Nontoxic Bug Sprays for Lime Trees

Lime Trees

• A healthy lime tree has nothing to fear from a few bugs crawling on its leaves or branches. If your lime tree is struggling or if it is overrun with insects, they can have a serious impact on its health. Not only can they destroy your lime crop, but they can also damage a lime tree’s leaves so badly that it starts dropping them. Without leaves, the tree will have a difficult time nourishing itself, which can cause it to decline further.

Sprays

• If you prefer to use nontoxic materials around your home, you can make your own spray to get rid of bugs on your lime trees. Start with 1 gallon of water. Add 2 mashed up garlic bulbs and 2 tablespoons of castile soap. Shake the ingredients vigorously to mix them together, then pour the solution into a sprayer. Garlic oil is a natural insect repellent. Castile soap helps the ingredients cling to your lime trees. Soap eliminates bugs already on the tree; it dehydrates bugs, killing them.

Applications

• Use a sprayer to lightly coat the affected areas of your lime tree with the insect-repelling solution. In addition to the infested area, also spray the surrounding healthy leaves. This is a preventive measure to keep the bugs from moving on to other leaves and beginning the cycle of damage all over again. Apply the spray every week until the bugs die or move on. If it is a rainy time of year, apply every four days to replenish the repellent that is rinsed off.

Considerations

• Shake the solution well before every use. The ingredients will not retain their potency for very long. Make only as much as you can use within four weeks. After a month, discard any leftover solution and make a new batch. Storing it in a cool, dry place will help maintain its effectiveness over the course of the month.