Florida Citrus Rootstock Selection Guide

Florida Citrus Rootstock Selection Guide, 4th Edition. William S. Castle, Kim D. Bowman, Jude W. Grosser, Stephen H. Futch, James H. Graham, and Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi. The authors also wish to gratefully acknowledge the following colleagues who contributed significantly to the first two editions of this publication: Dr. Alfred H. Krezdorn [deceased], Dr. David P. H. Tucker and Mr. Charles O. Youtsey.

The last edition of this guide was published in 2015. Much has changed since then in the Florida citrus industry mostly because of the discovery and spread of the bacterial disease, Huanglongbing [HLB]. Rootstocks were not initially part of the discussion related to managing HLB, but that, too, has changed particularly given the accumulating evidence that trees on various rootstocks may differ in the incidence of the disease. Therefore, the authors have prepared this timely and necessary update of the former edition as well as considerably expanding the list of rootstocks to include many that have not yet undergone the usual extensive field evaluation in Florida. These new rootstocks offer improvements of many meaningful traits, such as tree size control, high yield and juice quality and possible HLB tolerance that appear essential to the future of our citrus industry.

Notes on Rootstock Traits
Obtaining the UF rootstocks shown in the table as UFR

Rootstocks			Horticultural Traits								Tolerances						Pests and Diseases
Rootstock	Year of first avail.	Notes	Seed Prop	Tree Size	Spacing	Yield per Tree	Yield per Acre	Juice Quality	Fruit Size	Salinity	High pH	Clay Soil	Wet Soil	Drought	Freeze	HLB incidence	Blight	Phytophthora	P. palmivora weevil complex	Burrowing Nema	Citrus Nema	Tristeza
C-35 citrange	1994	First available in 1994, this rootstock is good for seed propagation, produces large trees, induces intermediate to high fruit yield, high quality juice, and intermediate fruit size. Good for soils with high salinity, intermediate for high pH soils, and good for wet soils. Field trials in Florida indicate low incidence of HLB and tolerance to Phytophora.	G	I	8-10	I	I-H	H/I	I	[P-I]	P	[P]	[I]	?	?	?	?	T+	[S]	[S]	R	T
Carrizo citrange	1932	This hybrid of sweet orange and trifoliate is known as a general-purpose rootstock apart from high salinity soils. Good for seed propagation, induces large trees and high fruit yield.Intermediate to high juice quality and fruit size. Poor in high salinity soils, and intermediate for wet soils. Intermediate to high incidence of HLB, and intolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	8-12	H	I-H	I-H/I	I-Lg	P	P	P	I	G	G	I-H	I	I	[S]	[S]	S	T
Cleopatra mandarin	1932	Available since the early 1930’s, this rootstock is good for seed propagation, produces large trees that require 8-15 feet of spacing. Juice quality is low but does produce large fruit.Induces medium fruit yield.It is good for salty soils, intermediate for high pH soils and clay soils. Poor for wet soils and intermediate to good for drought, plus good for damage from freezing conditions. Low incidence of HLB, sensitive/tolerant to blight, sensitive to P. Palmivora, citrus nematode infectious disease, Phytophthora, but tolerant to citrus tristeza virus (CTV)	G	Lg	8-15	L-I	I	H/H	Sm	G	I	G	P	I-G	G	L	S-T	S	[S]	S	S	T
Kuharske citrange	1932	Available since 1932, this highly used rootstock ousted the Swingle as of 2015. Induces intermediate to high fruit yield and juice quality. Produces medium to large sized fruit. Known for its nematode tolerance.	G	Lg	8-12	[H]	I-H	I/I	I/Lg	[P-I]	[P]	?	?	[G]	[G]	?	?	I	[S]	[R]	S	[T]
Sour orange	Long established	Long established rootstock with moderate to large fruit size, excellent juice quality, resistant to abiotic factors (frost, drought), remains a commonly used choice of rootstock in Florida.	G	I-Lg	8-12	I-H	I-H	H+/H	I	G	G	G	G+	I	G	L	T+	T	T	S	S	S
Swingle citrumelo	1974	This citrus rootstock has been available since the 1970s, with an intermediate tree and fruit size, intolerant to most soil types besides wet soils. Intermediate tolerance to HLB, tolerant to blight and Phytophora, but susceptible to P. palmivora and burrowing nematodes.	G	I	8-12	I	I	I/I	I	P	P	P	[G]	P-I	G	I	T	T+	S	[S]	R	T
US-802	2007	Patented by the USDA in 2007, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation, produces large trees with high quality juice and large fruit. Induces intermediate fruit yield. Good for clay soils and damage from freezing conditions.	VG	LG	14	H	I	L-I/I	Lg	?	[I]	[G]	[I]	?	G	L	G	T	T	?	?	T
US-812	2001	Patented by the USDA in the early 2000’s, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation, produces intermediate size trees with high quality juice and medium sized fruit. Induces high yield. Good for high pH soils and Low incidence of HLB, blight, and tolerant for most citrus nematodes’ disease and tristeza.	VG	I	12	H	H	H/H	I	?	G	[I]	[I]	?	[G]	I	T+	T	[S]	?	?	T+
