Later in the winter when dormancy and hardiness are controlled by the temperature, irrigation should be used to provide a maximum reservoir of heat and optimum conduction of heat into the soil during the day and out at night. Where the extent of damage is sufficiently limited that an effective canopy develops by the following winter, emphasis should be placed on repairing the canopy through optimum water, fertilizer and pest and disease control during the summer, enhancing development of dormancy through withholding late applications of fertilizer and by restricting water use as much as is feasible in the fall. Weed-control, maintenance of adequate soil moisture and avoidance of dams of brush or pruning refuse at the foot of slopes should be emphasized during the winter. Killing back to framework branches creates different demands and options. Lack of canopy reduces tree mass and the canopy's role as a cover or shield is destroyed.
Some growers leave long framework branches when pruning freeze-damaged trees.
Large limbs with sparse foliage absorb much heat during the day and the bark is probably more active and susceptible to cold damage than shaded ones. Little attention has been given to this situation for citrus. Spraying whitewash or white paint on citrus trees has been used to prevent sun damage to bare citrus branches in the spring and summer but not induce or maintain dormancy and cold hardiness in the fall and winter following a freeze. In Florida, where sun damage is not likely, whitewashing delays new growth and canopy development as much as two weeks when applied in the spring. Applying whitewash sprays to bare limbs in fall and winter should enhance dormancy.