Panel on Bactericides for HLB Summarized

Harold Browning, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, summarizes a Citrus Expo panel in which four growers discussed their use of bactericides for HLB. The bactericides became available for use for HLB this spring.

“They’re kind of working in the dark,” Browning says of the panelists and other growers trying bactericides. “They’re having to test and tank mix and try different combinations to find out what works in the field.”

“We all need to keep at it … the full benefits of these products and their use are likely to be seen out maybe a year and a half or even two years from now,” Browning says. “We kind of knew going in that we wouldn’t see an overnight change because if you think about the debilitation of an infected tree, it will take some time to reverse that process.”