US-897	2007	Patented by the USDA in 2007, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation, produces small trees that need 8 feet of spacing. This rootstock produces high quality juice and fruit size ranging from small to large. Induces high fruit yield. It is favorable for clay soils. Intermediate incidence of HLB, blight, and tolerant for most citrus nematode infectious disease and citrus tristeza virus (CTV).	VG	Sm	8	L	H	H/H	Sm-I	?	[I]	[G]	[I]	?	I	I	I	T	T	?	?	T
US-942	2010	Patented by the USDA in 2010, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation and produces trees ranging from small to large size. High quality juice and fruit size to be consistently large. Induces high yield. Good for high pH soils, clay soils, wet soils, drought, and damage from freezing conditions. A low incidence of HLB, excellent tolerance to blight, most citrus nematode infectious disease and citrus tristeza virus (CTV).	VG	Sm-I	10	H	H	H/H	I	?	[G]	[G]	[G]	[G]	[G]	L	T+	T	T	?	?	T+
Volkamer lemon	1970	Available since 1970, this rootstock is good for seed propagation and produces large trees. Induces low quality juice, large fruit, and medium to high fruit yield. Intermediate for salty soils, tolerant to high soil pHs and clay soils. Good for wet soils and drought prone soils. Unknown incidence of HLB. Sensitive to blight, P. Palmivora, citrus nematode infectious disease, and citrus tristeza virus (CTV), but tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	12-15	h	I-H	L/L	Lg	i	T	I	I-G	G	P	?	S	T	[S]	S	S	T
x-639	1994	Obtained from South Africa, this rootstock is increasing popularity because of low HLB incidence. Excellent performance with navel orange in River and Ridge field trials.	G	Lg	8-12	I	I-H	H/H	I	G	[I]	[G]	[G]	?	[I-G]	L	?	T	[S]	[S]	?	T
Benton citrange	1986	Available since 1986, this rootstock induces large trees, a high fruit yield, high to intermediate juice quality, and medium to large fruit sizes. Poor in high salinity soils, and intermediate to good for wet soils. It is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	8-12	H	?	H/I	I-Lg	P-I	P	[P]	[I]	G	G	?	?	T	[S]	?	?	T
Flying Dragon TF	1978	Available since 1978, this rootstock induces a low to intermediate fruit yield, and produces high quality juice. It is poor for high salinity soils and intermediate for wet soils. It is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Sm	5-7	L-I	H	H/H	Sm-I	P	P	G	I	P	G	?	P	T	[I]	S	R	T
Goutou	1994	Available since 1994, this rootstock induces a low to intermediate fruit yield, low to intermediate juice quality, and large fruit sizes. This rootstock is good for wet soil and clay soils. This root stock is sensitive to Phytophthora.	G	I	8-10	[L-I]	[I]	L-I/L	Lg	?	[I]	G	[G]	?	?	?	?	S	[S]	[S]	?	T+
Kinkoji	1986	Available since 1986, this rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, produces low quality juice and medium sized fruit. It is good in wet soils. It is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	I	8-10	[I]	I	L-I/L	I	?	[I]	[G]	[G]	?	?	?	?	T	[S]	[S]	?	T
Rough lemon	Long established	This long-established rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, produces low quality fruit juice and large fruit size. Intermediate for high salinity soils and wet soils. This root stock is sensitive to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	10-15	H	I-H	L/L	Lg	I	G	I	I	G	P	?	S	S	S	S	S	T
Rusk citrange	1960	Available since 1960, this rootstock induces an intermediate to high fruit yield, produces intermediate to high juice quality and fruit size. It is poor in high salinity soils and wet soils. It is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G;FS	Sm-I	6-8	I	I-H	H+/I	I	P	P	?	P	[P]	P-I	?	[I]	T	[S]	S	?	T
Shekwasha mandarin	1986	First available in 1986, this rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, produces intermediate to high juice quality, and small fruit sizes. It is intermediate for high salinity soils and poor for wet soils. This root stock is sensitive to Phytophthora.	G	I-Lg	8-15	L-I	I	I/H	Sm	[I]	G+	[G]	P	I-G	G	?	?	S	[S]	S	S	T
Smooth Flat Seville	1988	First available in 1988, this rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, produces low to intermediate juice quality, and medium to large fruit sizes. It is intermediate for high salinity soils and intermediate for wet soils. This root stock is sensitive to Phytophthora.	G;sdlgs var	I	8-12	L-I	I	L-I/I	I-Lg	[I]	G	[G]	I	[G]	[I]	?	[T]	S	[S]	[S]	?	[T]
Sun Chu Sha mandarin	1988	Available since 1988, this rootstock induces intermediate fruit yield, produces high juice quality, and small fruit sizes. It is intermediate for high salinity soils and poor for wet soils. This root stock is sensitive to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	8-12	L-I	I	H/H	Sm	[I]	I+	G	P	[I-G]	[G]	?	?	S	[S]	S	S	T
Sweet orange	Long established	This long-established rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, juice quality, and medium to large fruit size. It is intermediate for high salinity soils and poor in wet soils. It is very sensitive to Phytophthora.	G	Lg	10-12	I	I	I/I	I-Lg	I	I	I	P	P	I	?	T+	S+	[S]	S	S	T
