Jake Price with University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension recently described Hurricane Helene damage to the UGA citrus research plot. His observations, slightly edited, are as follows:
When I had a chance to look at our citrus research plot, I expected the worst. But to my surprise, all of the trees were still standing.
There was limb breakage due to the tremendous fruit loads combined with 100 mph winds. Limbs that split (Figure 1) were resting on the ground, which positioned a lot of the fruit on or near the ground. Much of this fruit may be lost. This would be an example of damage that may not be obvious until you take a closer look at the tree.
SATSUMAS
I estimate the satsumas at the research plot to have a 5% to 10% fruit loss at this point because of fruit drop, limb breakage and damage to fruit on the tree.
TANGOS
The upright-growing Tangos also fared well and have lost 10% to 20% of the fruit so far. There was limb breakage, but most of the breakage was on trees that had significant freeze damage still evident from the December 2022 freeze. Overall, the trees themselves survived quite well.
The Tango trees are grafted onto tissue-cultured rootstocks. There was a question whether trees on tissue-cultured rootstocks would have a good root system. These tissue-cultured Tango trees have now been hit by hurricanes Idalia, Debbie and Helene in the last 13 months and are still standing (Figure 2).
SUGAR BELLES
Sugar Belle trees are prone to limb breakage during a normal year, and the research trees suffered from limb breakage after Helene. This year was the heaviest fruit load they have ever had. As with the Tangos, most of the limb breakage occurred on trees with severe cold damage (Figure 3). Fruit drop on Sugar Belles was the most of all varieties at about 50% (Figure 4).
WINDBREAKS
Overall, the trees on the eastern side of the research plot had the most damage because there is no windbreak on that side. The presence of the wind breaks seemed to decrease the tree damage. Windbreaks have so many benefits that I would advise those who do not have windbreaks to plant them.
NAVELS
The navels on the outer eastern row fully exposed to the wind lost 30% to 40% of the fruit, and many fruit are damaged on the tree. One navel almost blew over, but I have straightened it back up. For these 206 citrus trees to have survived winds of 100 mph is encouraging.
Overall, I still expect this to be a record year for citrus production in Georgia.
Source: UGA
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