Extracts from edia release from DPIRD at Citrus industry urges home gardeners to look out for invasive citrus pest

Home gardeners, especially in Perth, Bunbury, and Geraldton, are urged to be vigilant for the pest citrus gall wasp and act now to protect their own trees and those of their neighbours’.

Home gardeners should look for distinctive woody bulges, or galls, on the shoots and branches of citrus trees, which can measure up to 250 millimetres long and 25 mm thick. Galls can be difficult to find in newly infested trees as they can be quite small.

It is best to remove galls by pruning the branches before 30 June and dispose of cuttings in green waste, verge collection or general rubbish. Galls removed after 30 June need to be treated before disposal to ensure larvae do not survive.