Is There Light Around The Corner?

[Millet]

If every tree is not infected with citrus greening, we’re not far from it, it’s getting worse. There’s a little bit of hope on the horizon — antibiotics, tetracycline. We just don’t have them for citrus yet. Citrus growers have planted about 61,525 acres in Highlands County, and 12,083 are already diseased.  University of Florida and agricultural chemical manufacturers have been developing new antibiotic injections.  The antibiotics alleviate the bacteria in the tree, but growers don't want to say cure, because so far, there is no proven cure for the huanglongbing bacteria that circulates inside citrus trees.  Florida grower J. Norris said "we’re just losing more ground every day".  There is also injury on top of misery: when owners give up and abandon their groves, they lose the greenbelt exemption — lower property taxes on agricultural land. “I can tell you with a certainty that a lot of groves are being abandoned because of citrus greening,” McIntyre said. “All you have to do is drive around the county, and you can see the effect of greening.” - Millet

[starling1]

This is a truly sad state of affairs. Very similar to the way drought affects Farmers here in Aus. A couple of years ago it was revealed that a farmer committed suicide every four weeks owing to financial pressures bought about by drought.

[Tropheus76]

I don't see the need to abandon groves and fail to understand why this occurs. Yes there is a major economic setback for the grower but They already own the land, most of the equipment remains the same, grow something else. If one is north of Orlando or in an area like mine, apples grow grow great, and require less care than oranges and produce better at a smaller size. South of Orlando, Olives, lychee, and numerous other warm weather loving trees. Last I checked 55 gallon drums of olive oil were selling for quite a bit. Olives take almost zero care, hell, my trees thrive on being ignored. Pomegranates do great here and with the health food craze all they need is creative marketing. All it takes is the farmer leaving their comfort zone, putting up with a few years of loss, which they are going to get anyway since they just abandoned their grove. We have the space, we have the infrastructure, quit gloom and dooming, suck it up, and try something else.

[brian]

Is it cost-effective to commercially grow citrus in greenhouses?  I know there's a greenhouse tomato industry.

[Tropheus76]

You or I could effectively grow smaller trees or a few large trees in a greenhouse and in theory extend the range pretty far north. I don't think that's economically efficient for large scale efforts. I know several of the original nurseries I have been to(where the regular nurseries get their trees) have all been clean room style green houses, all of their stuff that I have seen has been small. Disney's The Land has a fairly tall green house with quite a few various full size fruit trees including a good sized 9-pound Lemon tree, but they aren't trying to grow stuff on an industrial scale either, nor are there a bunch of citrus to infect that would attract psylids.

So to answer your question, if you had a decent amount of money to put into a good sized enclosure, you could do so on a small scale to sell, say at your local farmers market or produce stand. I think the costs would prohibit anything on a bigger scale.

Living where I live, I would love a small tall greenhouse for a few select trees and one day I might build one, not just for protection from greening, but for protection from deer and all the other bugs and nasties that frequent my area.

[brian]

I feel like if tomatoes can be profitable grown indoors then why not dwarf citrus?  Now, im somewhat surprised that the greenhouse tomatoes *are* commercially viable but I see them in stores everywhere. 

[Millet]

Whether or not growing produce in a greenhouse, or outdoors for that matter is viable, to a great extent depends on the profit per square foot.  Greenhouse grown tomatoes are grown vertically straight up a string that is hung from the ceiling.  Therefore, a mature tomato plant produces a lot of fruit per each square foot, thus it can be highly profitable. A crop grown on a tree covers many more square feet per fruit.  However, if the greening diease kills off all outdoor production, and a supply  of citrus could only be grown in greenhouses, it might become a different story. - Millet