A Detailed Explanation of Common Lemon Pests and Diseases and Their Control Methods

Lemons are extremely sour in taste, making them a favorite food of many pregnant women and a blessing for many people who love sour flavors. Lemons have many uses: they can be used for cooking, juiced into beverages, brewed as tea, and so on. They are rich in vitamin C and also contain many sodium elements, making them highly beneficial to the human body. They can maintain the body's cell production and keep cells growing normally. So more and more people are growing them, but many pests and diseases often occur during cultivation. What pests and diseases harm lemons? How can they be controlled? Let's take a look below.

1. Lemon scab

Symptoms: Scab mainly harms new shoots, young leaves, and fruit. Affected areas develop many water-soaked yellow patches, which gradually become raised and form a funnel shape. In severe cases, shoot tips shorten, leaves become deformed, and fruit develops tumors. Scab is mainly caused by fungi, and media such as wind, rain, and insects are all routes of transmission. Rainy weather is often the condition for its occurrence.

Control methods: Regularly prune the fruit trees reasonably, cutting off weak branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and other useless branches. When new shoots grow to about 2 cm, spray agents such as thiophanate-methyl for prevention, spraying about three times.

2. Lemon canker

Symptoms: Canker mainly harms the leaves, fruit, and branches of the fruit tree. After the leaves are infected, yellow water-soaked spots initially appear on the leaves, then begin to expand and extend into patches, and the leaves become raised. The center begins to sink and crack. Although diseased leaves do not become deformed, they can cause early leaf drop. The symptoms on branches and fruit are not much different from those on leaves. It is mainly caused by bacteria and spreads through media such as rainwater. Hot and rainy weather is when canker occurs most severely.

Control methods: Strengthen quarantine when selecting seeds, do not choose diseased seedlings, and prevent the introduction of diseased seedlings and diseased fruit. Choose disease-resistant seedlings, or disinfect seedlings properly before planting. When new shoots grow to about 5 cm, spray an appropriate amount of agents such as streptomycin for control.

3. Lemon sooty mold

Symptoms: Sooty mold mainly harms leaves, branches, and fruit. In the early stage, a thin layer of dark brown mold spots appears on affected areas, which gradually expands, extends, and merges together. Hairy raised black mold layers grow. At first, the sooty layer on the leaves is relatively easy to peel off, and after peeling, small black spots can be seen. This disease mainly uses the honeydew of pests such as aphids and scale insects as nutrients and begins to reproduce on the leaf surface. It not only affects the plant's photosynthesis, but also secretes toxins that affect the plant's growth, causing a decline in fruit quality.

Control methods: First, cut off the nutrient source of the disease and strengthen the control of pests such as aphids and scale insects. If pest outbreaks are found, promptly spray agents such as whitefly net for control to eliminate the transmission vectors of sooty mold. Strengthen orchard management and prune reasonably. Enhance air circulation between fruit trees, reduce sources of the disease. Lower the incidence rate.

The three diseases above are diseases that often appear when growing lemons. If diseases are not treated in time and controlled with chemicals, the harm to lemon trees can be very great. Disease control should mainly focus on prevention, strengthening orchard sanitation management, and plowing and disinfecting the orchard after harvest. After all, the final yield of lemons is closely related to one's own economic interests, and we hope everyone will pay attention. If you want to learn more related information, please continue to follow Qinnong Network!