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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “HLB Management”
Communicating about genetic engineering as a partial solution to greening disease (HLB) was the topic of a recent OJ break in Sebring. Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) Executive Director Shannon Shepp participated in the meeting and discusses the FDOC’s role in telling consumers about greening. “We’re very clear on the fact that biotechnology research is happening … We know that …
University of Florida researcher Tripti Vashisth at Citrus Expo in August discussed the horticultural steps that can best help growers with managing HLB. She summarizes her presentation in an interview with Citrus Industry magazine. “The most important thing with managing HLB-affected groves is you want to fertilize your groves with good nutrition,” she says. She also emphasizes the need for …
Citrus growers can play a vital role in promoting genetic engineering as a partial solution to HLB, University of Florida Horticultural Sciences Department Chairman Kevin Folta says. He summarizes a message he delivered to about 40 at a Highlands County OJ break in Sebring on November 17. “There are many great innovations at the University of Florida and other places” …
University of Florida entomologist Phil Stansly discusses the use of dormant sprays for HLB-spreading psyllids. He also addresses the fact that psyllid populations are often higher on grove perimeters — the so-called “edge effect.” Stansly says the next coordinated grower spray for psyllids in the Gulf citrus-growing region will be a dormant spray. “The trees are dormant now and that’s …
Gardinier Florida Citrus General Manager Lee Jones, one of several attending a Gulf Citrus Health Management Area Workshop on November 15 in Immokalee, wanted to share a message with fellow growers. The message: Don’t reduce efforts to control HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids. “Everybody’s groves this year are looking a little better,” Jones told Citrus Industry magazine immediately after the seminar. …
State and federal programs giving citrus growers incentives to replant and a state program designed to eliminate abandoned groves were discussed at a November 1 workshop in Lakeland. The program was hosted by Florida Citrus Mutual. Grower James “Hoss” Morgan, procurement director for Wm. G. Roe & Sons, Inc., likes the programs. “All three of these are very beneficial if …
Bobby Mixon of Sunny South Packing Company, one of several sharing experiences at a recent grower forum in Arcadia, reported good production from a Vernia orange block. He said the block yielded 450 to 500 boxes to the acre last season, which is far above average orange yield in the HLB era. Mixon says Vernia provides “alternate production” from year …
By: Brad Buck GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A time-lapse polarized imaging system may help citrus growers detect citrus greening before the plant’s leaves show symptoms, which should help growers as they try to fend off the deadly disease, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences study shows. For the new study, Won Suk “Daniel” Lee and Alireza …
More than 50 attended a November 1 workshop in Lakeland to learn about incentives to induce citrus tree replanting. Replanting is needed to replace trees lost to HLB and other problems. Kayla Nickerson of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) talks about a relatively new incentive – her agency’s Citrus Grove Renovation/Re-establishment Support Program. Nickerson says, “We’re …
By Tripti Vashisth In 2005, huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening disease) was first discovered in Florida. Florida orange production changed from 242 million boxes in the pre-hurricane, pre-HLB, 2003–2004 season to 81.5 million boxes in 2015–2016. This dramatic reduction in yield is attributable to multiple causes, including a reduction in citrus acreage, citrus canker and other citrus diseases. HLB is …
Fresh Florida grapefruit shipments continue to decline in concert with the downturn in production resulting from HLB and other problems. On October 26, the Florida Department of Citrus projected fresh Florida grapefruit shipments will be about 4.13 million boxes this season. Three seasons ago, in 2013-14, fresh Florida grapefruit shipments totaled 6.1 million boxes and have dropped in each season …
Citrus Extension agent Steve Futch answers questions following a grower forum in Arcadia on October 27. Growers discussed production, bactericides for HLB and much more. The forum opened with one grower saying he doesn’t know how much longer he can keep going. Another reported per-acre orange production of 450 to 500 boxes in some blocks – a superb level in …
Another early-detection method being developed works by smelling huanglongbing infections in trees. This method detects the different scents plants give off. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have created a test that could lead to advances in fighting huanglongbing (HLB) disease in citrus. Researcher and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Christina Davis, said the test looks for a …
Another early detection and screening process for HLB has been developed at the University of California, Davis. Cristina Davis, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is using volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as indicators of disease in trees. VOCs are odors that are emitted by all living things. These odors can be very meaningful, because they are distinctively different between a …
HLB pre-screening through analyzing plant metabolism holds potential to be a relatively inexpensive option for growers. Caroline Slupsky, professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science and the Department of Technology at the University of California, Davis, is looking at the metabolism of citrus trees and analyzing changes as indicators of stress and disease. Plants’ metabolic pathways change in …
By Reza Ehsani, Megan Dewdney and Evan Johnson In the last two years, many growers looked at thermotherapy as a way of keeping HLB-affected citrus trees in production until a more permanent solution could be developed. It has been shown that thermotherapy can kill HLB-causing bacteria under controlled environments. But the exact time and temperature is not known, and it …
Citrus grower Paul Fabry discusses grove practices that led to a huge increase in production in a newly acquired Basinger grove in just a few seasons. The grove has approximately 750 net acres. “Two years ago when we first got the grove, it was in a shape that needed some renovation and I was advised by several prominent industry leaders …
University of Florida researcher Jude Grosser focused on root nutrition during the Citrus Nutrition Day at the Citrus Research and Education Center on October 11. In this report, he says citrus roots impacted by HLB are missing the nutrients they need and discusses possible solutions, including what he calls “hybrid nutrition programs.” “We’ve gotten kind of too focused on what’s …
Timing of fungicide sprays is the key to controlling the postbloom fruit drop (PFD) that caused many Florida citrus growers severe problems this year. That was a central message that University of Florida researcher Natalia Peres delivered at Citrus Expo this summer. In this interview, Peres discusses the keys to proper spray timing, starting with bloom. Peres says longer bloom …
Canker and HLB have made things very difficult for Indian River citrus growers, but outgoing Indian River Citrus League President Scott Lambeth is optimistic about bactericides. “For the last three years with the contraction of the industry, it’s very difficult to keep an open mind and stay positive when you see family farms that are third and fourth generation still …
