Plant Doctor Archive

Scaly-skinned citrus

MY lemon tree has an excellent crop of fruit developing this year, but I notice that lots of the fruit have scabby-looking peel. What causes this and will the fruit be edible?

DON'T panic - the fruit might look strange, but it's still tasty. Your lemons have a problem called verrucosis, or citrus scab. It's caused by a fungal disease and can be controlled by spraying with copper every six weeks.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.