What is this pest on my lemon?

[tenar]

Can anyone ID this pest on my lemons?

This is the fruit from a Eureka lemon in a pot. I've had it nearly 3 years. Last year we got a couple of fruit. This year there are maybe 10 lemons, but most or all of them appear scarred on the outside, and the damage extends into the skin on the inside of the fruit. The "scarring" has been evident for months: at first I thought it might be physical damage from the baby fruit being knocked about by the wind (it's a windy garden).

Any ideas? There are so many pests and I don't know much about lemons.

I'm in Melbourne, Australia.

 

[Chuck]

Can anyone ID this pest on my lemons?

This is the fruit from a Eureka lemon in a pot. I've had it nearly 3 years. Last year we got a couple of fruit. This year there are maybe 10 lemons, but most or all of them appear scarred on the outside, and the damage extends into the skin on the inside of the fruit. The "scarring" has been evident for months: at first I thought it might be physical damage from the baby fruit being knocked about by the wind (it's a windy garden).

Any ideas? There are so many pests and I don't know much about lemons.

I'm in Melbourne, Australia.

The damage you are seeing is coming from either citrus mites or citrus thrips. Probably thrips. The damage starts when the fruit is very young and thrips are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. I don't know what miticides/pesticides you have in Australia but here in Texas we would spray with Neem Oil when the fruits were very small and with spinosad once the fruits had some size to them. This late in the season there isn't much you can do.

 

[tenar]

Thanks very much, this is very helpful. I can get those things here and hopefully protect the next bunch of fruit from being attacked by the same things.

Out of interest I do have a petroleum oil spray: will that help?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks very much, this is very helpful. I can get those things here and hopefully protect the next bunch of fruit from being attacked by the same things.

Out of interest I do have a petroleum oil spray: will that help?

Yes, it will kill whatever is on the plant by suffocation. But, the damage is already done and the insects are or have been laying eggs in the soil. You must spray as soon as young fruit starts to grow to stop the cycle of those insects yet to hatch. You can kill most if not all of the eggs and the insects in the soil by using a Neem Oil soil drench now. Thrips and mites are hard to eradicate and a spray/soil drench regimen is required. If you can get a spinosad based spray it is the best spray for adult mites and thrips.

 

[tenar]

Thanks, I'll try that.

What will neem oil in the soil do to any worms and good critters living in my pots? I'm presuming it's not great for them. Hoping to limit the damage to all the good insects etc, though I do want to control the pests on my lemons, as they are hopefully going to be a big feature of my very small garden.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks, I'll try that.

What will neem oil in the soil do to any worms and good critters living in my pots? I'm presuming it's not great for them. Hoping to limit the damage to all the good insects etc, though I do want to control the pests on my lemons, as they are hopefully going to be a big feature of my very small garden.

Neem doesn't do anything to worms and I seriously doubt if you have any beneficial insects living in the soil in a container.