News Features

Local Grove Sees Protective Coverings To Fight Greening

“We are trying really hard up there.”
   Lake County citrus has declined precipitously in the last decade, with HLB - also known as citrus greening - decimating the industry here and statewide. But count Mark Giles among the group who is not giving up on the industry here.
   Giles is in grove care, and among the parcels he oversees is a 60-acre parcel of trees along Baker Road between Altoona and Umatilla. The grove has become notable both for the fact that its trees appear to be able to survive greening, and that a section of trees isn't visible. That group, about ten acres of Rio Red grapefruit, have been placed under small tents that restrict access to the psyllid that transmits greening.
   The system has been growing in use in recent years, and is one of the many ideas being forwarded by researchers attempting to reduce greening’s impact. In this process, the trees are placed inside a small tent-like fabric structure that allows light in but dissuades psyllid.
   “It’s like a little greenhouse effect,” Giles said this week, describing a unit that features a center, fiberglass pole placed near the tree trunk, with the fabric draped over the tree. A small opening at the bottom allows for microjet watering, as well as fertilizer to be applied.
   “It keeps the psyllid off it and gives young trees a chance,” Giles said of the covering. “They don’t want to fly upwards through the opening, and the fabric helps by keeping water from evaporating so fast and it helps fertilizer stay in place.”
   Giles said the tents can remain in place throughout a tree's younger years, allowing them to grow and gain strength without the fatal assault of the HLB psyllid. The tents are just one tool, along with new tree varieties, fertilizing protocols, and other ideas that have been forwarded in an attempt to save the industry from greening. To date, results have been less than ideal, with the industry losing more than 90% of its production in the last 20 years.