In a time when hope can be hard to find for the Florida citrus industry, one grower left last week’s Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute feeling encouraged. Whether it was meeting with fellow growers or learning about ongoing research that has long-term ramifications, Paul Koukos felt optimistic following the April 8 meeting.
“It’s always good to get together with other growers, share stories, learn from them and also to hear what the researchers are doing. There’s so much that’s going on, day in and day out. It’s good to take a break and get an update as to what they’ve learned along the way,” Koukos said.
“I was encouraged by some of the research into plant growth regulators and, obviously, the oxytetracycline (OTC) injections. It was a good cross-section of different things that we can look at as growers and figure out how we can we succeed with greening right now.”
Koukos represents Wheeler Farms, based in Lake Placid, Florida, with groves in Lee, Hendry, Glades, Highlands and Polk counties. Like the rest of the state’s citrus growers, the farm’s trees have been impacted by citrus greening disease. But the groves have also responded favorably to current treatments, specifically the OTC injections.
Koukos noted that the groves that are getting the most horticultural attention and care with improved nutrition, improved irrigation cycles and OTC injections are responding favorably.
“We are seeing the most response from the groves that are younger,” Koukos said. “We do see a distinct break in grove performance on the older trees. They don’t seem to be responding as well as trees that are, say, under 20 years of age. We are encouraged by what we’re seeing so far with the trees that have been getting the injection and improved nutrition program.”
Share this Post
About the Author
Sponsored Content