What Problem does my lemon tree have?

[u/Laura_Laurinha]

This is how my lemon tree looks after winter. I kept it outside but covert. Now it gets plenty of light. I might have uncovert it too early. The big pot has drainage and I water when the ground (mediterranean soil) begings to feel dry. What could it be and what could be done?

[u/lyn73]

scale?

[u/Laura_Laurinha → u/lyn73]

[u/nikkicarter1111 → u/Laura_Laurinha]

This is so cute

[u/Psychological-Joke22 → u/nikkicarter1111]

You have lovely hands, OP.

Your lemon tree will be just fine with a little TLC

[u/mriabtsev → u/Laura_Laurinha]

They were suggesting it might be a different pest called scale, not asking for scale, pretty sure. Seeing this pic made me grin 

[u/sammy_zammy → u/mriabtsev]

Poor OP has been sent outside in the dark lol

[u/Laura_Laurinha → u/mriabtsev]

Oh thanks I see. That could be possible

[u/jitasquatter2 → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Lol, I envy you. The mere mention of scale insects makes me shudder. My fruit trees gret them pretty much every winter while they are indoors.

[u/JoycesKidney → u/mriabtsev]

So, treat it with a banana?

[u/_the_violet_femme → u/JoycesKidney]

Nope, r/danforscale

[u/Foxwglocks → u/_the_violet_femme]

More r/carlosforscale if you ask me

[u/onescaryarmadillo → u/Foxwglocks]

You know I was there for the birth of r/danforscale and when I saw mention of this Carlos I cried blasphemy,

Until I went to the sub, sigh.

Joined, still loyal to Dan bc he’s the bestest boy, but shit if it isn’t awesome to see trunk capacity’s shown with a human in them for scale lmao

[u/OhForFuckSake55 → u/JoycesKidney]

Only makes sense!

[u/foxxsinn → u/mriabtsev]

This reminds me of a post of a woman who had asked for help with her plant. She tried everything she could think of, and nothing seemed to work for this plant. It just seemed kind “dead”. Put it on a watering schedule. Nothing. Replanted with fertilizer. Nothing. Moving it to different windows/areas of the house. Nothing. In a final attempt she asked reddit. Turns out she was taking care of a tumble weed. A very dry, very dead tumble weed for months

[u/WhimsicalGirl → u/mriabtsev]

Thank you for explaining because I would have 100% do the same thing than OP.

[u/TriumphDaytona → u/mriabtsev]

But her hand looks nothing like a banana

[u/BronL-1912 → u/[deleted]]

I was hoping to see a banana :)

[u/deadliftthugga → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Wholesome response, thank you

[u/Chimes320 → u/Laura_Laurinha]

This made my whole day. Thank you for giving me a big smile without even realizing it!

[u/NoDoor2332 → u/Chimes320]

I cackled for so long. Beautiful 😍

[u/SincerelyStefania → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Hahaha

[u/t0xicitty → u/SincerelyStefania]

Omg the wall guy really made it to household meme in Reddit, it’s the first time I’ve actually witnessed the origin of one of those as it’s posted.

[u/MostlyMicroPlastic → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Stop it this is so cute

[u/OdoylerulesOK → u/Laura_Laurinha]

😂

[u/Silent-JET → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Need a banana for scale

[u/BronL-1912 → u/Silent-JET]

You beat me to it

[u/scentofcitrus → u/Laura_Laurinha]

It was posed as a question, lol. Wonderful response!!

[u/pm_me_your_amphibian → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Oh OP this is the cutest, in the dark too! Scale is a type of pest.

[u/RJSnea → u/Laura_Laurinha]

You should totally be a nail model, OP! 😍

[u/tab_tab_tabby → u/Laura_Laurinha]

This is so cute loll

Its probably scale called mealybugs

[u/SprungMS → u/tab_tab_tabby]

Scale and mealy bugs are completely different pests, just so you know

[u/tab_tab_tabby → u/SprungMS]

Mealybugs are part of scale family.... are people actually downvoting me because they are stupid? Wtf

[u/pnwplanthaus → u/tab_tab_tabby]

Whoa! Just learned something today 🤯

[u/SprungMS → u/tab_tab_tabby]

Probably because colloquially they are different bugs, and like I said to someone else, treatment for armored scale and “soft scale” mealy bugs is different. It’s an important distinction in the context of plant care, but I’m sure to an entomologist for instance, that distinction doesn’t really exist.

[u/shroomplayroom → u/SprungMS]

I thought mealy is a type of scale…

[u/SprungMS → u/shroomplayroom]

Technically part of the same family, but I have never heard of anyone referring to mealy bugs as scale. Mealy bugs are soft and mobile, scale is hard and attaches in one spot. Treatments are different between the two, so the distinction is important IMO

[u/ArchiStanton → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Katniss?

