I recently moved into a house with an orange tree. However, over the last couple months the oranges have been looking bad. Some of them are turning dark, almost black even. Others have what I want to call 'scarring' on them - some just a little, some of them half or more of the orange.
Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my oranges and if there's anything I can do to fix it? I'm guessing this year is a loss.
Orange 1:
Orange 2, with close up of some sort of bumps:
Orange 3:
On the tree:
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- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1030
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:12 pm
- Location: central Ohio
Where do you live?
It looks like you could have mites. They commonly affect the fruit by 'scarring' the peel.
Some of the damage looks mechanical like the fruit are rubbing against something
Citrus can sunburn, although, mine usually turns lighter not darker.
Aphids, scale, and mites are common problems of citrus. You do have to use something like Orchard Spray (sulfur + pyrethrins) to control them. Ant bait helps control aphids and scale. Feed and water the tree so it is healthy and less of a target for pests.
Bayer citrus, fruit and vegetable spray is easier to use on larger trees, but it is systemic and contains imodicloprid. Personally, I only use imodicloprid as a last resort and only on ornamentals like roses and hibiscus. I prefer instead to tolerate some damage and use the ant bait to control the ants which in turn helps control the aphids and scale.
Horticultural oil, insecticidal soap and water jets take care of most of the aphid problems. I do have to live with some mite damage, but sulfur and pyrethrins get good knockdown if it is used early before the plants flower. If they are in flower, you will need to spray after the bees have done foraging to lessen the impact on bees. Sulfur is less toxic but can still be a problem for bees up to 7 days after application so it is best to apply when the trees are not flowering and in the evenings after 5 p.m. when bees are no longer foraging, but pyrethrins are very toxic to bees. It is hard to find wettable sulfur in quantity for a larger tree.
Sulfur is the main control for mites.
Mites are ubiquitous and have multiple plant hosts. To really control them, you will have to spray more than just the tree but also other alternate hosts and get rid of the alternate weed hosts as well. Imodicloprid will give you longer control but it will be much more harmful to the bees.
Fruit damaged by mites can still be eaten but they don't store well and they may be drier since the pests suck on the plant juices.
It looks like you could have mites. They commonly affect the fruit by 'scarring' the peel.
Some of the damage looks mechanical like the fruit are rubbing against something
Citrus can sunburn, although, mine usually turns lighter not darker.
Aphids, scale, and mites are common problems of citrus. You do have to use something like Orchard Spray (sulfur + pyrethrins) to control them. Ant bait helps control aphids and scale. Feed and water the tree so it is healthy and less of a target for pests.
Bayer citrus, fruit and vegetable spray is easier to use on larger trees, but it is systemic and contains imodicloprid. Personally, I only use imodicloprid as a last resort and only on ornamentals like roses and hibiscus. I prefer instead to tolerate some damage and use the ant bait to control the ants which in turn helps control the aphids and scale.
Horticultural oil, insecticidal soap and water jets take care of most of the aphid problems. I do have to live with some mite damage, but sulfur and pyrethrins get good knockdown if it is used early before the plants flower. If they are in flower, you will need to spray after the bees have done foraging to lessen the impact on bees. Sulfur is less toxic but can still be a problem for bees up to 7 days after application so it is best to apply when the trees are not flowering and in the evenings after 5 p.m. when bees are no longer foraging, but pyrethrins are very toxic to bees. It is hard to find wettable sulfur in quantity for a larger tree.
Sulfur is the main control for mites.
Mites are ubiquitous and have multiple plant hosts. To really control them, you will have to spray more than just the tree but also other alternate hosts and get rid of the alternate weed hosts as well. Imodicloprid will give you longer control but it will be much more harmful to the bees.
Fruit damaged by mites can still be eaten but they don't store well and they may be drier since the pests suck on the plant juices.
Before my citrus tree got killed in a storm, I had a bout of Citrus Rust Mites and that damage you are seeing is very similar. The skins of the fruit were thinner than normal, very hard to peel off the fruit as it only peeled off in tiny bits and the skins were tough and not at all pliable. You could never use them as a flavoring taken off the fruit with a fine grate.
The fruit inside wasn't harmed and tasted normal. I wound up using a spray the next season and in a couple applications the problem was solved and the fruit had no damage to the skins.
The fruit inside wasn't harmed and tasted normal. I wound up using a spray the next season and in a couple applications the problem was solved and the fruit had no damage to the skins.
Mites do most of the damage when the trees are flowering. The scarring appears when the fruit is growing. The fruit is usually o.k. as long as the tree got enough water. If the scarring is severe though it can reduce the fruit size since the skin cannot stretch. The skin becomes too tough to zest and they are not easy to peel. BTW you can tell when citrus is ripe, they peel easier. This is especially the case in tangerines since they are thin skinned, not so much with the thicker skinned oranges.
- Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7427
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
WHAT is your geographical location?
Cut an orange open lets see the inside.
Did you ever have good orange color oranges?
Maybe you have blood oranges?
Maybe you have an ornamental Lime tree the fruit is not intended to be eaten, it a look good shade tree very common in AZ.
In the 1950s ornamental orange, lime, grape fruit trees were planted for shade in many of the western states. Now days they are cutting down all the ornamental trees, why have trees than make fruit that no one eats. Fruit growers do not want ornamental trees pollinating their fruit trees.
Scarring is very common they usually get squeezed for juice not sold in the grocery store. Fruit growers spray for that. Spray tree with Malathion. Scarring usually does not cause much of a problem it just looks bad. Fruit wasp will lay eggs inside the fruit.
Cut an orange open lets see the inside.
Did you ever have good orange color oranges?
Maybe you have blood oranges?
Maybe you have an ornamental Lime tree the fruit is not intended to be eaten, it a look good shade tree very common in AZ.
In the 1950s ornamental orange, lime, grape fruit trees were planted for shade in many of the western states. Now days they are cutting down all the ornamental trees, why have trees than make fruit that no one eats. Fruit growers do not want ornamental trees pollinating their fruit trees.
Scarring is very common they usually get squeezed for juice not sold in the grocery store. Fruit growers spray for that. Spray tree with Malathion. Scarring usually does not cause much of a problem it just looks bad. Fruit wasp will lay eggs inside the fruit.