I’m in the process of starting a small citrus grove close to where I live and wanted to start a thread here to document the process.

I bought the land (16acres) in February of this year. The soil (Albany loamy sand) is well suited to citrus, with a 6-8 inch layer of acidic loam on top of a neutral to slightly basic layer of sand/clay mix that extends downward to a clay hardpan at a depth of 45 to 80 inches. Drainage is somewhat poor with a water table that is at times within 24 inches of the soil surface.

The 1st order of business was to improve the drainage of the property which was accomplished with a well placed ditch down the length of the property’s eastern edge. Additional ditches will be dug in close proximity to the grove site later this summer. Grove will consist of 14 raised beds and rows that are 3ft high, 200ft long, and 20ft apart.

I'll be adopting many of the the ACPS practices that are being trialed in the citrus belt as well as high tunnels for the later maturing scions.

I've also gone ahead and contracted with Farkas citrus nursery in Plant City Fl to propagate the trees for me. all 293 of them have been budded as of present and will be ready for delivery next spring. All of the scions were budded on one of 5 rootstocks that will be trialed – I chose: Flying Dragon, US-942, US-897, Kinkoji, & Sour Orange. The entire order consisted of the following scion/rootstock combinations:

# Scion Rootstock
24 x Sugar Belle Flying Dragon
24 x Sugar Belle US 897
20 x Sugar Belle Sour Orange
4 x Sugar Belle Kinkoji
2 x Sugar Belle US 942
10 x Minneola Flying Dragon
5 x Minneola Sour Orange
10 x Minneola US 897
2 x Minneola Kinkoji
2 x Minneola US 942
4 x Owari Sat F-60-23 Flying Dragon
4 x Owari Sat F-60-23 US 897
4 x Owari Sat 874 Flying Dragon
4 x Owari Sat 874 US 897
4 x Owari Sat 25 Flying Dragon
4 x Owari Sat 25 US 897
2 x Owari Kinkoji
2 x Owari US 942
2 x Owari Sour Orange
11 x Tango C-35
11 x Tango US 897
2 x Tango Sour Orange
2 x Tango US 942
12 x Brown Select Sat Flying Dragon
12 x Brown Select Sat US 897
2 x Brown Select Sat US 942
2 x Brown Select Sat Kinkoji
2 x Brown Select Sour Orange
4 x Ponkan Flying Dragon
4 x Ponkan US 897
2 x Ponkan Sour Orange
2 x Ponkan Kinkoji
4 x Shiranui Flying Dragon
4 x Shiranui US 897
2 x Shiranui Sour Orange
2 x Shiranui Kinkoji
2 x Shiranui US 942
3 x US Early Pride Flying Dragon
3 x US Early Pride US 897
3 x Xie Shan Sat Flying Dragon
3 x Xie Shan Sat US 897
2 x Xie Shan US 942
3 x Kimbrough Sat Flying Dragon
3 x Kimbrough Sat US 897
3 x Kishu Sdless Flying Dragon
2 x Kishu Sdless US 897
1 x Kishu Sdless Sour Orange
1 x Kishu Sdless US 942
3 x Pixie Mandarin Flying Dragon
3 x Pixie Mandarin US 897
1 x Pixie Mandarin Sour Orange
2 x Pixie US 942
3 x Gold Nugget Flying Dragon
3 x Gold Nugget US 897
1 x Gold Nugget Sour Orange
2 x Gold Nugget US 942
3 x Page Flying Dragon
3 x Page US 897
1 x Page US 897
2 x Hirando Butan Pumello Sour Orange
2 x Hirando Butan Pumello Swingle
2 x Budd Blood DPI-82 Sour Orange
2 x Budd Blood DPI-82 Swingle
2 x Cara Cara Navel Sour Orange
2 x Cara Cara Navel C-35
2 x Glen Navel 11 Sour Orange
2 x Glen Navel 11 C-35
2 x Meyer Lemon Sour Orange
2 x Meyer Lemon Swingle

More to come…

Best,

Skinn30a

This sounds fantastic. I can't wait to hear more about it. That's putting your money where your mouth is ! Best wishes. Tom

Did you buy more land?

Skinn,

this sounds very interesting! Please, keep us all updated on your process.

Meanwhile, I have two questions:
1) what is the reason for such high beds (3 feet)? Was it a typo?
2) are you planning to get rid of unsatisfactory rootstocks in the future?

Thank you for sharing and best of luck!

GT,

Not a typo, 3ft beds are necessary given the high water table. The elevated beds and lower furrows will allow for better drainage in the grove. Good information here: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch165 . As far as the rootstocks go, this initial planting will be proceeded by others that will consist of the rootstock/scion combinations that do best. Since I've got a relatively small footprint, my primary niche will be the local fresh fruit market (roadside stand, farmer's market, local restaurants) for that reason, I'm heavy in Sugarbells, Tangos, & Minneolas. There's a very strong and growing satsuma presence in the region so I want to try and enter with a unique product.

Laaz,

Yes, I got some more land. It's getting too crowded @ the beach so we're going to push up to the north a tad. Still close to the ocean though...I can hop off my tractor and be soaking in the Gulf of Mexico in less than 20mins. Best of both worlds in my opinion...;)

Best,

Skinn30a

Sounds good. Let us know how it goes.

Nice variety choices. I'm hoping my Sugar Belle holds some fruit this year. I wish I had as much land as you. Good luck.