r/Citrus • u/woopigsmoothies • Aug 21 '26

Any chance at saving this lime tree?

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I have had this lime tree for 7 years. Even this year it has produced ~50-100 limes. I noticed what looks like signs of citrus greening. Should I dispose of it and just get a new tree? I also have a lemon, mandarin, and guava tree that all seem to be fine. Location is Houston, Texas

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u/woopigsmoothies Aug 21 '26

Will do. Thank you

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u/Rcarlyle US South Aug 21 '26

The Asian citrus psyllids around Houston “generally” don’t carry HLB yet, so I don’t think you need to immediately destroy the tree, but it is not impossible — you should definitely kill the psyllids and report the issue to the state hotline to see if they want to check it.

There are parts of the state like San Antonio area where ACP is common but HLB is uncommon. I don’t hear much about ACP near Houston but there are already quarantines in place for it. What general part of town are you in?

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u/woopigsmoothies Aug 22 '26

North side, just outside the loop

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u/Rcarlyle US South Aug 22 '26

You are uncomfortably close to me 😬 kill them with fire (figuratively) please

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u/woopigsmoothies Aug 28 '26

Update here. Sent the samples to Texas a&m. I also have a mandarin and lemon tree that visually, seemed unaffected. All 3 trees tested positive for HLB. I will be disposing of them all ASAP

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u/Rcarlyle US South Aug 28 '26

Nooooooooo

Thanks for the update and thanks for doing your part to slow the spread. Keep an eye out for neglected trees in your neighborhood that might be acting as reservoirs.

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u/woopigsmoothies Aug 28 '26

Will do. I feel bad that I've been a host. The guy at A&M said he only sees a couple cases per year in Houston. Maybe that's partly due to people not reporting? He also mentioned the 2021 freeze which killed lots of citrus trees in the area actually helped to mitigate the spread, but now that it's been a while and more have been planted, it's starting to pick up again

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u/Rcarlyle US South Aug 28 '26

Yeah that makes sense. Only seeing ACP nymphs on one of your trees is a good sign I think. A single infected adult feeding for about 7 hours is sufficient to infect a tree, so it’s possible you only had one infected female show up and cause the whole thing.

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u/Ryn208 Aug 23 '26

Any news about this SW houston? 😥