On todays show I cover How to Keep your Citrus from getting the HLM “Citrus Greening” Disease–Organically of course.
How to Control HLB citrus Disease
Huanglongbing Disease
Insect vector Asian Citrus Pysllid
Early stages show bitter, misshapen hard fruit. The Leaves are light green, then plant dies.
Disease is spread by the Asian Citrus Pysllid when it lays its eggs in the tree.
You should of course follow the basic that the experts want you to follow
such as
1. Inspection learn to id the pest and to spot signs the tree is having a problem
2. Cooperation with Ag inspectors they must be able to see what is going on
3. Not to Remove Citrus transporting only spreads the disease
4. Protect against the pest they want you to spray spray spray
5. To buy local keeps fro spraying
6. Graft with care (disease can be spread thru infected tools also)
7. Report Suspicious insects and diseases on your citrus plants
here is what I say
Soil
The health of the soil is very important. Know the ph that is best for your citrus. Should be 6.5-6.8 Healthy soil equals healthy plants.
Water
Too many are over watering, killing the soil. Use a garden filter to clean the water up.
Nutrition
Here is the single most important part
Grow it organically to avoid the problems you will get if you are chemically growing. If you grow chemically , organic solutions will not work. Chemical fertilizers do not provide all the trace minerals needed by health plants. Chemical fertilizers (all chemicals) kill the micro-biologicals in the soil. The soil needs these in order to assimilate the minerals and make them available to the plants.
High nitrogen encourages rapid lush green growth while weakening the plant. The Brix level may raise but will not stay up at that level for long and it will drop to even lower levels then before. These weakened trees must be sprayed over and over again to keep the pests from attacking.
Use Rock Dust as your main source of minerals.
Brix
Why are plants that are weak being attacked by pests?
Low Brix levels.
Look up Brix to see what it means. Basically sugar levels in plant and fruit.
Why is the Brix level so important?
The Higher the Brix , the Less the pest/disease.
Why?
The Higher The Stress, The Lower the Brix
The Higher the Stress, The Greater the Pest/Disease
The Higher the Brix, The Higher the Sugar levels
The Higher the Brix, The Higher the Mineral levels
The Higher the Brix, The Higher the Carbohydrate levels
Insects cannot digest carbohydrates
Mother nature has set up a perfect system of protection and balance. Insects have evolved to detect the signals sent off by plants when they are stressed and have related that into a source of food for them and their children.
If the Insect does not attack the citrus, The citrus will not get the disease (unless it is spread by humans using infected tools- in which case being healthy wont protect it even tho it might recover?).
Two ways to test the Brix
1. test the fruit
gives you an idea of the brix level of the tree but shouldn’t be used for that but instead to determine ripeness of fruit. Test the juice.
2. test the tree itself
this is what you should test to determine if your tree is susceptible to being attacked. Test the leaves and or flower.
What is the best Brix level for my Citrus?
Over 18 is excellent. Most of my customers are at 22, some are at 18. None are lower then 16 (mainly its a learning process for my customers) (what did you do know kind of thing).
14-17
you will do fine but you maybe attacked. I will give it a 30% chance of being attacked by the pest.
Lower the 13, your chances are greater the lower the Brix gets that your citrus will be attacked.
Learn Foliar applications.
There are many natural foliar products that you can make and or buy that will provide all the needed nutrition organically. Calcium is very important and milk provides the calcium. Use 1 cup per gallon clean water. Spray once a week or as needed. Learn to use Compost and make Compost tea. Learn to use Rock Dust and make a rock dust tea.
There are many natural products that you can buy or make yourself that can be used to kill the insects that may want to attack your plant. You will need to protect them until their Brix levels are high enough to protect them.
Rock Dust Rock Dust
Find a local source if you can otherwise it is worth the cost to ship it in. One 50lb bag will do many fruit trees over a years time! Remember, its trace minerals we want so don’t over do it. Best to add to the compost process.
Compost
You must use compost if you are growing organically. No other way around it. Compost provides the essential bacteria/mineral combination for proper stress free plant growth. Compost tea will raise the Brix and keep it there.
Here is the radio show where I go over this…
Don’t Panic It’s Organic! HLB Citrus Disease- Invisible Gardener Radio Oct 12 2013:.
enjoy
any questions send me email
andy@invisiblegardener.com
or visit my website for more info
Andy Lopez
Invisible Gardener
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Dont Panic Its Organic© 