Sunday, January 7, 2018

Citrus Freeze Damage and What you Should or Should Not do

     The start of 2018 has been anything but happy here in the Southeast. January 3rd we started with freezing rain, ending with snow. In some places of the Lowcountry, up to 7 inches of the white stuff fell. As of today, January 7th, there are still roads covered in ice, inches of snow on the ground, and business' closed. The good news is, tomorrow, Monday, we are in for a real warm spell and by the end of the week be at 70 degrees.
     I have received many e-mails, phone calls, and messages on Facebook asking if the citrus trees are going to be okay here in Charleston? The best answer I can give them, maybe. Some of it depends on whether the cold weather we had prior to this long cold/snow spell was enough to get them to go into their semi-dormancy. Another factor will be if the tree was healthy going into all of this.
     Here is a list of what to possibly expect, what is happening, and what you should and shouldn't do.


     Freeze damage on citrus trees occurs when the water inside the fruit, leaves, twigs, and wood
of a tree freezes rupturing the cell membranes. Unlike deciduous trees which protect
themselves from the cold by shedding their leaves in the fall and entering a dormant state,
citrus trees continue growing year-round. Extended periods of cool weather prior to a
freeze may allow a citrus tree to prepare, by going into a semi-dormancy. This is why sharp freezes following warm weather are more damaging than gradual temperature changes. Virtually all
freezes will cause damage of some kind. Regardless of what steps you take, there are
times when nothing you have done helps and your citrus is damaged by any freezes. However,
as long as the damage is not too severe, your tree can recover!
     One of the keys to dealing with freeze damage is not to do something right away but to
wait awhile until the extent of the damage becomes apparent. In some instances, twig and
branch death from a severe freeze can continue for as long as several months after an event. Act too soon and you run the risk of either pruning away parts of your tree that can recover on their own or missing parts that look healthy enough at first glance but are really fatally damaged.
   
   
     The appearance of citrus leaves damaged by freezing can be a little deceptive in that
they can appear firm and green at the outset. It is only later, as they thaw, that they
soften and droop, very much like the picture above. In instances where the damage is not severe, freeze-damaged leaves can recover. However, if the damage is fatal, the leaves will lose their structure completely, dry out and fall.While alarming, leaf fall alone does not indicate tree
death. If the wood remains healthy, the tree will recover and put out new growth in the
spring. As for twigs, the damage will almost invariably result in leaf death. In
the case of serious damage, the leaves will dry out but may stay attached for a time,
several weeks in some cases. If the twig is not badly damaged, the leaves will
fall more rapidly.
     Signs of freezing damage in branches and trunks include the loosening and splitting of
bark. Patches of damage may appear oozing canker-like areas, occasionally mistaken for
the disease gummosis. Keep an eye out for this, especially being that it looks like it will be a quick warm up.
     The first step in the pruning process is to wait until late spring or the summer following the winter the damage occurred. This will give you time to assess the damage. Many times the dead wood on a twig or branch will become a grayish color, that is an easy way to tell where to prune. 
     In addition, freeze-damaged trees occasionally put out a false start of new growth in the
early spring which soon dies back. What is happening here is, the damage is farther down the branch than expected. It warms up and the leaves want to start flushing out. The stored energy between the damaged branch and the growth tip is quickly used up and it can't receive any deliveries from the root system, so it dies.  Delaying pruning until after this could occur will save you time and energy.


     In very severe cases, a citrus tree may be damaged all the way to the ground. In such
cases, the root area may still put out new growth and the tree may, in time, recover. The above picture shows that, what I thought was a completely gone tree, sent a new shoot up from the roots. I knew this tree was on its own roots, so I allowed it to grow and be prosperous again. It took about 3 years before I saw fruit.
      However, if the original tree was grafted and the tree is killed off below the graft, any
resulting new growth will be of the variety of the rootstock and not of the graft or
scion. It will be up to you to decide whether to re-graft, allow the rootstock to
continue growing or start over again. Be very observant of the leaves that come up, if they look like this:


It is either Poncirus trifoliata or some hybrid of Poncirus. The fruit will be edible, just not really tasty.
     If you have any doubt as to whether your citrus will come back or not, time is the only thing that will tell. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this article or any of my others.
If you want to ask me anything in an e-mail or send me pictures, you can do that via this address TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com.
You can follow me on Facebook.
Or touch base with me on my new Website
Happy Growing!
Darren

35 comments:

  1. It is winter time again, and people may be reading this post, so I just wanted to say, when you think the citrus tree is dead, give it a little longer, just to make sure. I have an in ground tree that lost its cover on the coldest night of the year (14 Degrees F), I thought I had lost the tree, but kept putting off cutting it down, it finally started leafing out in mid August of that year, and while I did end up cutting back about 1/3 of the tree due to dead wood, if I had acted earlier I would have cut it down to the ground.

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    Replies
    1. Excellent Point, Ike!
      Thank You!

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    2. I've never heard of a citrus coming back after all that time. Did the tree survive after it started growing again in August?

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    3. My six year old Meyer lemon was exposed to 10 degree weather with a strong wind for a few hours and died back hard about 6 weeks ago. The leaves didn't auto senesce and stayed attached to the tree which has been safely indoors since. The tree doesn't have a single leaf and has shown no signs of life from either root stock or scion... How long would you wait before calling it? I'm in the NW highlands of New Mexico and usually my trees respond to the lengthening days now to May / June. I keep my citrus in a sunny south facing window and have been taking care to water when the top 3 inches or so of the soil is dry

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    4. Scratch a little of the bark and see if you see green. If none, then pull plug.

