January temperatures have been low for cold-hardy citrus growers. They are about to get lower, however, beginning early next week.
GEORGIA
According to weather.com, low temperatures in Tifton, Georgia, are forecast to drop into the high 20s, Sunday through Wednesday, with high temperatures only reaching the mid-30s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Similar weather conditions are expected across the region, so growers must protect their trees, says Mary Sutton, University of Georgia assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist.
“Just make sure trees are good to go with freeze protection. I think most people either use trunk covers or irrigation,” said Sutton.
Growers she works with have been harvesting this year amid very cold conditions and running irrigation for freeze protection.
“From what I’ve heard, most of the growers already have their fruit off the trees,” she said.
Sutton said she does not have a preference on what freeze protection method growers implement as long as they are protecting the most important part of the tree. Protection of the graft union is essential in freezing temperatures.
Although Sutton has not done research comparing freeze protection methods, she noted that combining trunk covers with irrigation (i.e., putting the emitter down in the trunk cover) seemed to work the best in protecting the graft union of trees.
Sutton said citrus harvests are still ongoing in Georgia. However, most growers believe this will be the final week.
“It seems like it’s been a decent crop. I know they had some issues getting everything to packinghouses; I think there was just too much fruit,” Sutton said. “Anything that had damage from the hurricane (Helene), like superficial scarring, is getting turned away. It might be a few weeks before we know how good the season was, but it seems like we had a pretty good year.”
ALABAMA
Georgia isn’t the only state with citrus in the crosshairs of prolonged sub-freezing temperatures. Southwest Alabama, where Satsuma mandarins are grown, is also under threat.
According to weather.com, Mobile, Alabama, is projected to drop to 24 degrees Sunday night with lows expected to stay in the 20s through Wednesday. Jacob Kelley, regional Extension agent, said growers who have frost protection should be implementing it. A potential freeze is especially a concern for young trees between 1 and 3 years old.
“If they’re in a cooler spot, lower lying land or even really flat land, if we’re not going to get much wind, growers need to consider some sort of frost protection measure, especially if they’ve got really young plants,” Kelley advised. “Typically, we don’t want those to go below 28 degrees for very long without some sort of protection. I’m advising them to pay attention to the wet bulb temperature. Around 36 to 34 degrees, they’re probably going to want to run some sort of irrigation protection if they don’t have a way to wrap the plants up with some frost blankets or something like that.”
Share this Post
About the Author
Sponsored Content