My drawf citrus orange tree has something on the branches. They look like little black pods about the size of a freckle. Some are an orangish color. There are a lot ants all over these pods. I planted this tree about a year ago. I also planted a dwarf lemon tree of the same size next to it at the same time. The lemon tree is now about twice the size as the orange tree. Anyone know what this is and how I can combat it? Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts...

Its really hard to guess without a picture but it sounds like aphids. Ants will farm aphids for the honeydew they feed on. The aphids secrete honeydew and it keeps the ants in a constant supply. You can use a soap and water spray to remove the aphids. You can also use alchol to remove the aphids. Mix with water or spray straight. You will have to rid yourself of the ants as they can also do damage to the tree.
Andi

Soap and water mixed 2 tsp to a quart of water will kill most insects that make your citrus their home. The exception being ants. Soap doesn't seem to hurt ants.

I was unable to edit my above post. It should say scale and not aphids. Ants will farm scale. The scale should be removed manually with alchol and a cotton swab. You can "squish" all scale you can find and pick them off with your fingernail or a dull blade like object. The soap and water will kill the immature scale but will do little for the adults. Neem oil will also help but apply according to directions and use the 140 rule of safety. Add the temp and the humidity, if the result is 140 or above wait before spraying. Neep will harm the tree if applied when the temp is too high.
Sorry for the confusion
Andi

scale are awful little buggers. ARGH. I just got a new trovita orange, just a rooted cutting, small still, like just 7 inches or so. Never saw thorns like that on any citrus I have yet.. oh well, should be fun...

but anyways, it was horrifically covered in scale.. just immature, so they were easy to clean. SO terrified to introduce it to my other trees... on the off chance I missed some. I rubbed the tree down GOOD with rubbing alcohol. got into ever nook and cranny... just hoping I'll be ok. I even dabbed at the soil... I wasn't going to risk those awful things hiding in there!


can they hide in the soil???????

can they hide in the soil???????

I don't think scale insects live in soil,however the young crawlers may crawl around on it to move from place to place.

I fully changed the soil, washed the roots. I was NOT risking a full infestation of my other trees. Scale sucks, big time and I've just had one or two here n there... but to battle it fully on all my trees. oh my, I'd go crazy.

I didn't even think we had scale around these parts. never saw it on anything before or heard of it

Scale is a hardy insect and can survive some pretty low temps. Most of the scale comes from plants shipped in and those grown in a greenhouse with plants that were shipped in from other areas. This is one reason for phyotosanitary certificate required by many states and countries. They are just trying to help keep the insect/disease population from epidemic proporations.
Andi