patio garden and fungal spray questions!

Hey y'all!

I recently started a container garden on my apartment patio. I have a few ornamental plants, but my problems are arising with the fruit and herbs. Although I have read a bit about companion planting, I am still not sure if one thing is affecting another, so I will explain my setup:

On one side of the patio are a jasmine and bougainvillea. Next to them, all in separate containers, I have: A dwarf lemon tree, a mexican lime tree, tarragon, thyme, red onions, tomato, 3 kinds of mint, lemon balm, jalapeño pepper, basil and oregano.

On the other side of the patio I have 2 ficus trees, sage, parsley, rosemary and lavender.

I also have succulents spread about but doubt they affect anything.

Please see: [setup pic](http://i.imgur.com/HAmkA1T)

Below are my issues (I have numbered each actual question for easy reference):

1.Is there a patio safe spray I should use for lime trees?
2. Below are my lime problems. Do I have a combination of problems and can I treat with just one spray?
- I think my lime tree possibly has an aphid/fungal combo problem.
- Some leaves are curling and browning.
- Some leaves have light trail looking marks on underside.
- Some leaves have black dots and webbing on the underside.
- Some of the buds have turned black although there are still about a dozen growing limes. The half of the tree with less leaf curl seems to be producing more limes.
- My local nursery recommended Liqui-cop for my lime tree but the more reading I do, it doesn't seem appropriate for use on a small patio.
- Please see: [lime pics](http://i.imgur.com/U8Gpuir)

I think my chocolate mint has aphids.
3. If my mint and lime both have aphids, can I use the same patio safe treatment on both plants?
- Some mint leaves have small black dots and white webbing.
- Please see: [mint pics](http://i.imgur.com/a0gMtOa)

Some of my basil leaves seem to have a crinkle effect while others are more flat.
4. Is this basil leaf crinkle effect normal or just a watering issue?
5. Do I need to treat with a spray?
- Please see: [basil pics](http://i.imgur.com/GPD5xOM)

My lemon tree has tons of healthy looking lemons but the leaves have lost some of their luster and green intensity.
- Please see: [lemon pic](http://i.imgur.com/9Oi7XH4)
- I have a 4-4-4 basic fertilizer and a 4-8-2 that I use on my ornamental plants.
6. Is this dull leaf effect a lack of fertilizer?
7. Is this 4-8-2 safe/beneficial for my lemon and lime trees?
8. What is the best fertilizer for container lemon and lime trees?

1) Sprays for patio are pretty much the same as sprays for the garden. Close the doors and windows into the house, and be careful the spray does not drift to the neighboring patio. One option to confine the spray is to drape the plant in some plastic sheeting, or screen off the area where you do not want it to drift. The materials labeled 'organic' might or might not be any safer than 'chemical' pesticides. They are ALL chemicals. and some are safer than others. No matter which one(s) you select, follow all label directions including which plants are safe to spray, timing, and if it is OK to combine with other sprays.

2) I think the lime has at least 2 problems.
The trails that you can see on the underside are called Leaf Miner. This is a very small pest that lives inside the leaf and eats it from the inside. I would remove and throw away those leaves. The black specks are often the waste from insects, so that suggests that something is wandering around on the outside of the leaf. Webbing can be from spiders (mostly these are good) or from spider mites (very fine webbing, almost tight to the leaf). These can make leave look dull, dark or light spots or a combination. These are difficult to treat. They are also hard to see without a lens.
Curling and browning is more often a water issue. Citrus need good drainage, but do not want to go very dry between watering. If it has been hot in your area the pots are drying out faster, and perhaps the plants got a bit too dry, even once. Spider mites seem to like dry, dusty plants. You might start by hosing them off. This won't get rid of the mites (if that is what it is) but the plants might be happier.

3) Aphids are easy to see. There are many species. They can be green, black or other colors. Almost always they are on new growth. With normal eye site they are easy to see. They are easy to kill. For a small area (like a patio) I might just hose off the plants and see if that does the trick.
If not, the safest insecticides (perhaps insecticidal soap) will work just fine. Watch out about using products on leaves that are hairy. Some are just fine, others are not so good.

4) I think your Sweet Basil is normal. Mine do the same thing: All sorts of crinkles, warping, cupping all the way to almost flat. Some varieties may be more prone to that than others, so if you grow different kinds you might see a difference.
5) I do not think so.

6) Not sure. Probably not a fertilizer issue.

7) If the 4-8-2 is not a combination with systemic insecticide, then I would use that at this time of the year. Lower nitrogen (first number) compared to the phosphate (second number) will not create a growth spurt. New leaves are more tender when the frost comes, and nitrogen feeds leaves. The third number is potassium, and I would rather see a bit more in the fertilizer blend. Similar comments about the 4-4-4. If it has insecticide, then do not use it on any edible crop (fruit, vegetable, herb...). The higher first number compared to the others suggests to me a product to use in the spring and summer when you want to encourage leaf growth.

8) I would prefer to use a fertilizer with a ratio of 1-2-2 (for example 5-10-10) or even lower nitrogen going into the winter, or when I want it to grow flowers or fruit. If it is showing nitrogen deficiency, then somewhat higher nitrogen is better.
I use whatever fertilizer I can get (I get them free at a local recycling place) and simply regulate which plant gets what and how much depending on the time of year and what plant it is. My soil tends to be very low in N, Fe and Ca, but not too bad with the P or K, so I use the right products for that situation. Just lower N going into the winter. I just fertilized last weekend, and used 2 products. One was mostly iron and trace minerals, the other was mostly N, P, K. The plants (including 7 Citrus) did not get much of the N-P-K fertilizer.
Container soils often will allow most of the fertilizer to wash away each time you water, so a fertilizer that you use more often, or else slow release products like Osmocote might be better so the plants are not going through periods of no fertilizer then get over loaded.

Thank you Diana! WIll look into all of this.
Much appreciate the thorough reply.

One of the things I have used for spider mites is to spray the leaves with a liquid seaweed solution. Spidermites almost killed my rosemary, but once I started spraying with the liquid seaweed once a week, they quickly recovered. I like to add some Super Thrive (http://www.superthrive.com/) to my sprayer with sea weed about once per month. It is amazing stuff.

This gives a good description of the liquid seaweed process: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/txgard/msg051022075230.html

According to Bob Webster, our local organic gardening guru and garden talk show host, liquid seaweed works by toughening the leaves and strengthening the plants. (http://gardening.ktsa.com/)

I think it all depends on the seaweed mix, too strong and it will burn the leaves of some plants, it is reallt a root feed and and not a foliage feed, so for anyone wanting to try mix a foliar feed, best make it like weak tea, very weak, or add to the soil around the roots as you water.

Just my own experience and the advice given on the bottle when purchased here in UK.

Take care and best of luck.
WeeNel.