{"id":290,"date":"2022-12-20T15:02:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T20:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/?p=290"},"modified":"2022-12-20T15:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T20:02:55","slug":"freeze-protection-for-citrus-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/2022\/12\/freeze-protection-for-citrus-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeze Protection for Citrus Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Agents,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are probably getting a lot of questions about freeze protection.&nbsp;&nbsp; Attached is something that may help growers along with what I have written below.&nbsp;&nbsp; For homeowners the best option is to put a heat lamp under their trees with a blanket on top when the temperatures are below freezing.&nbsp; I am about to send this along with this attachment to my citrus list serve.&nbsp;&nbsp; Good luck as this event will be the biggest test yet for citrus trees.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear citrus growers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The upcoming freeze events will be one of the biggest challenges faced so far by Georgia and northern Florida citrus growers.&nbsp; In past years we have experienced one or two nights of temperatures in the lower 20\u2019s or possibly upper teens in some areas.&nbsp; For the most part citrus trees have survived.&nbsp; One thing different about this event will the number or hours below freezing with highs on Saturday and Sunday in the mid 30\u2019s.&nbsp; Our trees have not experienced that duration below freezing and they have not experience 4 nights in a row down to 20 degrees. One good thing is that trees should be more acclimated to cold temperatures since they have we have had cold temperatures leading up until now.&nbsp; There are many factors I have listed below that influence cold-hardiness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Type of citrus tree&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Freezing temperature reached<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Duration of the minimal temperature<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How well the plant became hardened or conditioned before freezing temperatures occurred (the tissue freezing point of a hardened citrus plant may be five to six degrees lower than an unhardened plant)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wet or Dry Plant (killing temperature is two to four degrees lower for a dry citrus tree so dry trees can withstand lower temperature)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wet soil holds more heat so wetting the ground before the freezing event is recommended<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Age of the plant (a young plant cannot withstand as much cold as a more mature tree).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rootstock selection.&nbsp; Some rootstocks like trifoliate and trifoliate hybrids go dormant quicker than non trifoliates<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trees that still have fruit on them are more susceptible to freezes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Amount of N in tree (don\u2019t fertilize with too much N especially after August)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Poorly managed and stressed trees due to insects, disease, or nutrient deficiencies are more vulnerable to freezes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Planting location.&nbsp; High ground on a south facing slope is best<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trees without windbreaks are more likely to experience freeze damage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Jake Price<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UGA Extension Agent\/Coordinator, Lowndes County<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Agents, You are probably getting a lot of questions about freeze protection.&nbsp;&nbsp; Attached is something that may help growers along with what I have written below.&nbsp;&nbsp; For homeowners the best option is to put a heat lamp under their trees with a blanket on top when the temperatures are below freezing.&nbsp; I am about to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}