This fact sheet has been prepared by IFAS faculty working with tropical fruit crops in an effort to assist growers manage their groves under conditions of flooding, high water tables, or drought. Although weather events cannot be controlled, becoming familiar with the effects of a high water table, flooding, or drought on tropical fruit crops may assist growers in managing their fruit trees so they survive these events with minimal or no damage. However, this process will be impacted by ground water levels, which are managed in south Florida, and thus are dependent on regional water management decisions.

Planning for a Successful Commercial Subtropical/Tropical Fruit Grove

Jonathan Crane, Yuncong Li, Edward Evans, Fredy Ballen, and Jeff Wasielewski

Planning is the key to successful grove establishment, maintenance, and production. Developing a detailed infrastructure description and plan, cultural program, and financial and marketing plan for a new or existing grove with a new fruit crop will save you time and money and help minimize mistakes. Prospective growers should compile and analyze information needed to select a grove site, establish the needed infrastructure, and develop maintenance plans for the plants and how the production will be marketed. This publication presents an outline of the type of information growers need when establishing a tropical fruit grove or contemplating management or modification of an existing grove.

Subtropical Peach Defoliation and Chill Hours

Jonathan Clavijo-Herrera and Ali Sarkhosh

Proper foliage management is a key factor in having a healthy peach orchard and producing high-quality fruit. However, this is not an easy task for Florida growers. The warm and humid climate throughout Florida’s growing season makes it difficult to keep peach leaf rust and bacterial spot under control, which could cause premature defoliation. On the other hand, leaves tend to stay attached to the tree well into late fall, when they should start senescing and dropping to allow sufficient accumulation of chilling, a process required for buds to break the dormant status and bloom in the next season. Understanding dormancy and preparing trees for this stage is critical in subtropical peach orchards. In this publication, we will discuss peach defoliation practices for peach trees growing under the subtropical climate of Florida to provide information to county and state Extension faculty, growers, and homeowners interested in peach production in Florida.

Perennial Peanut as a Potential Living Mulch and Nitrogen Source for Citrus and Other Orchard Crops in Florida

Muhammad A. Shahid, K. Leaks, Ann Blount, yCheryl Mackowiak

The concept of using a perennial peanut as a living mulch and source of biological nitrogen in fruit and nut crop orchards is not a new idea. In Central and South America, perennial peanuts have long been incorporated as a living groundcover into palm, coffee, cacao, plantain, and citrus, as well as into other fruit and nut production orchards. This cover crop may pose as a viable, environmentally-friendly option for production in Florida, too.

Citrus Reset Management

Stephen H. Futch

Replacement of dead and diseased trees in Florida citrus groves has always been an important part of citrus production. Today, tree replacement is more important than ever since overhead and production costs are escalating and a full stand of productive trees is essential to maximize production and profits. In more recent times, Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, has accelerated tree loss rates as well as the ability for growers to bring young citrus trees into production. This revised fact sheet discusses a wide range of techniques for providing young tree care. Many of these should prove useful to Florida citrus growers confronted with the problem of managing resets.

Oxytetracycline Injections in Citrus: Cost Estimates for Early Adopters

Shourish Chakravarty, Tara Wade, Ute Albrecht, Ozgur Batuman, yThomas H. Spreen

This publication provides per-tree and per-acre costs of adopting oxytetracycline (OTC) trunk injections for large-scale orange production in southwest Florida. The values represent the costs observed by early adopters (i.e., the 2023–24 season). This information will be helpful to citrus growers, Extension agents, and other citrus industry stakeholders interested in understanding the costs of trunk injection and OTC applications in tree crop production. The values shared are estimates; costs will vary depending on the operation’s application methods, products used, tree density, and other grove characteristics. Written by Shourish Chakravarty, Tara Wade, Ute Albrecht, Ozgur Batuman, and Thomas H. Spreen, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Food and Resource Economics, June 2025.