As winter transitions to spring, it is important to monitor irrigation needs in citrus. This is especially true in Florida, where nearly all trees are infected with HLB. Irrigation was a topic of discussion during the March episode of the All In For Citrus podcast.

Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, says this is a key time to be thinking about irrigation and how it will affect next year’s yields.

“We’ve come out of a time where it has been relatively wet. It is not evenly distributed rain throughout the season, but for the central and south part of the state, we are anywhere from a little above normal to as much as 4 inches above normal rainfall,” Rogers says. “So, we’ve come out of a pretty good winter compared to past years. That is good news to help these trees recovery a little bit and deal with things post-hurricanes. But right now, we are approaching what is typically the driest time of year and when we start seeing the temperatures rise.”

According to Rogers, all of this occurs while bloom is happening, so now is a critical time for irrigation and not letting trees experience water deficits. Proper irrigation can be the key factor in setting the crop for the coming year.

With the root loss trees have experienced due to HLB, more frequent irrigation is even more important because there are fewer roots in the ground to absorb moisture. Rogers reviews some other key irrigation considerations during the episode.

Lauren Diepenbrock, UF/IFAS entomologist, also joins the podcast to talk about bugs and snails. She shares tips on scouting and management of the pests.

Don’t miss the March episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.