This orange tree has been neglected for YEARS, and it needs some help. Likely a result of not being watered (much less pruned or fertilized), it has a lot of insect damage and dead wood.
These are things that trees can usually fend off naturally when taken care of.
- We start off by removing all of the dead & diseased wood from the tree. This is removing the food source from the pests.
- There are still tons of pests, though, and things like aphids live in on the new growth. We combat this by washing the tree (both on top and on bottom), and this should be done at least once a month, if not weekly. We can also use foliar or topical insecticides, preferably organic.
Of note, I do not recommend pruning at this time. The tree needs all of the help it can get, so we want to keep any and all healthy growth so the tree can photosynthesize as much as possible. We’ll worry about pruning in a year or two.