Sometimes Less is Best

I've been meaning to write a few words of advice about bugs and disease and this lemon tree reminded me of what I wanted to say. It sits in a pot right in front of where I park my car. It is very prolific. It was also looking very sad a few months ago as was my grapefruit tree. Every time I would walk by either of them I would cringe at the variety of diseases and pests that were plaguing either of them. Blackish sooty mold, leaf curl, yellowing leaves, dropping leaves, you name it, they both looked terrible. But I just let them be. I knew they had been through a long summer and were going through the cold winter. But soon it would be spring and sure enough they just grew right through all those problems and now they are blooming on healthy new growth without any signs of disease at all. We feed them an organic fertilizer for citrus two or three times a year and that is all other than watering. We hose them down once in a while to knock off the dust and dirt but other than that we let them build up their defenses on their own and they seem to be able to fend for themselves just fine. Oh, and they reward us with wonderful tasty and juicy fruit year round!