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  • From: <redherring@tnaccess.com>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] citrus grafted high
  • Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 21:37:58 -0500

These citrus trees weren't grafted just a foot or two high on trifoliate,
they were 4-6 ft high if I remember correctly. That really let the
trifoliate control dormancy, and trifoliate shuts down growth when nighttime
temps drop below 60 degrees. For Florida, this may not be enough because
they are prone to freezes that are preceded by very warm weather. But as
you go north or into drier areas, nights are cooler, and trifoliate would be
more effective in inducing early dormancy. Mind you, it would be important
to choose early maturing fruit, otherwise the scion might delay dormancy.
A weird thing about trifoliate as a rootstock is that multiple freezes
in a winter can lead to more damage than on conventional rootstocks. And
Mike Cartwright told me that he'd looked very carefully at some trifoliates
that had died in the winter, and discovered that the damage had occurred
only right at ground level. I have to wonder if the plant had broken
dormancy, and then there had been a full moon freeze with stratified air
that killed just the bark at ground level. This would not happen in the
kind of pine forest setting that Major Collins had and Chris Inhulsen has
their hardy citrus planted in. Donna




  • [NAFEX] citrus grafted high, redherring, 05/09/2003

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