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lamon tree curled up distorted leaves


Question
I live in texas San Antonio. the young leavese of my lamon and orange trees are getting very ditorted, the are narrow and curled up but growing.

Answer
Hi Aisha, we have the same problem here in Florida.  The leaf curling is caused by the leaf minor, a moth, that lays her eggs on the leaves and it bores thru leaving what looks like railroad tracks on the back of the leaves.  She lays her eggs every seven days, therefore hard to stop.  The good news is that it stops in the winter as the moth goes to sleep.  The new leaves will come out looking just fine, then when the weather heats up again it starts all over.  

Being an organic gardener, I do nothing, learn to live with it.  If it really bothers you you can clip off the crinkled leaves in the hot months, this could cause you to loose fruit to the pruning.  Or hold off fertilizing till the fall to promote new growth when the moth sleeps.  The only problem is the new growth in the winter months is more likely to be hurt if it freezes outside.  Best of luck with your choices...kathy

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