FREE CITRUS TREE REMOVAL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A deadly citrus tree disease called Huanglongbing has infected dozens of citrus trees in Southern California. The disease is not harmful to humans, but it kills orange, mandarin, lemon, kumquat, and other citrus trees. All citrus trees in the area are in danger.
It is important to properly manage pests on your citrus tree and routinely inspect for the disease. This special care may seem like a burden. If you no longer enjoy your citrus tree or do not want to routinely fight pests and disease, the tree should be removed. Removing unwanted citrus trees helps prevent Huanglongbing from spreading in the community. Luckily, there is a free service to make tree removal easy and convenient.
Call 1-844-STOP-HLB (1-844-786-7452) to have your citrus tree removed for FREE. California citrus farmers are sponsoring this program specifically for residents in Orange County and Los Angeles County.
Huanglongbing, also known as HLB, is a devastating plant disease that kills citrus trees. While not harmful to humans, the disease is fatal for all varieties of citrus. The disease is spread by an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid as it feeds from tree to tree.
HLB was first discovered in California in 2012 in the Hacienda Heights area of Los Angeles County. Since then, the disease has been detected in over 1,200 backyard trees in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and Riverside, putting all citrus trees in Southern California at risk. The Asian citrus psyllid pest is found throughout California and could quickly spread the disease.
The best way to protect citrus trees from HLB is to stop the Asian citrus psyllid and to quickly eliminate the disease from the environment. Once a tree is infected with HLB, it will die. Diseased trees need to be removed in order to protect other citrus trees on the property, neighbors’ trees, and the community’s citrus.
As their names indicate, the Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing are not native to the United States. The pest and disease were first discovered in Asia and have since spread to other continents. Throughout the world, the disease has many names, including Huanglongbing, HLB, citrus greening disease, yellow shoot disease, and yellow dragon disease. It is important to never bring citrus plant cuttings, fruit, or trees from these areas into California.
A symptom of HLB is asymmetrical yellowing on leaves, meaning the discoloration is not the same on both sides of the leaf.
Fruit from an infected tree does not ripen. It stays green, small, hard, and bitter.
Fighting Citrus Greening
U.S. growers from coast to coast look for ways to battle citrus greening and the vector that spreads it.
For now, there is no cure for HLB, and no resistant citrus varieties are available. Management is difficult, but certain strategies can slow the spread of the disease. These include planting disease-free nursery stock, removing infected trees, managing psyllids, and promoting root health.
“Many a boogeyman has spooked citrus growers over the years,” says John Taylor, coastal agronomic service representative for Syngenta. “But citrus greening and its impact on the industry isn’t folklore. It has the potential to put people out of business.”
Citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), is a systemic bacterial disease that has ravaged the citrus industries in India, China and Southeast Asia for decades. Currently, there is no cure, and citrus trees that contract the disease die in as little as five years. With symptoms that initially look very similar to nutrient deficiencies, HLB often goes undetected. By the time it is properly diagnosed, the disease has often spread to many of the surrounding trees.
Hard-to-Detect Symptoms
For U.S. growers, HLB is threatening the heart of citrus production, including Florida, Texas and, most recently, California. Because the disease has inflicted significant damage in the Florida market with 2012 yield losses hovering around 15 percent, growers in Texas and California are on high alert.
When it comes to fighting HLB, growers face some unique challenges. For starters, HLB-infected citrus trees do not show symptoms during the first year of infection, so there is a long period of time when a grower cannot visually detect an infected tree—but the tree is still a source of bacteria that can spread to other trees via the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri).
Once symptoms begin to manifest, they can resemble common nutrient deficiencies. Leaf yellowing, misshapen fruit that do not ripen, premature fruit drop and root dieback are all symptoms of HLB, which is caused by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter L. asiaticus. The bacterial infection impedes the tree’s vascular system and inhibits the movement of nutrients.
