A big problem that some people might have with there trees is the infestation of pests. Especially if your tree stays outside most of the time. My biggest pest problem would be from the mealy bugs. Mealy bugs are tiny cottony-looking insects with piercing/sucking mouth parts. They suck the fluids from leaves and stems, robbing plants of essential nutrients. Leaves will start to wither and turn yellow. Also fruits may drop prematurely. Nobody like these little buggers so to get rid of them I first start to use a light spray of water to push as much as I can off. Be careful though as to not destroy your trees. After ward go in with some fine point tweezers and pick off as many as you can from the fruits and leaves. They do leave behind a silky white webbing of some sort which in concentrated in little pockets. This stuff is really sticky and disgusting. Now for majorly infested areas extreme methods must be used. Branches that have more then one site of infestation might leave you resorting to cutting it off. One thing I noticed that seemed to make a difference was the Sun. I don't think they like heat or light which is usually why you find them underneath the leaves and fruit if your tree has it. If all else fails you can always try an pesticide. I would definatly look for something that takes care of mealy bugs. that means make Sure the label says mealy bugs. Don't just go and grab any generic pesticide. Ill make another update on this post in a little while as I wanted to get this out as soon as possible since I have had the worst problem with Mealy Bugs this summer. Be right back.
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