I have 1 Mandarin, 1 Lemonade, 1Orange and 1 Navel Orange. All have been very neglected while we were gone for 2 years. They are a real mess. They are full of gall wasp, scale, sooty mould, leaf miner. Branches low to the ground and covered in mud etc. Even the meat ants have made a home in the navel by wrapping some leaves around their nest. (something I’ve never seen before)

My question, and I realise that not everyone will be able to answer for me. Would I be better to chop these trees right back to a few main branches and kind of start from scratch again or just deal with each problem separately then fertilise and water them back to health.

I have a few sites on citrus Pomolo, and yes you can be pretty savage with them when they have problem’s.
Hope this help’s.

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/better-homes-gardens/924/sick-citrus/

i am not sure

pomolo said:

I have 1 Mandarin, 1 Lemonade, 1Orange and 1 Navel Orange. All have been very neglected while we were gone for 2 years. They are a real mess. They are full of gall wasp, scale, sooty mould, leaf miner. Branches low to the ground and covered in mud etc. Even the meat ants have made a home in the navel by wrapping some leaves around their nest. (something I’ve never seen before)

My question, and I realise that not everyone will be able to answer for me. Would I be better to chop these trees right back to a few main branches and kind of start from scratch again or just deal with each problem separately then fertilise and water them back to health.

Are you sure they’re meat ants? We get glossy black ones that do that but they don’t seem to cause any problems.

I’d cut them back I think – but make sure you can dispose of the prunings. Wouldn’t use them for mulch.

If you do this try and protect from the gall wasp when new growth starts as they love the new growth. Don’t know how you would do this though – white oil perhaps?

bluegreen said:

I’d cut them back I think – but make sure you can dispose of the prunings. Wouldn’t use them for mulch.

If you do this try and protect from the gall wasp when new growth starts as they love the new growth. Don’t know how you would do this though – white oil perhaps?

ill have a look in my book and see wat it says ok

Hey Pom. I’d start by cutting off any branches that reach the ground. Take them back as far as possible without cutting into the wineglass framework of the tree. Don’t leave stumps of branches. Cut them off neat or you’ll get feral growth from the cut.
Then give an all over prune, taking out any badly affected branches completly and bits and pieces where necessary. You can cut them back to a basic framework but if it’s not absolutely necessary then don’t do it. You will lose a seasons fruit if you get too heavy with the pruning.
I’ve found the best way is to get one person inside the tree and one outside. The person inside shakes a branch and the person outside can see what effect it will have on the shape of thre tree if removed. Or can suggest which sections of that branch need to be removed.
Works good.

My orange tree desperately needs pruning as it’s getting too big, but last time I did that it doubled its size in 2 seasons! (or so it seemed).

Hi BG. Citrus are best pruned a little bit regularly rather than a big savaging once in a while. It keeps them more compact and you get more fruit.

Longy said:

Hi BG. Citrus are best pruned a little bit regularly rather than a big savaging once in a while. It keeps them more compact and you get more fruit.

OK, is now a good time of year?

bluegreen said:

Longy said:

Hi BG. Citrus are best pruned a little bit regularly rather than a big savaging once in a while. It keeps them more compact and you get more fruit.

OK, is now a good time of year?

Well if you do a little bit often, any time is a good time really.
Now is fine. Will you have to savage it?

Longy said:

Well if you do a little bit often, any time is a good time really.
Now is fine. Will you have to savage it?

not really, it’s encroaching on access ways near the back door, so I want to reduce it a bit so it is easier to get around, especially when it’s rained as it dumps water on you!

bluegreen said:

Longy said:

Well if you do a little bit often, any time is a good time really.
Now is fine. Will you have to savage it?

not really, it’s encroaching on access ways near the back door, so I want to reduce it a bit so it is easier to get around, especially when it’s rained as it dumps water on you!

Now will work OK then BG. Good to give them a tip prune whenever you pick fruit. SO rather than pulling the fruit off, snip it off. It does 2 jobs in one.

Longy said:

Now will work OK then BG. Good to give them a tip prune whenever you pick fruit. SO rather than pulling the fruit off, snip it off. It does 2 jobs in one.

sounds good. what about height? It’s far to tall for me to pick from the upper reaches, should I try to reduce the height as well?

bluegreen said:

Longy said:

Now will work OK then BG. Good to give them a tip prune whenever you pick fruit. SO rather than pulling the fruit off, snip it off. It does 2 jobs in one.

sounds good. what about height? It’s far to tall for me to pick from the upper reaches, should I try to reduce the height as well?

