Couldn't wait another day after seeing all those pics of Ruby Red Grapefruits lately, so drove over to the Gulf Breeze Nursery this afternoon to peruse their Ruby Red trees for sale. I quickly forgot the smaller 15 gal trees after seeing the half dozen huge, larger-than-softball-sized ripe grapefruits on one of the large 40 gal trees. Then after hearing about the free delivery and the 10 % veterans discount, I was sold !

For better or worse I am back as a grapefruit growing farmer again. Needless to say, am keeping my fingers crossed big time,...hope my lust hasn't led me astray ! ( smile )

This tree will be it though, no more as my 1/4 acre is now maxed out,..well, almost ! No, seriously, bananas, mangos and grapefruits are all I can handle ! Am having the nursery guys plant it, have a stake in the ground showing 'em where,...can't wait !

Florida Grower magazine is available to read online. It is a trade publication with most of the content leaning towards citrus production and greening. From what I read a lot of the battle incorporates nutrition of the plant as well as insect control. You will probably find the advertisements as informative as the articles. Suppliers have a large stake in keeping this citrus production going as it is a main consumer for their products. As such they are doing their part to offer products that benefit the health of the tree.

This may sound crazy, but if you want to be sure, net the area around your tree. A net keeps the vector off your tree, which is how it is spread. I saw a 10 acre grove completely netted in Lake Wales. A 12x12 frame should last you several seasons. Bushing it out produces more fruit on a smaller tree anyway.

Thanks guys so much ! Carol, your advise was interesting. I am now registering and requesting those special wasps ! I just knew, despite the nursery guy's hollow sounding hype, that the citrus greening ( HLB ) was still a problem. After reading all of that info from The Dept of Agriculture, I am now going next door to request ( politely ) that my snow-bird widow neighbor allow me to dig up and dispose of those two citrus plants she has that have not produced anything in the last 4 years but still have a medium amount of green leaves.

Hopefully, over the next few months, I can spread this important info to all the residents of my large 55 + ( 900 + homes ) mobile home park here in Nirvan,..er, Englewood.

Just in, my next door neighbor, who returned from upper New York State only yesterday, has given me permission to dig up her two 5 ' tall scraggly citrus shrubs !! Making progress already !

We'll whip this disease in time,..I am confident !

FWIW, you could probably just cut the neighbor's trees off @ ground level and save your back...

My Rio Red grapefruit succumbed a few years back & that's what we did. I really miss that fruit!

Just in from my 89 yr old neighbor's back yard. Task : To dig up & remove two of her old, withered, wrinkled citrus shrubs that have been in the ground ( no fruit for last 4 yrs ) for over 12 yrs, - one 5 1/2 ' high, the other 7 ' high. The smaller one was a b - - - h !!! Full of a bajillion 3" long skinny, sharp green thorns that will easily cause some nasty wounds if not careful,....believe me I KNOW !!! After digging around the two roots a bit, realizing I'd be there forever using just a shovel, - I went inside and brought out my 14 " electric chain saw & long extension cord.

Sawed off both at the grass line, then dug down a bit all around the remaining stump and using my chain saw again, cut horizontally till another 3 " of the stump was off !!! Nothing now but a few scraggly, weak twigs spreading out. later on we applied a good dose of root killer. A hard start to the day for a retired grouchy old grizzly bear !!!

All's well now however, will have a clear conscience when that new Ruby Red Grapefruit tree gets planted sometime within the next few days,...will post a pic if possible !

Don't feel the need to work out for quite awhile now ! ( smile )

Bottom line however, we are hoping that the precautions we took by waiting over 5 years, and also by digging up the few old citrus stumps nearby, we have avoided another losing battle with Citrus Greening ! Shudder even thinking of what I went through 5 years ago, right in this backyard !!

Anyone out there know of someone who has been successfully growing a grapefruit tree in their backyard since 2013 ?

I've seen a few citrus tress planted by me within the last few years but results are not encouraging. That being said, I also couldn't stand it any more and just planted a small lime tree today. Hoping to get at least a few years out of it.

