Read responses from Tom Johnson, owner of TJ BioTech, about citrus trunk injection purity for active and inactive ingredients.
Florida citrus growers are looking ahead to a third year of Oxytetracycline (OTC) injections with the 2023-24 citrus season all wrapped up. As with any input—and especially with one that the hopes of the Florida citrus industry hang upon—growers have questions. We recently shared a blog looking at the pH of OTC injections, and now we share another. A Citrus Industry article hosted a Q&A with Tom Johnson, the owner of TJ BioTech, which manufactures the OTC injections, concerning trunk injection purity. See the details below.
OTC Trunk Injection Purity Q&A
The article shared the following concerning trunk injection purity:
Q: “Is there more to the purity of a trunk injection of ReMedium TI® than just the purity of the active ingredient?”
Answer: “The purity of a trunk injection is important to the overall performance of the active ingredient. Therefore, the water used to formulate ReMedium TI® also needs to be carefully considered.
Distilled or reverse osmosis water is the safest and best water source to ensure maximum therapeutic value of ReMedium TI®. Well water often contains a variety of minerals or other impurities that are not beneficial to the movement of the active ingredient within the trunk of the tree. Calcium compounds are very common in well water and can immediately precipitate when the pH of the water is adjusted to the label requirement of 1.8 to 2.0.
This precipitation not only has the potential to reduce the availability of the active ingredient, but it is also likely to slow or stop the intake of the injection. This reduced intake rate and/or volume would in turn hinder the vascular tissue of the tree to be able to mobilize the active ingredient of ReMedium TI®.
So, in short, the purity of the water in the injection formulation is equally as important as the purity of the active ingredient itself.”
Don’t forge to take the UF/IFAS survey on oxytetracycline trunk injections by August 31st.
Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.