Getting rid of the gall

A few months ago I read a great blog by Leaf Root & Fruit who are conducting an experiment to see if a new treatment against citrus gall wasp is actually effective.

Having seen my two year old lime tree infested on almost every branch, I had already followed the conventional “prune in June” wisdom and reduced the poor darling to naught but a few twigs.

So the idea of being able to stop gall wasps infesting my circus was very, very appealing. (Successful, bountiful citrus crops have eluded me for years, and perhaps always will, but it won’t stop me trying…)

The treatment was a product called Surround kaolin clay and the treatment protocol involved a simple mix and spray regime, every two weeks from the third week of October until December.

Well hello third week of October!!

I’d already stockpiled my lifetime supply of kaolin clay and was itching to get spraying, but after months of anticipation, I ended up running out of time on the weekend. Luckily, the showers forecast for today seem to be holding off so I took my chance at lunchtime.

The preparation was pretty simple: 8 tablespoons in a little jar of water, shake it up then pour it into the pressure sprayer, top up to 2 litres and get spraying.

The little white dots on the leaves were simply stunning and I couldn’t resist taking a picture or twenty.

A little while later, the clay had dried and my trees looked as though someone had accidentally spilled concrete mixture all over them. Hopefully the gall wasps think that’s what happened too and they steer well clear!

I’ll keep you posted on the results…

In the meantime, check out the original experiment at https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/treating-citrus-gall-wasp-melbourne/