jim dilley
Jim Dilley of Dilley Citrus Nursery in Punta Gorda was intrigued by some new varieties he sampled at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred recently.
Dilley singled out “several of the tangerines: 1818, 1819” as being of interest to him. “They were easy peel. It was apparent that one of them was probably a little earlier than some of the rest … There would probably be a better (marketing) window, maybe an early November, late October … piece of fruit.”
Dilley said he was impressed by the turnout of more than 100 people who joined him for the sampling of about 50 new University of Florida varieties. “There seem to be a lot more people here than there have been in the past,” he remarked. Dilley was happy to see many growers sampling the new varieties, since they decide what type of trees to buy and plant.
The nurseryman said he thinks Florida’s citrus breeders “are doing as well a job as they can. This industry has been in dire straits the last few years, and everybody wants a silver bullet. It’s hard to get that. I know it’s hard to have patience when we see our industry going down as it is. But I’m of the opinion we definitely can’t stop our breeding program at all.”
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