The Message Board

RE: somethings eating my lemon tree

Posted 550 days ago

Whatever was eating your leaves is long gone-- the most common citrus leaf eating pest is the catapillar of the giant swallowtail butterfly. It looks like bird poop, but it doesn't always fool the birds.

As for the fruit, are you fertilizing the tree regularly? One other thing you can do is spray the tree with saltpeter (1-2% solution) about a month before bloom. Trigg...

RE: somethings eating my lemon tree

Posted 463 days ago

check your tree at night with a torch and maybe you will find the culprit(s)

RE: somethings eating my lemon tree

Posted 172 days ago

I think possums will eat the young leaves, as will caterpillars(easier to find). However here in Melbourne we have a lemon-peeling problem: something strips away the peel and white pith from the fruit, leaving the actual fruit underneath completely untouched. I agree it happens at night and in the morning you find peeled lemons still hanging on the tree. The cat and I have seen small ? rats in the tree at night but they are hard to get at and very quick. This problem also occurs in the USA, so presumably not marsupials but I have not been able to find any reference to it here in Australia. I remove the cat's collar and bell at night to even the odds a bit...