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NEW
Garden Solutions: Plant Expert Scott Aker Answers Your Questions
Q: I have a variegated lemon
that was doing fine outdoors all summer long, but now that it’s been
indoors for a while, it’s not looking good. I keep it in an unheated
room and it has plenty of light from a combination high pressure
sodium and fluorescent fixture. While all my other deck plants under
the light have been growing well, the leaves at the tips of the
branches of the lemon tree are thickened and much smaller than
normal and are curled so they appear convex when seen from above.
What’s wrong?
A: I’m almost certain that
your lemon is suffering from an infestation of broad mites. The
symptoms of smaller, thickened, convex leaves you describe are
classic indications of this pest. Unlike the common spider mites,
broad mites prefer rather cool conditions and don’t tolerate warm
conditions very well. They are also common on gesneriads such as
African violets and on cyclamen. Broad mites are much smaller than
spider mites. Males mate with the females and carry them to new
leaves. They can reproduce quickly in the right conditions, and may
be blown from plant to plant and may even hitch a ride with other
pests such as whiteflies.
Fortunately, the solution is simple. Knowing that they cannot
tolerate much heat, your citrus can easily be rehabilitated with a
nice hot bath. Place the pot in a watertight bag and tape it
securely to the trunk. Tape some newspapers down over the soil
surface before you do so, since the plant is going to end up on its
side for the duration of its bath. Run hot water into your bathtub,
place the plant in the water so all of the foliage is submerged, and
use a thermometer to determine that the water temperature remains
above 110°F for a period of 20 minutes. Run more hot water as the
water cools to keep it sufficiently warm throughout the treatment,
and move the plant around to ensure that the heat is well
distributed throughout the foliage. The heat will kill all stages of
the broad mites, including the eggs.
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