CLERMONT, Fla. — After seeing historic freezing temperatures for a couple of days in Central Florida, several farms are now starting to see how the cold weather affected their crops.

What You Need To Know

The Showcase of Citrus opened in 1989, and for the past 36 years of family farming, Tara Boshell says managers have had to learn how to deal with hard freezes when they happen.

Boshell says they take care 4,000 citrus trees during cold weather. 

When it’s time to prepare for a freeze, workers turn on the irrigation system and lift the micro-sprinkler heads up higher so that a mist can come out to create an ice blanket aimed at protecting the tree and the crops

Boshell said it will take a few weeks to know the full extent of the damage 

“It’s a beautiful, yet intimidating sight because you don’t think that I should go with citrus trees in Florida,” Tara Boshell said.

She is the manager at Showcase of Citrus in Clermont. She said they have about 4,000 citrus trees they work to protect from the cold temperatures, and Monday they were covered in ice.  

“This is not the first time that we have had to do this. Whenever we have deep freezes, we do put on the irrigation system to protect our trees,” Boshell said. “In 2022, we had another deep freeze.” 

When it’s time to prepare for a freeze, citrus grove workers turn on the irrigation system and lift the micro-sprinkler heads up higher so that a mist can come out.

“That mist spreads, and as the air temperature chills, it creates like an ice blanket. That ice blanket actually insulates and protects the plant or the tree, whatever is actually encapsulated within the ice,” she said.

With temperatures continuing to be in the low 30s, Boshell said she expects a smaller harvest of the crop. She explained that if the main part of the tree isn’t protected, then the whole tree could be lost, but by protecting at least the bottom part of the tree, only the top of the tree is lost and the bottom would be salvageable.

“If these branches got too cold during the 12 to 15 hours of consistent (cold), the branches are not going to live. So, it will take a few weeks for us to assess everything,” Boshell said. “And we’re not going to do anything drastic. We’re not going to cut the limbs down. We just have to wait and see.”

The Showcase of Citrus opened in 1989, and for the past 36 years of family farming, Boshell said managers have had to learn how to deal with hard freezes when they happen.

“Once the orange is insulated like this, we will use it for juicing. The problem that we’ve had with this particular two days of freeze is that we’ve never encountered the 12 to 15 hours of consistent freezing temperatures,” Boshell said.

In the meantime, doors at the Showcase of Citrus will continue to be open to the public, as workers assess the damage over the next few weeks.

“We won’t know the full extent of the damage for a few weeks,” Boshell said. “And if we have to, like let’s just say that this part of the tree up died, we will have to trim this off. So, to get back, we’re talking another two years. It’s not an overnight fix. It’s going to take years to recoup.” 

Showcase of Citrus, located at 15051 Frank Jarrell Rd. in Clermont, is open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.