Citrus Growers Forum

Darkman · Posted: Wed 27 Oct, 2010 8:09 pm

Stan McKenzie wrote:

The reason I have only used one spray tip is that up until now, the trees were so small that the (1) 360 degree spray tip pretty much covered the entire tree.

I thought that may be the reason.

Stan McKenzie wrote:

I figure with the sides protected and the 60+ degree groundwater spraying in between each tree, this should give off enough warmth to keep my grove healthy on pretty much the coldest night we can have. As a general rule, we dont get much lower than mid teens.

I dont know if the water will carry enough BTUs to heat the air especially with an open top. Heat rises and it does so fairly quickly. You also have to take into consideration the temperature of the ground which has mass and will constantly be sucking the heat out of the water. If the top were sealed then the ground temp would try to heat the air temp but it would not be enough by itself or we could just cover our plants and not worry about supplemental heat. If there is any wind at all even just a small amount then all bets are off as the air going over the sides will increase in velocity and pull the warm air out of the planted area and it will be replaced by cold air (cold sinks and hot rises). I think it would take a tremendous amount of water to accomplish what you are trying to do. You also have to consider the force of the wind on your sides. Not sure how your rows are oriented but all that plastic will have a considerable load on it and will require a pretty good support system. Just picture a sail on a sail boat. Listen Im not trying to be negative, and I probably should keep my thoughts to myself, but thats my nickel tour. There are a lot smarter guys out there than me. Maybe they will chime in.

Stan McKenzie wrote:

As for spacing, the trees are on about a 10 ft spacing and the water source is a 4 inch deep well that supplies my house as well as the grove. Hope these answers give you a more in depth look at what I am doing. Thanks!

Yes that does help out. I am looking at a four inch well myself with a horse and a half pump on it. The pictures are deceiving I would have thought the tree spacing was more like 15 20 feet. Are you using dwarfing rootstock?

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nospice · Posted: Thu 18 Nov, 2010 6:26 pm

St Ann and La Early how are they? We have them in south Louisiana but I don't have them because I have so many other citrus

Stan McKenzie · Posted: Thu 18 Nov, 2010 8:13 pm

Early is the key word. They are ripe a month before the owaris. I find them to be pretty good for an early satsuma. They do tend to put on a lot of extra large, grapefruit sized fruits.. which to me are dry and bland.

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Millet · Posted: Thu 18 Nov, 2010 8:38 pm

One of the very earliest maturing Satsuma varieties is the Xie Shan. In many parts of the citrus growing regions Xie Shan matures by the middle of September. Of course, the South Carolina maturity date for this variety wold have to be ascertained, if it has not already done so.

As for wet soils. When a freeze is expected, it is recommended to throughly wet the soil, because wet soil will absorb more heat before the expected freeze than will dry soil. Heat always moves from a warm object to a cold object Therefore, during the night heat will leave the warm soil and move to the colder air, thus helping to protect the tree. - Millet (788-)