I did so with my lime tree recently. It allowed a lot more light and circulation into the tree as i had white louse scale problems. It turned the tree into a topless looking thing but it has grown new foliage again now. It looks kinda weird because it is flat topped but still very wide. Still produces plenty of fruit though and now it is all easily accessible. I guess it’s up to you if you want to change its shape BG.

thanks Longy :)

bluegreen said:

thanks Longy :)

I’m stoked. So much advice and all good too. That’s why I love you lot. And Longy, you dropped in at the right time too. Thank you everyone. An approach will be made on the citrus as soon as I have picked the current crop.

bubba louie said:

pomolo said:

I have 1 Mandarin, 1 Lemonade, 1Orange and 1 Navel Orange. All have been very neglected while we were gone for 2 years. They are a real mess. They are full of gall wasp, scale, sooty mould, leaf miner. Branches low to the ground and covered in mud etc. Even the meat ants have made a home in the navel by wrapping some leaves around their nest. (something I’ve never seen before)

My question, and I realise that not everyone will be able to answer for me. Would I be better to chop these trees right back to a few main branches and kind of start from scratch again or just deal with each problem separately then fertilise and water them back to health.

Are you sure they’re meat ants? We get glossy black ones that do that but they don’t seem to cause any problems.

They are meat ants to me Bubba. They like to bite my meat and they bluddy hurt. Pains and itches for hours. I avoid them like the plague. I have even been known to harrass them from a safe distance just for a bit of revenge.

pomolo said:

bubba louie said:

pomolo said:

I have 1 Mandarin, 1 Lemonade, 1Orange and 1 Navel Orange. All have been very neglected while we were gone for 2 years. They are a real mess. They are full of gall wasp, scale, sooty mould, leaf miner. Branches low to the ground and covered in mud etc. Even the meat ants have made a home in the navel by wrapping some leaves around their nest. (something I’ve never seen before)

My question, and I realise that not everyone will be able to answer for me. Would I be better to chop these trees right back to a few main branches and kind of start from scratch again or just deal with each problem separately then fertilise and water them back to health.

Are you sure they’re meat ants? We get glossy black ones that do that but they don’t seem to cause any problems.

They are meat ants to me Bubba. They like to bite my meat and they bluddy hurt. Pains and itches for hours. I avoid them like the plague. I have even been known to harrass them from a safe distance just for a bit of revenge.

OK The black ones here don’t bite.

That’s why I love you lot. And Longy, you dropped in at the right time too.

+++++++++++++++++
MMMMMMWah!

Oh noooooooooooooo !!
My orange tree has had another large branch die , this time theres been no wind to blame so I looked closer… even closer..borers :(

Well that’s it, this tree is going to cop a savaging.

First the affected branch’s, but not sure if I should just skeletonise it to renew it. Might ring the nursery lady later.

Bugga!

right… the orange tree has been pruned, huge ugly gap’s in it now.
Daughter said it suit’s us now..it look’s like an Adam’s family tree.

It’s getting some seasol treatment in a minute , also now it’s cool enough to treat the scale on it too .. and all the pruned branches in the council bin.

I’m definately not an expert H. potter but i think you should have cut prunings small enough to fit into a tied garbage bag and left in the sun to heat up before placing them in the bin.

some people prefer to burn them, but that is probably illegal these days?????

Gall wasp have been known to travel from bins back to the source………

Thats the info i got from watching an accordian playing fella on SBS……… MR V

Wormhunter

PS if you can get some Builders lime……. add some water to make a paste and coat the trunk with it……..the pesky critters don’t like it. They reckon it tastes like their mother n laws cooking.

maybe you’re not an expert Wormhunter but you are a wealth of information :)
Thank’s for the tip’s.
I did put the tree cutting’s in a bin bag , sealed it then into the bin. I should have mentioned that.
Can’t burn off here at all , but this morning outside is smokey and it’s thick…everyone’s coughing. Huge grass burnoff’s around Melb atm.

Re the builder’s lime treatment , that sound’s great. I had heard of / seen it before reading and watching varoius gardening media but it didn’t come to mind at the time.
I have 3 other citrus too , younger tree’s, but they may get that treatment too.
I’ll get it asap.
PS the tree is looking good despite it’s severe haircut.

heyas, just back for a minute, I sent an email to my local nursery to ask about removing the little fruits from my dwarf tahitian limes..their first year in the ground ect, and this is the reply.

• Removing the flowers and fruit on any plant puts the energy into growth. If you want to achieve 30cm of growth instead of 15cm of growth, pull off all flowers and fruit. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t matter which type of plant. The fuit will probably naturally shed between nov and dec anyway. Keep it happy by keeping moist and mulched.

Happy gardening,