My dear friend, Andrea has requested that I put up the photo of the entire lemon tree.
I managed to get Clifford to pose in front of the bush so that you could see the relative size.
The 2 photos in the collage below are taken from 2 different angles with the lemon tree behind Clifford.
I must agree with Bangchik that although caterpillars eat leaves, they do not kill the plants like termites.
My initial experience with this lemon tree was very bad.
The tree was bald most of the time.
Sometimes, I removed the caterpillars together with some leaves so that they could eat them elsewhere and leave the rest of the plant alone.
However, I didn't feel very good about that.
Eventually, I found a solution to the problem.
Instead of scarcity, why not think abundance?
I transferred the plant from the pot to the ground.
This tree multiplied in size pretty quickly.
Very soon, there were too many leaves for the caterpillars.
I also grew a few lime trees nearby.
Caterpillars and lemon tree grew together in harmony.
There were more than enough leaves, even for the grasshoppers.
It began to flower just a few months ago, giving out wonderful fragrance.
Dear Cat, you wanted to know how much coffee ground I used.
I throw in about 5 bucketfuls last year.
However since yours is in a pot like Karin's, I suggest you use only very sparingly, to avoid toxic buildup.
I am no expert in this but just feel that it is safer to use them on the ground as the environment is more natural and balance.
Hope that helps.
If there are anyone experienced with using coffee grounds in the garden, do feel free to chip in.
