I pruned off more of the lime tree. It has about 1/8th the foliage left. All is damaged (the entire tree was in sad shape from not just the papaya mealy bug infestation (Paracoccus marginatus), but also from other pests – I have sadly neglected it!), but not as badly as what I removed. Then I burned it all. Who knew that not-yet-dried-out lime branches burned that easily? Well, probably everyone else except me…
Still have to burn the foliage from the other infested trees. Probably later today. Yipes! It’s a huge pile! But, it’s gotta be burned to try and stem the tide of the infestation. And then I need to do some more neem oil spraying.
The neighbors to the back of us have a curry leaf tree that’s wildly infested, though. Some of their leaves fell into our yard, which is possibly where we got it from, although, really, it’s running so rampant that it could come from anywhere and everywhere. I don’t know if they’re doing anything about it.
How many people, like me, didn’t know there was an infestation happening and didn’t check their plants?
This also makes me wonder if it’s due to the infestation that all sorts of people are dumping tree bits into the empty lot next door, some being burned, some not. I suspect it is. Problem is, if they just leave the foliage without burning it if it’s infested, the infestation will still spread.
