Georgia’s young citrus trees appear to have endured more impact from the recent freeze event than older, mature trees. That’s an initial assessment made by Mary Sutton, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist.
“I’m still getting reports, and we’re just starting our evaluation, but we’ve got a lot of leaf drop and leaf burn. There is a little bit of dieback on the edge of canopies,” Sutton said. “At least the big, mature trees seem like they’ll pull through okay. For some of the younger trees, it’s still looking a bit dicey, because they did lose a good bit of their canopy. That is just the initial reports. I have definitely not seen everything quite yet to know for sure.”
Sutton said the younger trees, approximately 3-years-old and younger, don’t have big canopies compared to older, more established trees. The woody tissue is a lot smaller and thinner, so it was not as hardy for the freezing temperatures that occurred in late January and early February.
“For older trees, that canopy provides quite a bit of insulation. The younger trees are probably more actively growing because they are still in the juvenile stage. They’re going to have a lot more green, young tissue,” Sutton said.
Trees in the cold-hardy citrus region are in better shape, though, compared to groves in Florida’s main citrus-growing regions. Georgia and North Florida trees were better acclimated to the cold temperatures, whereas trees further south experienced temperatures to which they were unaccustomed.
“Our trees have gone through quite a bit this winter,” said Sutton. Even before the late January/early February freeze, the cold-hardy region’s trees experienced a lot of cold weather, even below freezing in some cases. “That definitely gives trees time to acclimate so that they are better prepared for these really bad cold snaps,” she added.