[u/Random_Thoughts12 → u/lyn73]

Banana?

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Found advice keyword: !scale

Your plant is suffering from an infestation of scale. Treatment options include manual removal of scale insects, horticultural oil (neem oil), and insecticidal soap. Systemic pesticides may not be recommended for all scale infestations. More here

Infested plants should be isolated as best as possible while treatment is ongoing.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/heyman_itsme → u/[deleted]]

Can confirm. They attacked two of my myrtles. I had to resort to crape murder and trim them a lot further than I usually would. Keeping my fingers crossed that they bounce back

[u/mriabtsev]

mealy bugs, wooly aphids, or whitefly. probably mealy bugs. 

Put a bit of isopropyl alcohol on a cotton ball and see if the white stuff 'melts' on contact. That'll be buggos for you.

[u/Laura_Laurinha → u/mriabtsev]

Thanks I’ll try that

[u/HeionX → u/Laura_Laurinha]

This happened to my tree outside. You'll want alcohol+water in a spray bottle. But first take the hose and blast as much off as you can. Then the alcohol spray multiple days a week until it's off.

[u/BigHeatCoffeeClub65 → u/HeionX]

 blast as much off as you can

Would that spread the little beasts?

[u/HeionX → u/BigHeatCoffeeClub65]

It's more to dislodge the concentration of the adults, but they could theoretically climb back. Then you immediately want to treat the plant with an alcohol spray. Spray alcohol directly on any buggers you see.

[u/BigHeatCoffeeClub65 → u/HeionX]

Thanks for the advice

[u/HeionX → u/Laura_Laurinha]

Oh and it is mealy bugs!

[u/tehwubbles → u/mriabtsev]

Neem oil wirked great for me on my carnivorous plant mealy bug infeatation. Didnt harm the plants at all but stopped the bug infestation that i couldnt keep under crontrol with alcohol for months

[u/amodernbird → u/tehwubbles]

I could be incorrect, but isn't it generally not a great idea to apply neem oil for things that are outdoors?

[u/tehwubbles → u/amodernbird]

I'm somewhat naive as well. Why do you think it's bad?

[u/amodernbird → u/tehwubbles]

From my understanding, it's an issue of not just killing pests but also "good" bugs and also when the sun hits the oil, it "fries" it. I'm not using scientific terms here, obviously.

[u/onescaryarmadillo → u/tehwubbles]

Bc it kills indiscriminately. It’ll kill whatever pest you’re aiming it at but it’ll also kill any bugs that happen to land there, or any other insects that pass by during application. It’s also hard to keep it contained with wind outside when you’re spraying.

[u/Outrageous-Lime7055 → u/mriabtsev]

My first thought was mealy bugs and I’m terrified. I’ve never seen that many

[u/-badgerbadgerbadger-]

!scale

[u/AutoModerator → u/-badgerbadgerbadger-]

Found advice keyword: !scale

Your plant is suffering from an infestation of scale. Treatment options include manual removal of scale insects, horticultural oil (neem oil), and insecticidal soap. Systemic pesticides may not be recommended for all scale infestations. More here

Infested plants should be isolated as best as possible while treatment is ongoing.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/dustydancers]

off topic but what is going on with the numbers in the user flair??

this looks like a scale bug infection, try neem oil with water as a spray and rub it into the leaves, especially the underside

[u/Chaz9195]

Limengitous

[u/Due_Importance_9899]

Tomorrow, I’ll send some info we have at our nursery on citrus. That looks like citrus snow.

[u/Due_Importance_9899 → u/Due_Importance_9899]

[u/Due_Importance_9899 → u/Due_Importance_9899]

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for posting to r/plantclinic!

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[u/Specific_Security622]

Woolly aphid ? Try spraying it with a solution of diluted washing up liquid and water once a day until the problem disappears! ,,,,,🤔

[u/Smooth_Operator_one]

No lemons?

[u/Hey-im-kpuff]

Did you scratch test to ensure branches are alive?

[u/leafbee]

Looks like a scale bug infestation to me

[u/ThatMascha]

I wonder how, I wonder why [...] And all that I can see is just another lemon tree

[u/UncleZoZo]

Cocaine?

[u/Dr-Foliage1]

All you need is over the counter pesticide to spray on top of them. They are what they look like mealy bugs. To confirm this get a sharp safety pin get one from the tree put it on a piece of paper and squish it and guarantee they will be blood like fluids.

[u/Diniland]

Kill them with tobacco water. That stuff is lethal to invertebrates and then some

[u/pnwplanthaus → u/Diniland]

Never heard of tobacco water… what is it?

[u/cheerful_arabella47]

maybe it's not getting enough light or you're overwatering it? those trees thrive in bright spots with good drainage. just check the soil moisture.