Growers in the cold-hardy citrus region should consider fungicide application following snow last week and multiple days of running irrigation for freeze irrigation.
That advice comes from Lindy Savelle, executive director of the Georgia Citrus Association, on the heels of historic snowfall recorded across the Southeast.
“I’ve heard some people having up to 10 inches of snow where we grow citrus,” said Savelle. “You’ve got all of that water coming out of the snow, plus the freeze protection with all of the water. The ground is already saturated. It’s overcast (as of Jan. 27), so it’s not quickly evaporating. We could have ourselves a root issue with all of the saturation.”
She said one citrus grower told her he is going to put a fungicide called Kphite on his roots to fight root rot, phytophthora and other diseases. “I think that’s something we’ve not had to do in the past, but we’re going to need to do that this year,” Savelle said.
Historic snowfall and sub-freezing temperatures hit the cold-hardy region of North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama last week. Growers applied water to protect their trees from temperatures that dropped into the mid-teens in some areas. Once the snow and ice eventually thawed this week, it created an excessive amount of water in the groves.
“This is certainly why when you plant citrus trees, you don’t put them in a bowl. You don’t plant citrus trees where the water drains to them. You plant them where the water has a way to drain away from the root system,” Savelle said. “It’s not flooding. It’s three days of freeze protection and then going into the third or fourth day of evaporation, melting of the snow. That’s pretty significant.”
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