Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.
There are two strikes against citrus growing well in the Mojave Desert. The first is their variable tolerance to freezing temperatures during the winter. The second strike is that oftentimes citrus trees flower in early spring when very light freezing temperatures are possible. Tolerance to these freezing temperatures is practically nil.
Whiteflies are a bad insect problem for any plant. Their populations grow so quickly that small numbers lead to large numbers very fast. For that reason, it’s important to get them under control early, as soon as you see them.
Gardeners who are new to Southern Nevada might want to check out resource books written for the Las Vegas climate or secondly Tucson, Arizona, and lastly the desert Southwest.
