Individual protective covers (IPCs), used primarily to protect young citrus trees from HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids, have become ubiquitous in Florida citrus groves in recent years. New University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) research shows the trees grown under the IPCs also grow well for a few years after growers remove the bags.
Growers typically remove the IPCs from trees after two to three years. The trees then become exposed to psyllids and HLB. But this study showed the fruit continues to be healthy.
“We followed the trees for three years after we removed the IPCs, and we saw a clear improvement in fruit yield and quality, even though the trees were getting infected,” said horticulturist Fernando Alferez, a UF/IFAS associate professor. “It’s worth mentioning that fruit quality declines over time after the covers are removed as the trees get infected, but it’s still superior to the fruit quality in the trees that are not covered.”
In this case, high quality means there’s more Brix — a measurement of the amount of sugar — in the fruit.
Alferez and his colleagues found that trees that were once protected by IPCs produce better quality fruit for 30 months after they’re planted. Because the fruit is of such high quality, growers can have an economic return as soon as two-and-a-half years after they plant the trees.
“This is not the case if trees are planted without protection,” said Alferez, a faculty member at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center.
Alferez said it is highly improbable that trees not protected by IPCs can produce any fruit two-and-a-half years after planting. Even if they produce fruit, they have been infected for more than two years, so fruit quality will be poor.
For the past seven years, about 1,000 citrus growers have used IPCs to keep the psyllids off their trees, after Alferez tested them and provided sound scientific data showing they worked. Those growers represent what Alferez calls a significant portion of citrus farmers in Southwest and Central Florida.
Source: UF/IFAS
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