A Dangerous Pair
Interestingly, these menacing bacteria need help to spread. “The bacterium can live and persist in a plant. But until it comes in contact with a vector, nothing really happens,” says Jim Graham, Ph.D., professor of soil microbiology at the University of Florida Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. “Unfortunately, that can create a period when many people do not realize the disease is on their doorstep.” However, when a vector, such as the Asian citrus psyllid, interacts with the HLB-causing bacteria, their union can quickly cause a major epidemic in the citrus industry.
The reproductive and feeding habits of the psyllid make it the perfect carrier of the bacterium. An infected or “hot” psyllid creates a localized infection when it feeds and transmits the bacterium into a citrus tree. It does not take long for the bacterium to spread throughout the plant, but the inoculum is first concentrated in the leaves and stems where the infected psyllid feeds. Female psyllids lay eggs in the same region where they feed. If these females are infected, their nymphs, which begin feeding in the infected area of the tree when they hatch, eventually acquire the bacterium, molt to the winged adult stage and disperse taking it along with them.
Once infected, psyllids are disease carriers for the rest of their lives. They can travel miles under their own power, by air currents or as hitchhikers on harvested fruit. Controlling psyllids has become one of the primary strategies to prevent the spread of HLB.
Managing an Incurable Problem
For now, there is no cure for HLB, and no resistant citrus varieties are available. Management is difficult, but certain strategies can slow the spread of the disease. These include planting disease-free nursery stock, removing infected trees, managing psyllids and promoting root health.
To make sure growers begin with HLB-free citrus trees, Florida has established a production model where all citrus seedlings must be produced in enclosed greenhouses. The overall U.S. citrus nursery industry is moving in that direction as well.
Identifying and removing infected trees are big challenges. In Florida, the disease was so widespread by the time it was detected, eradication was impractical. In California and Texas, researchers are pursuing more efficient ways to detect the disease in trees not yet exhibiting symptoms and are hoping early awareness of HLB will prevent the rapid advancement of the disease that Florida has faced.
The Way Forward
Neonicotinoid insecticides are one option for psyllid management. Growers and applicators can make neonicotinoid applications to the soil and as a foliar spray to suppress psyllids. But, as Elizabeth Grafton-Cardwell, Ph.D., entomologist and director of the Lindcove Research and Extension Center for the University of California, Riverside, points out, “The real beauty of neonicotinoids is that they are anti-feedants, so psyllids don’t want to feed on trees treated with them.” This is an important factor in preventing HLB spread, because the psyllid needs to feed to pick up the bacteria.
Taylor recommends that Florida citrus growers soil-apply neonicotinoids every six weeks and in between make foliar applications of insecticides with different modes of action. Thiamethoxam, the active ingredient in Platinum® 75 SG insecticide, is a neonicotinoid with good solubility that allows for faster uptake by trees, which makes it a good choice during those times of year that are a little dry or when trees are less active.
Optimizing root health may also play a role. After initial transmission in the shoots, the HLB pathogen infects roots, where it extensively colonizes. This infection causes rapid fibrous root loss of 27 percent to 40 percent before symptoms in the canopy appear. Studies show that roots infected with Phytophthora ssp. may interact with the root bacterial infection to further damage roots.
To delay crop decline from this dual root disease threat, growers can implement a root health treatment program with Ridomil Gold® SL fungicide. Ridomil Gold has direct fungicidal activity against the Phytophthora root rot disease. Roots rapidly absorb the fungicide, which is then translocated throughout the root system, promoting root health and crop development.
One of the best weapons the citrus industry has against HLB is open communication. Growers and researchers who have experienced the disease are willing to share advice about what works and what does not.
“We’re fortunate in this industry to have so many educational opportunities and ways of getting information on HLB,” says Joby Sherrod, research & development/ technical services manager for A. Duda & Sons, Inc. “My advice? Be proactive. Do everything you can to detect HLB as early as possible and remove the infected trees, if feasible, all while managing the psyllid down to the lowest population levels possible.”
Lessons from Brazil
Citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), has impacted Brazilian citrus since 2004 when researchers first detected the disease in the southeastern part of the country. Marcos Pozzan, stewardship manager and citrus specialist in Brazil for Syngenta, has partnered with local experts and growers to help develop the country’s HLB management strategy. “We work with three pillars, none more important than the other: Produce healthy trees, manage the vector, and eliminate the inoculum source or the infected trees as soon as possible,” he says.
