Petal Fall

This is the time of the year known in citrus as "petal fall".  The blossoms have ran their course and have now fallen from the trees.  This is a very important time to watch the trees for citrus thrips that do the most cosmetic damage to citrus. Once the blossoms all drop, these tiny pests will move to the fruit and attack the rind of the orange (currently the size of a pea) and can scar the fuit which leads to downgrading to choice or juice. 

This is also the time of the year that can make or break next year's crop.  If the weather is very hot over the next six weeks, fruit will drop; however if it stays cools like we have experienced so far this spring, too much fruit will "set" and this could lead to a large crop of smaller fruit.  Only time will tell.  Stay tuned.