By Ramdas Kanissery, Rachel Fenn, Biwek Gairhe and Davie Kadyampakeni Chemical weed control, using herbicides to manage weeds, is an important production practice in citrus groves. Herbicides applied in groves can end up in the soils from direct spray hits, indirect or non-target spray movement (also known as drifts) or release from the dead weeds and vegetation. In soil, the … Read More
Fast, Inexpensive Soil pH Testing
Multi-county citrus Extension agent Chris Oswalt took several baggies of soil to an OJ break he hosted Jan. 14 at the Citrus Research and Education Center. He inserted a handheld pH meter into the soil in one of the baggies and within seconds told watching growers the content’s pH level. “Soil pH is real important, especially with HLB-infected trees today,” … Read More
Soil Health Focus for HLB
A citrus soil health field day recently attracted about 40 people to the Howey-in-the-Hills area to see growers’ success using cover crops and compost on Florida groves once stunted by HLB. Event organizer Juanita Popenoe, commercial fruit production Extension agent for Lake, Marion and Orange counties, comments on the groves’ success. Popenoe is with the University of Florida Institute of … Read More
Citrus Soil Health an Important Part of Overall Tree Health
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) will host a field day focused on improving citrus soil health, a topic of growing interest to researchers and growers. With the challenges of citrus greening, there is an increased need for understanding overall tree health, including the soil, Juanita Popenoe, UF/IFAS Extension multi-county agent, said. The field day … Read More
Soil Microbial Communities for Citrus
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences soil microbiologist Sarah Strauss discusses her research on ways to potentially use microbes to improve tree root health. She says microbial communities in the soil can be manipulated indirectly by changing the soil environment or directly by adding specific organisms to the soil. “We’ve seen impacts on the overall soil microbial … Read More
Soil Moisture Sensors Help in Face of HLB
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Rhuanito (Johnny) Ferrarezi discussed the use of soil moisture sensors at a recent grower workshop in Sebring. He summarizes that presentation, which included a discussion of how the sensors can help in the face of HLB. “The main goal of using soil moisture sensors is to increase irrigation efficiency,” Ferrarezi … Read More
A Lively World Under the Tree
The vast diversity of organisms in soil can have positive impacts on citrus, Sarah Strauss told growers and others at a July seminar in Immokalee. “Potentially, though we haven’t verified this, (there are) up to a billion organisms in one gram of soil underneath a citrus tree,” the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences soil microbiologist says. “A … Read More