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  2. I have a 4 yo late navel orange tree that lost all its cover in this last freeze (2021/texas). Unfortunately, it had already started budding prior as it was unseasonably warm. Now all the leaves are gone but there is growth near the bottom of the trunk. I never heard of grafting before but I wonder if this tree was cause it almost looks like a splice at the base were new growth is coming out. I suppose I will hold out hope that the upper section may leaf in the fall but perhaps this is wishful thinking. Any advice would be appreciated!

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    Replies
    1. Can you send me pictures of the new growth?
      TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

      Delete
  3. Great article..26 years leaving in San Antonio, and I never have seen so many citrus plant affected by the past freeze..I lost few olders trees and some new ones..I wonder if is better to start with a new plant because the new growth will compromises the structure of the damaged tree...

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    Replies
    1. Honestly, I would wait and see.
      The trees are more resilient than we think. They tend to be able to balance themselves out, most of the time.

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  4. I am also in Texas post freeze and I have two citrus trees doing the same thing! There are weird growths at the base of the tree. Any ideas on if they should be pulled up? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  5. Good morning, Amber.
    Can you send me pictures of the leaves?
    TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm in Houston and my 30 year old tree still has all its freezer-burned leaves but lost the fruit within days of the freeze. Now there are splits in the trunk and a little new growth at the base. I haven't seen any oozing yet, but I'll be sure to check. This tree is as tall as my 2-story house so I'd hate to lose it.

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    Replies
    1. Hopefully, the new growth is it coming back and not the rootstock. If you can send me pictures of the leaves of the new growth I might be able to tell. Send them to TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

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    2. Thank you, Darren. I will do that.

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    3. What was the diagnosis on this. Exactly what I have going on.

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  7. I have a 15yr old grapefruit tree that was in the texas freeze it has never list all of its leaves, still no sign of new growth but trunck is still green any input?

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    Replies
    1. Just give it time, it will come back when/if it is ready. This whole freeze thing has me baffled, I have NEVER heard of so much death and destruction as this one has caused. Hopefully, it was a every 100 years type event

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. I have three orange trees also suffering the Texas 2021 freeze. They have lost all their leaves, they look like spooky Halloween trees now, bare. And just today I spotted some white patches on the base of one of them. I don't want to lose them, we've been very patient and not wanting to cut them down, not sure they will come back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you send some pictures?
      TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

      Delete
  10. Hi Darren, great article and thank you! Same boat here as recent comments—Texas freeze, lost all dozen of our orange/grapefruit/mandarin trees. One has growth from rootstock, but it appears different. I’ll email pics as instructed.

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  11. Here it is May along the southern border of Texas, and my severely damaged lime tree has put out some tiny leaves, but only on the south side of the tree. A few shoots appeared on the north side, but they died. I am afraid it has suffered too much damage to recover. What to you suggest? I have already pruned the dead branches. The tree is probably 20 years old.

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    Replies
    1. Nancy, can you send me some pics of the leaves that have appeared?
      TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

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    2. I have the same issue I emailed you photo this morning

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  12. I’m a little south of Houston, and I’m happy to see leaves sprouting, mostly on the south side of my Owari Satsuma. However, some of the leaves that put out are dying, and some don’t look great. Should I be feeding the tree in this situation? I have heard different ideas about feeding freeze damaged plants. Also, I haven’t done much pruning. Is it okay to wait or does it help the tree to prune the dead branches? This is an established tree, at least 15 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you send me pics?
      Especially the new growth.
      TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

      In the meantime, you can probably cut the dead wood off, I believe it has been enough time to see where the tree is still alive.

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  13. I had to cut my orange trees that where really bad freeze and now they are sprouting leaves on the bottom of the tree I did not cut the them all the way down pass the graft will they come back are not can you tell me

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  14. Can you send me pictures of the leaves?
    TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

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  15. Hello. I am so glad I ran across this thread. I have a grapefruit tree that is about 13 years old and it is not looking good after this last freeze. I live in Cibolo, just north of San Antonio, so the freeze has really injured my tree but I need to know if it will recover. The tree was grown from a Ruby Red seed and fruited for the first time 4 years ago. We have thoroughly enjoyed the fruit and the tree has somewhat of a sentimental value. It was an accidental growth from a spit out seed while working with my brother in my newly built house. I have taken pictures of what it looks like today and what it looked like prior to the freeze, please tell me your expert opinion on the status of my tree. I have sent the pictures to your email address.

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  16. Another Texas 2021 freeze problem. Both of my orange trees lost all of their leaves in February. Not a single sign of life on any branch. The main branches are not brittle. But no sign of any life. One tree's trunk has developed a whitish color near the base and is peeling. Any thoughts on whether to do anything but wait?

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    Replies
    1. As we are now towards the end of May, and there is still no life, I am afraid it is time to pull the blanket over the patient and start over.
      Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

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  17. These posts are very helpful. I'm also a Houston freeze victim. So my Meyer Lemon froze. We left it along till Mid-april when it started sprouting stalks from the trunk base. I will send you picture, but, thanks to your very helpful posts, I think the tree was grafted and the new growth is the trifolata you referenced above. ASSUMING that this is still good growth which I want to keep (hoping my question will help others), I presume I should not allow five, six or even more stalks to grow as that is draining energy. Should I focus on just two stalks and trim the rest? Hope you get the gist of the issue. Many thanks,
    A

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  18. Thank you for this post. My very mature lemon and grapefruit trees froze in 2021 and again this winter snap. With all the rain they are coming back like crazy. The lemon is coming back from the ground, and has about 20+ long shoots, now about 5 feet tall. Should I let it keep all those shoots, or should I cut away some and leave just the few strongest ones?

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    Replies
    1. Tess, can you send me pictures of the leaves? Hopefully, it is not rootstock. E-mail them to TheCitrusGuy@netzero.net

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