I noticed a number of these on the underside of several leaves on my meyer lemon. I did a search on this forum, but didn't have any luck. Okay you all, what do I have??? Thanks! Stephanie

Mites are the smallest pest, but white/beige is not the color I am familiar with. Whiteflies are white of course as well as powdery mildew, but they are not tiny.

Skeet

How tiny? As tiny as a pin? Half as tiny?

I'd say they're definitely smaller than the head of a pin.

My guess would be mites-- typical size a little larger than a grain of salt.

I did a search for mites on citrus and found this site-- it mentions one that is pink and one that is white-- I guess, fortunately I have not seen these--I have only dealt with red spider mites.

Here is the link: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CG002

Skeet

Hi Stephanie,

I was sad to hear about your spider mite problem. When you posted this, I was in the middle of 7-8 days of dreary unsunny grey. Now that the sun is out, I looked at my meyer closely, and of course, I seem to have the same problem! My Calamondin which was right next to it seems to be okay, for now. Yesterday, I cleaned all the leaves, bottom and upper, with a very mild soap/water mix. I treated them today with I think the same schultz product as you. We knew our humidifyer was kind of flaky, so my boyfriend bought a huge one made for the whole home. I can't believe I'm getting readings of 65 % relative humidity now! And I don't have to worry about it dropping 15 % every time I crack the window. It get's way too hot in our appartment and we have no control on that.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know you aren't alone. Good luck with your problem, and wish me the same! Keep me posted.

Well, I hope your plant is doing better than mine Steph.

After doing what I described above, it seemed to be doing fine, but when I went to apply the spray a second time, for the next life cycle of critters, things went bad......Some leaves are shrivelled but green, some are not shrivelled but yellowing, leaves are dropping at an alarming rate, you just breath on it and they drop. They are dropping without petioles attached. When they drop they can be everything...green, yellow, dry, not dry, some with the tips of the leaves drying and browning. For the yellowing ones, they are yellowing from the venation outwards. My humidity is fine in here, better than ever 50-60%. It's not thirsty, it's not overwatered. It's not by a heating source either. It's just so pathetic.


I am stumped. My cal is fine and even growing (my meyer WAS beside it, but now the meyer is isolated on the floor). Any thoughts would help lots.


Thanks

I went thru same last winter. Seemed for no reason that 2 plants lost all leaves & even had to cut back dead branches. They are healthy now.
Maybe you over sprayed? For small bugs, I put plant in shower or kitchen sink & spray the critters off. Maybe try flushing the soil? Millet told me to do this once & it worked. Hope you don't lose them!

Hi Patty,

Yes I think I could have over sprayed. The last time I flushed the soil was the very day I applied the spray the second time. I flushed it before applying it .

Hello,

Here's my update: The Meyer stopped losing leaves eventually, leaving it looking very sorry indeed. We bought a grow light that fits in the ceiling fixture of our kitchen (it's actually made for people with seasonal affective disorder). Even though it's quite far away from the tops of the plants, they are responding like crazy!! My meyer has never ever put on new growth as vigorously as it is at the moment, not even last spring, I am completely beside myself! The mites seems to all be gone, and not returning for seconds.

The others are liking it too. The Calamondins are all turning a nice colour, and my seedlings are begging for new pots, even though I repotted not too long ago.


All is well in my neck of the woods now.