citrus propagation - university of california, riversidemg.ucr.edu/citrus_propagation.pdf · seed...
TRANSCRIPT
SeedAdvantages
most citrus has seedmost citrus is polyembryonic and will come true to type from seedcan plant seed any time of year
SeedDisadvantages
some varieties are seedlesssome varieties are monoembryonic and seed will be hybrid, not true to typeseed sometimes takes months to germinatejuvenile trees are very thornylong time to bearing age
CuttingsDisadvantages
uses a lot of scion materialmany varieties susceptible to soil pathogensno size regulation of resulting tree
GraftingAdvantages
can provide size regulation and pest resistancelarger piece of scion is easier to handle
GraftingDisadvantages
uses a lot of scion materialrequires rootstock, suppliesrequires higher level of expertisecan only be done at certain times of year
Budding
Advantagesvery small amount of scion material neededrequires low level of expertiseknow within 2 weeks if budding is successfulcan provide size regulation and pest resistance
Selection of budwood
healthy, fruiting treecut budstick from hardened growth of last flushor, cut budstick from next to last flushround twigs are easier to handle than angular twigsbudwood may be refrigerated for weeks to months if sanitized
Selection of rootstock
rootstock must be compatible with scionconsider ultimate size of tree desiredconsider soil conditions, insects, diseasespencil-thickness rootstock is bestbark must be slipping
Cut bark to receive bud
make cut verticallymake cut horizontally, 1/3 downloosen bark along cut with knife
Cut buds
hold knife almost parallel to the budstickcut sliver with bud about1 inch longbud should be slightly above the middle of the sliver
Insert the bud
insert the bottom of the bud at the horizontal cutslide bud down into lower part of bark pocketlift top of bark pocket to accept top of budbe sure bud was inserted right side up
Wrap the bud
pull tape tightly to ensure good bud-rootstock contactbud may be wrapped exposed or covered
Healing
give tree good careif buds turn brown, rebudafter 4 weeks, buds are healedremove tape after 4 weeks
Aftercare
bend top of rootstock over to reduce apical dominancekeep tree “suckered”when new bud is at least 12 inches long, cut top of rootstock offstake new shootplant tree when scion has developed some bark
Topworking
changing over an existing tree to a different varietycan be done by grafting or buddingbudding gives a higher success rate
Multiple scions
can be donechoose scions with similar growth rate and ultimate sizeusually requires routine pruning