Southeastern Citrus Expo coming to Clanton

Published 11:05 am Thursday, November 14, 2013

The 2013 Southeastern Citrus Expo, sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, will be held Friday and Saturday in Clanton.

Pre-conference tours will be conducted at several Central Alabama farms on Friday at the following locations:

•John Neighbors’ Fruit Farm, Alexander City.

•Petals from the Past, Jemison.

•Chilton Research and Extension Center, Clanton.

•Longleaf Botanical Gardens, Anniston.

On Saturday, the Citrus Expo will feature educational presentations, trade show and fruit contests at the Jefferson State Community College auditorium in Clanton. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the program begins at 9 a.m. There are two options available for the Saturday session:

•Option 1: Attend the meeting and have lunch on your own for $10 per person. Both pre-registration and onsite registration available.

•Option 2: Attend the meeting and have a box lunch and drink provided. The cost for this option is $20. Pre-registration was required, and the deadline has passed.

Speakers and presentations will include:

•Growing and marketing satsuma mandarins in Central Alabama (John Neighbors).

•Unusual and cold-hardy citrus for the backyard hobbyist (Hayes Jackson).

•Developing a citrus industry in the Wiregrass region of Alabama (Dallas Hartzog).

Attendees will get updates on the citrus quarantine, citrus greening and Asian citrus psyllid as well as hear a grower panel discussion.

Petals from the Past Nursery will host a post-conference tour and fruit tasting with a variety of citrus and other fruits.

For more information on the Southeastern Citrus Expo, contact Gary Gray, regional Extension agent, at graygar@aces.edu or (334) 539-2128; or Petals from the Past at info@petalsfromthepast.com or (205) 646-0069.

Also visit the Expo facebook page at www.facebook.com/SoutheasternCitrusExpo for more information.