Cold-hardy citrus producers are yearning for some cooler weather. It would not only provide some relief from the warm temperatures being experienced across North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama, cooler temperatures will aid in color development in this year’s fruit, among other benefits.
Mary Sutton, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and citrus Extension specialist, discussed the impact of cooler temperatures this time of year.
“Fruit color is always an issue, and that’s really just going to be dependent on the weather. Hopefully, things will start cooling off soon so we can get really good color development this year,” Sutton said. “The cooler weather is going to help with our color development, Brix accumulation and acid breakdown. When we have cooler weather, it just helps that whole process along.”
One of the challenges that citrus growers encounter this time of year is weather conditions. The heat remains an issue, and so does the lack of rainfall.
October is historically a dry month in the region. According to the UGA Weather Network, Tifton, Georgia, had just 1.15 inches of rainfall in October last year, 0.13 inches in 2024 and 1.29 inches in 2023. Waycross, Georgia, had just 0.75 inches of rainfall during October in 2025, compared to 0.61 inches in 2024 and 2.16 inches in 2023.
A prolonged dry spell would impact certain management tactics growers implement over the next few weeks.
“We have had a pretty dry year all around. We still want to keep our irrigation pretty consistent because if we have an extended dry period and then do a heavy irrigation, that’s when we’re more likely to see a lot of fruit splitting,” Sutton said. “We want to make sure we keep things consistent. We don’t want to turn off our irrigation in the next couple of months.”
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