The U.S. citrus industry now uses much of this strategy. For example, Florida adopted Brazil’s greenhouse production infrastructure to ensure seedlings planted into citrus groves are HLB-free. Soil drenches and foliar applications of neonicotinoid insecticides play a key role in managing psyllids in both Brazil and the U.S.
The large size of Brazilian citrus farms led to the implementation of area-wide management strategies, with some encouraging results. Jim Graham, Ph.D., professor of soil microbiology at the University of Florida Citrus Research and Education Center, describes a success story of a 14,000-acre Brazilian citrus farm that identified and removed infected trees. The farm treated its citrus, as well as the citrus of neighboring farms within two kilometers of its borders, for psyllids. Within one year, the farm cut its HLB incidence from 10 percent per year to less than 2 percent. This example and others like it are encouraging to such areas as California, where HLB has made only an isolated appearance—and Florida, where the disease has made a greater impact.
Still, Graham recommends caution. “Brazil has had Asian citrus psyllids since the 1940s, but it wasn’t until a few years ago the bacterium was introduced and caused an epidemic,” he says. “That shows how quickly it can happen—something worth remembering in citrus-producing areas of the U.S. not yet facing this epidemic.”
Is a coconut a fruit, nut or seed?
Botanically speaking, a coconut is a fibrous one-seeded drupe, also known as a dry drupe. However, when using loose definitions, the coconut can be all three: a fruit, a nut, and a seed.
Botanists love classification. However, classification of plants can be a complicated matter for the average person. Coconuts are classified as a fibrous one-seeded drupe. A drupe is a fruit with a hard stony covering enclosing the seed (like a peach or olive) and comes from the word drupa meaning overripe olive. A coconut, and all drupes, have three layers: the exocarp (outer layer), the mesocarp (fleshy middle layer), and the endocarp (hard, woody layer that surrounds the seed).
The coconut we buy in the store does not resemble the coconut you find growing on a coconut palm. An untouched coconut has three layers. The outermost layer, which is typically smooth with a greenish color, is called the exocarp. The next layer is the fibrous husk, or mesocarp, which ultimately surrounds the hard woody layer called the endocarp. The endocarp surrounds the seed. Generally speaking, when you buy a coconut at the supermarket the exocarp and the mesocarp are removed and what you see is the endocarp.
Some scientists like to refer to the coconut as a water dispersal fruit and seed. A seed is the reproductive unit of a flowering plant. From a reproductive point of view, a seed has the “baby” plant inside, with two basic parts: the embryo root (hypocotyl) and the embryo leaves (epicotyl). In the coconut’s case, if you look at one end of the coconut, you’ll see three pores (also called eyes). The coconut seed germinates and a shoot emerges from one of the pores. In addition to the “baby” plant in the seed, there is the food to kick off its life called the endosperm. The endosperm is what makes up most of the seed and, in the coconut’s case, is the yummy white stuff we eat.
The word coconut itself can also be confusing because the word “nut” is contained in the word. A nut can be defined as a one- seeded fruit. With that loose definition, a coconut can also be a nut. However, a coconut is not a true nut. A true nut, such as the acorn, are indehiscent or do not open at maturity to release its seeds. The seeds are released when the fruit wall decays or are digested by an animal.
Some scientists like to refer to the coconut as a water dispersal fruit and seed. A seed is the reproductive unit of a flowering plant. From a reproductive point of view, a seed has the “baby” plant inside, with two basic parts: the embryo root (hypocotyl) and the embryo leaves (epicotyl). In the coconut’s case, if you look at one end of the coconut, you’ll see three pores (also called eyes). The coconut seed germinates and a shoot emerges from one of the pores. In addition to the “baby” plant in the seed, there is the food to kick off its life called the endosperm. The endosperm is what makes up most of the seed and, in the coconut’s case, is the yummy white stuff we eat.