Anyone ever hear of using steam on the trees occasionally to help?

There was at least one article several years ago in Florida Grower magazine where trees were being tented and heat treated by capturing the heat of the sun. You may be able to find it in their archives or by doing a Google search.

We ordered some parasitic wasps that prey only on the nymphs that cause citrus greening from the Florida Dept of Agriculture. ( See Carol's recommendation above ). A free vial of tiny gnat sized wasps arrived on Thurs and were promptly released into the new 5 1/2 ft tall Ruby Red grapefruit tree we planted a week earlier.

Per the DOA, these little wasps will protect not only our tree but any citrus tree in the neighborhood. Thanks Carol, am hoping this will be a positive step toward finally elminating CG ! Whatever,...am feeling optimistic ! ( smile )

Hey Dunedindan, FWIW, my experiences over the last 9 yrs here in zone 10a on Florida's SW coast, has me of the opinion that citrus greening does not kill ALL citrus trees. Back in the fall of 2013 when I lost my precious 22 ' tall Ruby Red grapefruit tree to this scourge, I also had a 10 ' tall Key Lime tree that I had planted myself only 4 yrs earlier, just 40 ' away from the Ruby Red tree that was here when I bought in 2008.

The Ruby Red was a skeleton of itself by the fall of 2013, so cut it down then. The Key Lime tree however appeared fine, in fact it was growing robustly !!! That continued for another two years till by Dec/Jan of 2015/2016, it was 14 ft tall and producing AROUND 800 YELLOW LIMES at harvest time!!!! I couldn't handle all that as my friends and neighbors had decided they didn't care for them ! So I reluctantly cut down that thorny, magnificent, healthy tree in the spring of 2016.

This experience has me believing that citrus greening does not kill all citrus trees, especially Key Lime trees !!! LOL

So I think your new lime tree will be fine ! Just my two cents !

My mom's Key Lime did similarly, jofus. Until Irma broke off a big chunk, it was producing several crops yearly too. It's growing back now.

I attended a talk on Citrus Greening by Dr Jude Grosser, Univ. of
Florida, that was held in January by the Tampa Bay Rare Fruit Council. He said that they were still working on several different methods to get rid of or control Citrus Greening and gave us some examples of the research being done.

One thing he did mention is that they have seen numerous examples of trees that were on the decline due to citrus greening that were brought back with very heavy fertilization schedules. The heavy fertilization did not get rid of the citrus greening but it allowed the tree to withstand the disease and continue producing a good harvest of fruit. A couple of the minor trace elements appeared to play a significant role in mitigating the effects of citrus greening. I recall Boron being one, can't remember the second. He said they working on producing a fertilizer for sale to the public that would have the trace elements in the correct proportion. So, the recommendation in the meantime was if you are not ready to get rid of your sick citrus tree/s, start fertilizing frequently and heavily and give it a chance to recover.

Thanks for the good thoughts jofus. I am hopeful too!

The largest trees still producing around me seem to usually be tangerines. The leaves look to be a bit infected with this junk but fruit looks pretty good. I'd like to catch the owners to ask them if they are doing the heavy fertilizing vml68 mentions.

Sugar belle tangerine is supposed to be tolerant of citrus greening. It will still contract the disease, but will yield normally with no extra care. At least that's what I have been told. I've also heard it's a very tasty one, as well as a good jucer. Hopefully I can get 1 or 2 off my tiny tree next season and see for myself.

I can vouch for the fertilization route. I had 2 trees infected. 1 grapefruit that did finally die, but the other a cocktail tree. After 3 years of heavy fertilizing this year is the first crop of EDIBLE FRUIT! Not only is it edible but there is a lot of it. Now I just have to keep up the fertilizer program and get the trunck more stable. Irma blew it down, and I can't seem to right it all the way. LOL It's the leaning tower of citrus now. :-)

Awesome - What fertilizer did you use and how much/often?

On the lookout for a Sugar Belle tangerine! Here is an article about what Alan describes above.... http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2017/05/19/uf-sugar-belle-citrus-variety-more-tolerant-to-greening/