What's happening to my lemons?

[djayz]

I have two Spanish Lisbon lemon trees, both producing fruit, most of which looks great. However, a few of the lemons look terrible (see photos). Does anyone know what's causing this? I find it strange that there's a mix of good, healthy fruit and sickly fruit growing on the same tree. The bad looking fruit is just as juicy as the good fruit and tastes the same. The only noticeable difference is the outer appearance of the fruit.

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by djayz

[Phantom57]

ACC, Asiatic Citrus Canker, Google it. 

[drtreelove]

On 8/10/2023 at 9:55 PM, Phantom57 said:

ACC, Asiatic Citrus Canker, Google it. 

Good guess but I don't think so in this case. No corky raised lesions and no lesions on foliage reported.

 

I think its Citrus rust mite (silver mite)—Phyllocoptruta oleivora

 

Damage

The mite and its feeding damage generally occur on the outside surface of fruit that is 1/2 inch or more in diameter. Feeding damages rind cells and causes the fruit surface to become silvery on lemons, rust brown on mature oranges, or black on green oranges. Most damage occurs from late spring to late summer, but does not hurt the internal quality of the fruit.

Solutions

Predaceous mites, dustywings, and mite midges prey on citrus rust mite. It is not known if these are important in the biological control of this pest, but natural enemies are responsible for preventing many potential pests in citrus from becoming a problem. To improve the effectiveness of biological control, control ants, minimize dust (e.g., periodically hose off small trees), and avoid the application of broad-spectrum, persistent insecticides and miticides for all citrus pests.

[Phantom57]

Hey drtreelove, probably a good call. His leaves don’t look too bad. My 200 lime trees got infected some years back with ACC.  Normally one would have to burn the trees to get rid of it. Darwin, in Aust lost all their limes a few years back with ACC.  I followed a research team from Florida University ( I think) which found out that using a Copper solution will reduce the infection over a few years. After about 3 years I recovered about 80% of my limes.