Last year I germinated about 20 satsuma seedlings but only three have survived. I lost most of them last summer and wonder if maybe it was because of too much sunlight? I did not try to acclimate the seedlings to the intense sunlight and this was probably a huge mistake. These seedling were also damaged by leaf miners and some of them lost all or most of their new leaves which may have stunted the plants. The survivors are only about 3 to 5 inches tall and very few leaves.

One of the seedlings was planted in the ground in March this year and finally has new growth flush. It only has three leaves on it now and those have leaf miner damage.


I germinated one more satsuma seed and decided to grow it indoors for one year to prevent insect damage problems.

Water seedlings with this and you will have no damage.

Thanks Laaz


I really need to control the leaf miners this year otherwise the seedlings probably will never mature.

I buy the generic version at my local feed store for $14 a quart. The active ingredient is Imidacloprid. I treated all of my potted trees last week. It has already killed the red spider mites too.

Imidacloprid is also the same ingredient found in Advantage for dogs. I know of people who buy this same generic bottle and put it on their dogs for about 1/50th of the cost of Advantix.

I thought this wasn't safe/recommended for potted citrus.

I wouldn't eat the fruit from a tree treated with it for a year or so, but it will keep the insects away from a non bearing tree.

I've only put it on my non bearing citrus trees so far but It's labeled for citrus and other fruiting trees.

It is ideal for young seedlings because they will not bear fruit for years.

I keep reading post about not using Imidacloprid on fruiting citrus trees. Am I missing something?

According to the product label there are no restrictions on eating the fruit after 21 days. It is even labeled for green leafy vegetables.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/system/product_variants/label_pdfs/000/000/018/original_Fruit_Citrus_Vegetable_Insect_Control_32oz_CON.pdf[url][/url]

Here is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Bayer's Advanced Tree & Shrub Insect Control. Looking at the MSDS' LD-50 (the lethal dose per 50% of population) I would say it is a quite safe chemical. A MSDS for a product that is relatively benign can still be scary when read by a person not familiar with them. Many of the statements such as for eyes (wash for 20-min.), and so forth normally way times over exaggerated because there are lawyers in the world. Anyway, the LD-50 rates is what shows the oral toxicity. I deal with MSDS's on over 300 chemicals daily. If your interested in the relative toxicity, read the entire MSDS and make your own judgments. The LD-50 amounts are given for rats and rabbits. Compare their weight to the weight of a human to obtain a related LD-50 for a human. -Millet (630-)
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/c8/c81e3274-c2e3-444b-8cbb-e6602c1f78bd.pdf

Imaclopramid has been a real saver for my citrus with CLM, since San Diego County, California has been hit really really hard with CLM. Normally, it's just a cosmetic issue for most folks, and with mature citrus. But we have very heavy infestations and I have lots of very new citrus. I've been spraying my larger, producing citrus with Imaclopramid mixed with Volk Oil (so it stays on the tree a bit longer, plus kills any aphids and ants, so it's a nice double whammy). I also put down Sluggo Plus which also has Imaclorpramid in it plus the standard iron phospate at the base of my Citrus, too, since I'm dealing with the Plague Of Snails this year due to all our heavy rains for two seasons in a row. They are decimating my citrus. I go out and hand pick in the morning and evening (put on my snail stamping shoes), plus the Sluggo Plus, which gets rid of the snails and many other nasties (earwigs and ants). Thanks for the suggestion about applying Bayer at the base. It might be more expensive, but it also looks like it may be in a timed release, since the bottle says it lasts for 12 months. That's a huge plus for me and worth the extra $$ since I'm managing all my lovely fruit trees while working full time. Will use this for my very new citrus I won't be getting crops from this year. Thanks for the great reminder, Laaz. Off to HD.