Proper way to get rid of this deformity on lemon tree?

[barydos]

Hi all,

Moving into a new home, and there's a small lemon tree but I see things on the tree which looks bad.

Any idea what it is, the cause, and how best to fix it up? I can only assume it's harming the tree.

Cheers!

[MitchellMc]

Hi @barydos,

That appears to be damage from gall wasp. I'm sure you'll find this article helpful: How to control citrus gall wasp.

To be on the safe side, though, let me mention one of our horticultural specialists, @Noelle, to get her opinion.

Mitchell

[Noelle]

Hi @barydos & @MitchellMc 

Definitely gall wasp damage - it looks like someone has sliced through the galls to expose and kill the larvae inside. The resultant wounds are unsightly and potential sources for other infections and rots to establish. Wherever possible, cut the tree back to remove the unsightly galls.

Make sure to bag all removed shoots with galls present and put the bag in the household rubbish. Don't shred for mulch or add to compost.

Slicing through a gall to expose larvaePruning to remove galls

[barydos]

Thanks Mitchell!

[barydos]

Thanks Noelle, for both the info and the pictures!

When you say cut the tree back, do you mean the entire branch where the galls have formed or just trim as much as i can without chopping off parts of the tree itself?

[EricL]

Hi @barydos

I believe the suggestion was to cut before reaching the gall as shown in the picture. But let me tag @Noelle just to be sure.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Noelle]

Hi again @barydos 

Quite literally prune the galls off by cutting stems just behind the galls (between the gall and the rest of the tree). This may mean sacrificing some shoots but will generally just neaten up the tree without cutting off major limbs.

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Hi @barydos,

Your plant has suffered what would be considered a significant gallwasp infestation. I see @Noelle has recommended trimming the infected and damaged branches off. Unfortunately, I can see damage to almost every branch on the tree and to remove those would be an extremely hard prune back to almost nothing but the trunk and hopefully at least a couple of live shoots. This might be a case of the tree being too far gone, and the only option is to remove the majority of the canopy and start from scratch with a few shoots.

Let me mention @Noelle again to see if she'd recommend a hard prune back to remove all the affected material, which will leave the plant looking very bare.

Mitchell

[Noelle]

Now that I can see the tree is a larger image (I could not enlarge the original images posted to sufficient size to see how many galls there were), I tend to agree with MitchellMc that to prune them all off would leave virtually no tree. The galls have weakened the tree considerably so I would probably remove and destroy it, and replace it next spring with a healthy new one.

It's sad that this is probably the best option but best in the long term if you want a strong, vigorous tree that will bear good crops.

Now you know about gall wasp, you can be proactive with a new tree and take appropriate action at the first signs rather than allowing the wasps to cause the amount of damage that has occurred to the existing tree.

[barydos]

Wow on closer glance, it truly is a tragic sight.

Thanks for the close up and also thanks for both of your commentary about this. Well I'm excited to put in a new tree in its place, and take good care of it. Thanks again Mitchell and Noelle!