»How to protect your citrus trees from citrus leaf miner«
Citrus leaf miner is one of the serious pests on citrus and these need to effectively be controlled to minimize damage and maximize yield.
Leaf miners cause grey mines in the leaf of the citrus. The leaf miner is a nocturnal insect that lays its eggs on the leaves. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrows its way into the leaf causing it to deform. The pest slows down growth of the tree and reduces the amount of sunlight absorbed.
Pest control
Prune off all the damaged plant parts because these just cause stress on the tree and also lead to deformation. The pruned parts of the tree can be tied in a black polythene and put under the sun to suffocate the insect pests to death.
Use a trap to trap the leaf miners. The trap has a lure that attracts the egg laying leaf miner. Hang the trap away from the tree because the goal is to get the insects away from the tree and not on the tree. The trap does not trap all the insect pests 100% but it attracts a great portion of the pests.