Topics in Subtropics

It is such a simple little letter, P. It stands for the element phosphorus. It is often misspelled as phosphorous which is an adjective, but even in technical literature it is misspelled. But that's not the end. Phosphorus is an element that takes many forms called oxidation states.

The latest cost of production study done on oranges came out recently. http://coststudyfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/cs_public/19/d4/19d4f1bb-408a-443e-a759-36fd53a2948f/oranges_vs_2015.

There are something like 1,000 named varieties of avocado. Big, small, green, black, purple, round, pear-shaped, winter, summer, fall harvest, anise smelling leaves, all kinds of distinguishing features.

To help Ventura County's citrus community better understand the nature of the ACP epidemic and the bitter lessons from Florida's failure to address it proactively Farm Bureau and the ACP-HLB Task Force will host a workshop on Dec. 2.

Another impact of the drought? There have been reports of a sunken, leathery patch around the blossom end (opposite of the stem end) of citrus fruit. This has been reported on lemons, limes and mandarins, but I am sure growers are seeing it on oranges, as well as other citrus relatives.