Citrus Rootstock Knowledge Base from Florida

Jun 12, 2020

A recent University of Florida-Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (UF-IFAS) blog has a review of the last 60 years of rootstock trials and the lessons learned from those trials. It also has links to the results of those trials and a summary of the results of those trials.

What's also interesting is the “Expert System” that can be used to select a rootstock based on the horticultural traits (height, fruit size, etc), soil properties (pH, salinity, wetness, etc) and/or disease resistance.

The data is based on 21 characteristics of 48 rootstocks. It encompasses both the UF and USDA rootstock trials in Florida. And this last word is a key to all the data. It's based on the Florida condition and on many rootstocks that have not be trialed in California and aren't available commercially here. It is, however, a wonderful resource (Bibliography also included), learning tool and good starting point for reviewing potential rootstocks before ordering trees and planting an orchard. It's best to learn of potential problems before planting than having to learn how to correct those problems once the trees are in the ground.

And here is more from the USDA on citrus rootstocks: https://citrusrootstocks.org/

For an overview of California rootstocks for lemon, check out the presentations here


By Ben Faber
Author - Advisor
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