I wish you guys and gals luck with greening, but I am afraid my little grove of 13 trees has run out of time.

I am about 20 miles NW of Orlando and my trees have been in the ground for 6-8 years. Things were going well two years ago, I had nice crops of great tasting fruit, and the trees looked very healthy.

Then, last year things started downhill. The satsumas and grapefruit didn't taste very good. The Meyer lemons tasted ok, but were small. My three Ponkans didn't produce much and the fruit didn't particularly taste good either. Ever the optimist, I put the poor production down to alternate bearing. Though not a heavy crop, the honey bells tasted great.

This year is looking really downhill. There was not much in the way of a serious flush on anything all year. I've tried the satsuma weekly since early September and they all have a bitter "off" taste. The 3 Ponkans (about 8' tall) have maybe 10 fruit apiece and they are golf ball sized - along with some dieback of twiggy growth. The two Orlandos have plenty of fruit, but a bunch of 1 and 2 inch diameter limbs in the "crown" have died. They look really sad. The Meyers have plenty of fruit, but they smaller than tennis ball size. I'll try the grapefruit, red navels and honey bells as they ripen, but I suspect it is chainsaw time.

It was fun while it lasted. As I said, I am an optimist. I'm sure this scourge will be overcome some day, but at 76 I am afraid it will be too late for me.

Keep the faith.

Dale

Dale you could always build a small screen house to keep the phyllids at bay?? - The best - Millet

Oh my gosh, Dale. So sorry to hear. I agree with Millett, any possible way to build yourself a little screen house? Is it worth it? Just heartbreaking.

I built me a screen house. the white flies keep getting in though. I guess I have to cough up some more money next year to get the tighter screen. But at least it keeps other unwanted bugs out.