Snow and Sub-Freezing Temperatures Hit Cold-Hardy Citrus

Citrus in the cold-hardy region of South Georgia, South Alabama and North Florida encountered below-freezing temperatures and historic snowfall all week.

Growers are now taking stock of their groves, surveying damage and preparing for what to do next, which includes managing phytophthora.

“Most all of the crop was in, so there was very little exposure there. There’s a little bit of grapefruit left,” said Kim Jones, who owns a citrus packing facility in Monticello, Florida, and is part-owner of a similar facility in Tifton, Georgia. “There’s a lot of ice that is in the upper part of the trees, from the sleet and the rain, which has frozen the leaves pretty hard. There’s a lot of icicles hanging off up there.

“We don’t know what that means. We don’t know how our trees are going to react to that. We’ll just have to see over the next couple of weeks. I’m sure we’ll have some leaf loss. I don’t think we’ll have a lot of tree loss from the satsumas. But from the other varieties, it’s very likely we could see some serious damage.”

Temperatures dropped into the mid-teens in Tifton, Georgia, early Thursday morning. It dropped as low as 25 degrees Thursday night. Similar temperatures are expected Friday night and Saturday night.

Jones stressed that older trees were better able to withstand the frigid temperatures compared to young trees that have not been in the ground long.

“Older trees hold the heat longer because they are much thicker and there’s so much more foliage there to hold it,” Jones said. Trees under two years old are very vulnerable, he noted.

Growers applied water to their trees all week to protect against the low temperatures. Once the snow and ice thaw, an excessive amount of water will remain in groves. Therefore, growers must guard against disease buildup.

“You’ve got so much water. Behind that, you have root issues. Phytophthora could be a serious problem, because we’ve got water standing in the grove everywhere,” Jones said. “Everybody turned on water, no later than Monday this past week, and it’s still running.”

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