Meyer Lemon plant

[qahtan]

Can any one help me. I have a 4 ft Meyer Lemon plant in my dining room, that I grew some many years ago from seeds that a friend sent me from California, she has a tree in her garden.
Well up till this last few weeks all was fine, I don't know what you would call it as it
has regular leaves but never drops more than a couple every so often.
It now has teeny tiny black specks on some of it's leaves mostly down the centre vein of the leaf, and a lot of the leaves are covered with a shiny sticky over them that doesn't want to wash off.
Before it got cold here I even stuck it out in the rain, but no joy. any ideas, other than chuck it... ;-(((((

[qahtan]

[saddad]

Sounds like some sort of "scale" insect... they suck the sap out along the veins and they excrete extra which makes them sticky and encourages a sooty mould
:-X

[qahtan]

 Yes that sounds about right, I was about to throw the plant out.
But this morning Gerry and I sat out in the deck at 10c, and sprayed the plant with insecticidal soap, then wiped as many leaves as we could. it came out quite well. I thought what have I got to lose.
later I will spray it with horticultural oil, (dormant)spray, then keep my fingers crossed.
I did read some where that the plant has to have so many leaves before it will bloom, here's hoping..... qahtan
l