Author Topic: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening  (Read 3555 times)

phantomcrab

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Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« on: January 13, 2014, 01:22:48 PM »
Here are a couple of articles from the (Florida) USDA about heat treatment of HLB infected citrus trees as a remediation technique. I spoke with someone who tried this last May and he says it worked well for him although his tree temporarily defoliated.
I am personally using the foliar micronutrient spray technique on my orange trees but that takes ~2 years to see results. Navel responded well but Temple still looks sick.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2013/130805.htm
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug13/citrus0813.htm
Richard

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Re: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2014, 02:08:26 PM »
Here are a couple of articles from the (Florida) USDA about heat treatment of HLB infected citrus trees as a remediation technique. I spoke with someone who tried this last May and he says it worked well for him although his tree temporarily defoliated.
I am personally using the foliar micronutrient spray technique on my orange trees but that takes ~2 years to see results. Navel responded well but Temple still looks sick.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2013/130805.htm
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug13/citrus0813.htm

Please tell us alittle about the "foliar micronutrient spray technique" you mention.

phantomcrab

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Re: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2014, 04:51:47 PM »
Quote
Please tell us alittle about the "foliar micronutrient spray technique" you mention.
You spray the plant with micros about 4-5 times a year along with normal ground fertilization. I spray with Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro or Peter's at about 300 ppm total load depending on what is mixed up at the time. I wrote about this once before. It has been tested for years at a HLB infected grove near Immokalee. The basic idea is to get food to the roots via the foliage so the roots can regrow. The process just takes time to correct the root damage.
Richard

bangkok

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Re: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2014, 10:44:59 PM »
Australia just had a spell of extreme heat of 135 degree's fahrenheit, so if this really works then there is no more greening disease for their citrus tree's?

KarenRei

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Re: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2014, 11:04:50 AM »
Whoa, what they're talking about here is a lot more than just treating the symptoms - they're talking about sending the disease into remission and potentially even eliminating it if it's not a heavy infection, if I'm reading correctly. Anyone have a link to the actual study? I'm very curious as to whether the trees are no longer infectious.

I've always thought that "managing" an infected tree to try to keep it fruiting is a horrible thing to do, in that you're leaving around a vector for the infection of other peoples' trees. But this could be a whole different ballgame if it actually kills the disease, either completely or at least in the parts of the tree that the psilids feed on. And overheating a tree isn't exactly rocket science - enclose something in plastic sheeting in the sun and it's hard *not* to overheat it  ;)

$45 USD per tent, a couple weeks per treatment, assuming 1/2 year possible treatment window, assuming treatment every two years = $2 per tree (plus labor). That has to be worth it...
« Last Edit: January 14, 2014, 11:12:24 AM by KarenRei »
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KarenRei

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Re: Heat Treatment for Citrus Greening
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2014, 11:15:05 AM »
Australia just had a spell of extreme heat of 135 degree's fahrenheit, so if this really works then there is no more greening disease for their citrus tree's?

If it got that hot in a citrus area in Australia, then the trees are already dead...

This sounds like greening hasn't yet hit Australia:

http://www.citrusaustralia.com.au/latest-news/arming-australia-with-the-tools-to-fight-citrus-greening
http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/quarantine/naqs/naqs-fact-sheets/citrus-greening
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