The word coconut itself can also be confusing because the word “nut” is contained in the word. A nut can be defined as a one- seeded fruit. With that loose definition, a coconut can also be a nut. However, a coconut is not a true nut. A true nut, such as the acorn, are indehiscent or do not open at maturity to release its seeds. The seeds are released when the fruit wall decays or are digested by an animal.
Yet another interesting aspect of the coconut that has baffled scientists for over 200 years is where did it originate? Is it of Old World or New World origin? Scientists have used art, botany, entomology, etymology, folklore, fossils, genetics, and travel records to try to figure out where the coconut first appeared.
Odoardo Beccari, a renowned palm specialist from the early 20th century, suggests that the coconut is of Old World origin and more than likely came from the Indian Archipelago or Polynesia. To strengthen his argument, there are more varieties of coconut palms in the Eastern hemisphere than in the Americas.
A Manila dwarf coconut palm on the grounds of the Tropical Agriculture Research Station in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Florida – Coconut Grove. George Barker, photographer, 1891. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
A Peace Corps Volunteer prepares a coconut with her counterpart in Tonga. External link Peace Corps Flickr Photostream.
Interesting Coconut Facts
- Every bit of the coconut is used. As a result, coconuts are called the “Tree of Life” and can produce drink, fiber, food, fuel, utensils, musical instruments, and much more.
- When intra-venous (IV) solution was in short supply, doctors during World War II and Vietnam used coconut water in substitution of IV solutions.
- Botanically, the coconut palm is not a tree since there is no bark, no branches, or secondary growth. A coconut palm is a woody perennial monocotyledon with the trunk being the stem.
- Possibly the oldest reference is from Cosmas, a 5th century AD Egyptian traveler. He wrote about the “Indian nut” or “nut of India” after visiting India and Ceylon. Some scholars believe Cosmas was describing a coconut.
- Soleyman, an Arab merchant, visited China in the 9th century and describes the use of coir fiber and toddy made from coconuts.
- In the 16th century, Sir Francis Drake called coconut “nargils”, which was the common term used until the 1700’s when the word coconut was established.
- It takes 11 -12 months for the coconut to mature.
- At one time scientists identified over 60 species of Cocos palm. Today, the coconut is a monotypic with one species, nucifera. However, there are over 80 varieties of coconut palms, which are defined by characteristics such as dwarf and tall.
- Coconut growing regions are as far north as Hawaii and as far south as Madagascar.
Oak leaves contain a potential cure for a citrus greening disease
By: Paul Brinkmann
ORLANDO, Florida, Jan. 29, 2020 (UPI) — Scientists in Florida have confirmed what some citrus growers suspected for years — that oak trees could inhibit citrus greening disease, which has brought the once-thriving Florida industry to the brink of collapse.
Oak leaves represent “the first potential organic cure” for the destructive tree sickness, said Lorenzo Rossi, a University of Florida biologist and co-author of a study published in the January issue of the journal Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.
Research over the past year at a University of Florida greenhouse in Fort Pierce showed that citrus trees recovered from citrus greening when sprayed and drenched with treated water twice a week for two months. The water was treated by steeping chopped oak leaves in it overnight, allowing leaf compounds to leach out, according to the published findings.
The findings bring new hope to Florida’s citrus growers, said Andrew Meadows, director of communication at Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade association.
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“We all are watching closely, and it sounds promising,” Meadows said. “This has been a curiosity in the industry for a year now” as word of the study traveled through the farming community. “Growers knew that oak trees provided some protection, but not why.”
Decrease of bacteria
According to the oak leaf study findings, citrus leaves treated with oak extracts showed a decrease in the presence of bacteria with more chlorophyll and plant nutrition. Treated trees were better able to digest nutrients than were citrus plants treated only with water.
RELATED: Florida grapefruit growers take risks on new plants in a bid to save the industry
Citrus greening was discovered in Florida groves around 2005, according to the University of Florida. Some groves have been wiped out since then, and acreage dropped to 387,100 acres in 2019 from 679,000 in 2004.
Industry experts say the decline mostly is attributable to citrus greening, although other contributing factors, such as sprawling development, come into play. The disease arrived with a bug, the Asian citrus psyllid, which bites leaves or young branches of trees to eat their sap.
