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Garden Supply | Organic Fertilizer | Composting | Indoor Gardening › Forums › Pests, Weeds & Disease › Beneficial Insects for Citrus Pests

  • Beneficial Insects for Citrus Pests

    Created by David on August 23, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    Hello,

    I have two citrus trees in containers, one Persian Lime and one Meyer Lemon, and they have recently been taken over by what appears to be a large variety of ailments. Can you please advise me on which beneficial insects would be effective? From what I can observe, they have leaf miners, aphids, and some early indications of scale. Please let me know if you can recommend some ammo for this fight!

    Thank you,
    David

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  • August 25, 2016 at 7:46 am #208193

    E. Vinje
    Keymaster

    Hey David!

    Unfortunately there is not one beneficial insect that will take care of all three citrus tree pests. I think a mix of green lacewings and leafminer parasites will fit your needs. The lacewings will take care of the aphids as well as the crawler stage of scale insects. Leafminer parasites will help to control your leafminer population. If you’d like, it may be beneficial to do a round of treatment with Horticultural oil before you introduce the beneficial insects. Horticultural oil will help to knock back ALL life cycle stages of the scale, giving your beneficials a leg up on the situation.

    Find leafminer parasites, lacewings, and horticultural oil here!

    Horticultural Oil

    Leafminer Parasite (Miglyphus®)

    Lacewing Eggs

    Hope this helps!

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