Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Monday - January 13, 2014
From: Mesa, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Diseases and Disorders, Trees
Title: Problems with non-native citrus trees from Mesa AZ
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
We have one valencia orange tree and one naval orange tree in our Mesa, AZ yard. Just noticed some oranges on both trees have a 1/4 inch diameter hole through the skin and the orange fruit and skin around the hole appears to be rotting. Looking in the hole usual reveals some type of larvae wiggling around. What is causing this and how do we prevent any further loss?ANSWER:
Please see this previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer on citrus to tell you why we probably cannot help you.
From another previous answer:
"We found an excellent site on dealing with problems with the navel orange trees. We tried to find one from Arizona but couldn't, so you'll have to accept this Texas Cooperative Extension site, instead. Then, if you're really dedicated to finding a solution, go to this site, "Diagnosing common citrus problems", from the University of Arizona Extension Program, and see what you can find that fits your situation."
For questions on non-native citrus, especially regarding diseases and pests, we suggest you contact the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Office for Maricopa County.
More Non-Natives Questions
Replacement for pygmy date palms in Spring, TX
April 15, 2010 - We live in Spring, Texas and the front door of our house faces East. Last winter we lost both of our beautiful pigmy date palms! We are trying to find "unique" accent plants for our front entry. D...
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Care for non-native Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)
August 08, 2006 - I was given a desert rose and i'm looking for general information about planting, watering, how much sun it needs etc.
I hope you can help.
Thanks
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Control of non-native invasive ground ivy in Grand Junction TN
May 08, 2010 - Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
I live in the Southwest portion of TN about 50 miles east of Memphis. We have an invasive plant, called Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederacea L in our yard and pasture now which is ta...
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Non-native photinias dying from Austin
September 14, 2012 - I have some red tip potinias that are dying. The ends of the branches are dying and the leaves are turning brown, I don't think this is the fungus that affects most red tips, any clues?
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Houseplant identification
October 15, 2014 - Had a houseplant with leaves that were green on the top and purplish on the bottom. The leaves were velvety to the touch. Would like to know what it was.
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