the tree is? My Papaya tree is about 8-9 feet tall and produces fruit nicely. We have VERY sandy soil.. how should I be maintaining these trees? Does the Papaya need to be trimmed regularly? Thanks a bunch!
My guess would be an orange, but wait a few more months until the fruit are ripe and see how they turn out.
You can go to the web site of Florida Southern College, then look for the fnformation on Dr. Malcolm Manners, and click on his site. At the school's web site for Dr. Manners you can find a link to his personal web page. There you can click on a site of citrus leaves. Match a leaf from his leaf library to your tree and you might be able to identify your tree. - Millet
We see Whitefly around here come in usually in mid to late Summer on the undersides of the leaves after we have had a scale infestation. The honeydew that the scale produces and later the visible signs of the sooty mold fungus comes about as a result of the honeydew produced by the scale. Several online IPM reports state that the Whitefly is causing the honeydew to come about but we feel different based on trees with California Red and Yellow Scale and Black Scale that we have seen in our home area, in other nearby Citrus growing areas and in Arizona. We can see scale on the twigs of this tree. I suggest you contact your nearest University of Florida Cooperative Extension office and learn from them what measures you should take to ward off and combat both insects but you will have to give the tree a good dousing on the undersides of the leaves if you want to keep the Whitefly in check. Jim
Jim, you have very good eyes. After reading your post, I looked again at the tree pictures and I can see a lot of scale. I am going to have to be more observant. - Millet
Thanks very much for the feedback! I will see what I can do about contacting the co-op. I have seen insecticides for citrus trees available on many store shelves here as there are groves everywhere. The only thing I am wary about is eating the fruit after it has been doused. I love citrus, but I don't want to poison myself or anyone else.. are there any natural remedies that anyone knows of which may help? How safe are the fruit to eat after they are sprayed??
Horticultural oils such as Ultrafine, are totally non-toxic, and are completely safe to humans and pets. Its use can even be used when citrus is being grown under an organicly certification program . - Millet