The sickness renders orange or grapefruit trees worthless — branches die at the end, leaves turn yellow with dark blotches, and the fruit becomes bitter.
RELATED: Dogs find citrus greening disease faster than humans
Growers tried a wide variety of defenses besides pesticides with little effect. Previous approaches included spraying the trees with kaolin clay, covering them with screening, releasing a wasp from Asia that eats the psyllid, and studying guava trees for resistant compounds. But citrus greening kept spreading.
Central Florida grower Edward James, whose grove is about 40 miles northwest of downtown Orlando, said he knew about the benefits of having an oak tree near citrus trees. But he cautioned that oak leaves are not the only solution.
Better than pesticides
“Oakleaf does work, and it’s a lot better way to manage this than what we’ve been doing by spraying pesticides, among other things,” James said. “But that’s not the only solution. There’s no one magic bullet.”
James said citrus trees that grow wild in forests, though rare, have survived citrus greening. Besides oak trees, he has focused on cover crops, which entails growing other plants in the rows between citrus, like legumes, that restore nitrogen naturally to the soil. James has hosted demonstrations at his farm for the University of Florida.
There still is a long way to go in understanding the success of the oak leaf study, Rossi said. For example, the university’s research was limited because it took place with young trees kept in a greenhouse.
“We are mimicking what happens in nature the best we can,” Rossi said. “There are no artificial chemicals. It’s organic and natural.”
The research now will focus on isolating the compound or group of compounds in the leaves that inhibit the disease, he said.
“We’re also exploring oak mulch among other methods of delivering oak compounds,” Rossi said.
Oranges show signs of citrus greening disease.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Photo of an Oak Leaf
Citrus Leaders Want Chinese Imports Decision Reversed
Leaders of citrus and other agricultural groups in Florida joined Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in strongly opposing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent decision to allow fresh Chinese citrus imports into the United States.
An April 21 letter that Fried wrote to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue stated in part, “The dire situation on the ground due to COVID-19 market disruptions is exacerbating the decades-long impact that illegal dumping of Mexican produce has had on domestic producers of seasonal produce … After all that Florida’s industry has overcome and the current challenges facing our farmers, to put our agriculture industry at risk by allowing both the introduction of additional invasive species as well as increased foreign competition is beyond misguided. To kick our agriculture community while they are down, and when our domestic food supply depends on them more than ever, is just plain wrong. I strongly urge the USDA to put the well-being of Florida’s and America’s farmers first and rescind this misguided proposal.”
See Fried’s letter here.
An April 21 Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services release about Fried’s letter also included comments from Florida Citrus Mutual and Florida Farm Bureau leaders.
“The Florida citrus industry is already facing a devastating non-native disease called HLB that originated in China and has ravaged our groves over the past decade. So the threat is real,” stated Florida Citrus Mutual CEO Mike Sparks. “We need to take another look at this decision. Add to the fact it will hurt growers by flooding domestic markets with Chinese citrus and it really is a double whammy.”
“Florida Farm Bureau appreciates USDA’s work to keep domestic producers in business during the current COVID-19 crisis, but the importation of Chinese citrus will only compound the mounting challenges faced by our growers,” added Florida Farm Bureau Federation President John Hoblick. “Our citrus industry cannot afford this setback.”
Highlands County Citrus Growers Association Executive Director Ray Royce in an April 17 letter asked Perdue to reverse the decision to allow the importation of fresh citrus from China. Royce wrote that the whole U.S. citrus industry is “frankly baffled by this pronouncement and the USDA’s dismissal of industry concerns … Florida’s growers within the past several years have begun, with the scientific and financial assistance of the USDA, to envision a path forward in the presence of HLB, started replanting existing groves, and commenced planning for expansion of new grove acreage. This USDA action provides a clear disincentive to expand domestic citrus operations. The result will also facilitate an expansion of the already significant loss of many growers, packer, processor, and ancillary business-related jobs across our state and other citrus regions.”
See more reactions from California and other Florida citrus industry leaders to the USDA decision on Chinese citrus imports here.
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