Publication

~~Prior to 2013, commercial citrus plantings in Georgia were a novelty with less than 1500 trees planted throughout the state and four growers.  In 2013 Lowndes County Extension held the first ever extension citrus meeting in Georgia to address the possibility of growing cold-hardy citrus commercially. Since that meeting, commercial citrus tree plantings have grown exponentially to 265,730 trees and 125 growers.  In 2015 north Florida began to plant cold-hardy citrus. Initially growers were small landowners and non-traditional farmers but in 2018, traditional farmers began to plant larger acreages. There is no production or research data in Georgia on cold-hardy citrus such as satsuma mandarins which comprise 80% of the trees grown. There are no citrus specialists in Georgia. Growers are looking for basic production information such as fertility, insects, diseases, variety selection, rootstocks, plant spacing, freeze protection strategies, and answers to other questions that have arisen as trees mature and begin to fruit. Florida does not grow satsumas as they require cold weather to produce quality fruit so they have limited information for growers. This publication was produced to help new citrus growers in Georgia and northern Florida recognize basic problems in citrus production. Preventing production problems and basic maintenance is also addressed.  In addition, a citrus maintenance calendar was added to quickly help growers know when to expect certain issues or perform maintenance. The Lowndes County agent wrote the publication and took most of the photos. The bulletin was reviewed by University of Georgia and Florida specialists before publication in October of 2019.  This publication is available on-line at https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1520 and has been viewed 125 times with 68 unique visitors as of March 3, 2020. The Georgia Citrus Association also spent $1,181.00 to publish 1000 for their annual meeting held in February.