Trifoliate orange	Long established	This long-established rootstock induces high fruit yield, high juice quality, and small to medium sized fruit. It is poor in high salinity soils, but good for wet soils. The trifoliate orange is very tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Sm	6-8	L-I	H	H/H	Sm-I	P-	P-	G	G	P	I-G	?	[S]	T+	[S]	S	R	T+
US-852	1999	Patented by the USDA in 1999, induces a high fruit yield, high quality juice, and medium sized fruit. Field trials are resuming for soil tolerances. It is very tolerant to Phytophthora.	P	I	12	H	H	H/H	I	?	[I]	[I]	?	?	G	I	G	T	[S]	?	?	T
1584	2004	First available in 2004, this rootstock produces intermediate to high quality juice and produces medium sized fruit. It is intermediate for high salinity soils and tolerant to wet soils. This rootstock is intolerant to Phytophthora.	G;FS	I	8-12	H	?	I-H/I	I	[I]	?	G	T	?	?	?	?	I	[S]	?	T	T
C-22 Bitters	2009	Released in 2009, this rootstock induces an intermediate fruit yield, produces high to intermediate juice quality, and produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. HLB incidence is intermediate,this rootstock is intermediate for Phytophthora.	G	Sm-I	6-8	[I]	[I]	H/I	I	?	G+	?	?	?	?	[I]	?	I	?	?	S	I
C-54 Carpenter	2009	Released in 2009, this rootstock induces a high fruit yield, produces high to intermediate juice quality, and produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. This rootstock has a low incidence of HLB, and intermediate tolerance for Phytophthora.	G	I	8	[H]	[H]	H/I	I	?	I	?	?	?	?	[L]	?	I	?	?	G	I
C-57 Furr	2009	Released in 2009, this rootstock induces a high fruit yield, produces high to intermediate juice quality, and produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. This rootstock has a low incidence of HLB and its tolerance for Phytophthora is good.	G	I	8	[H]	[H]	H/I	I	?	I	?	?	?	?	[L]	?	G	?	?	G	I
C-146	2009	Released in 2009, this rootstock induces a high fruit yield, produces high to intermediate juice quality, and produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. This rootstock has a low incidence of HLB and its tolerance for Phytophthora is good.	G	I	8	[H]	[H]	H/I	I	?	?	?	?	?	?	[L]	?	[G]	?	?	[G]	[I]
US-896	2015	Released by the USDA in 2015, this rootstock has a very good seed propagation result. Furthermore, it induces a high fruit yield, produces high juice quality and produces medium to large sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has an intermediate tolerance for HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	VG	Sm-I	10	H	H	H/H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	I	I	T	T	[S]	?	?	T
US-1279	2014	Released by the USDA in 2014, this rootstock has poor seed propagation. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to quality juice. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	P	Sm-I	10	H	H	I/H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
US-1281	2014	Released by the USDA in 2014, this rootstock has poor seed propagation. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to high juice quality. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	P	Sm-I	10	H	H	H/H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
US-1282	2014	Released by the USDA in 2014, this rootstock has poor seed propagation. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to juice quality. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	P	Sm-I	10	H	H	H/H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
US-1283	2014	Released by the USDA in 2014, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to high juice quality. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	VG	Sm-I	10	H	H	H/H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
US-1284	2014	Released by the USDA in 2014, this rootstock is very good for seed propagation. Trees are recommended to have 12 feet of spacing. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to high juice quality. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant for Phytophthora.	VG	I	12	H	H	I/I	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
US-1516	2015	Released by the USDA in 2015. This rootstock induces a high fruit yield and produces low to intermediate juice quality. The fruit sizes range from medium to large. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	I-Lg	12	H	H	L-I/I	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	[I]	?	?	T
UFR-1	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the first of the UFR series induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to high juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. It is good for high salinity soils, high pH soils, and clay soils. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	I	8-10	H	H	I/H	I	[G]	G	G	?	?	I	L	[I]	T	T	?	?	[T]
UFR-2	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the second of the UFR series induces an intermediate to high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. It is good for high salinity soils. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	I	8-10	I/H	I/H	I/I	I	[G]	?	?	?	?	I	L	[I]	T	[I]	?	?	[T]
UFR-3	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the third of the UFR series induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. Field trials are being conducted for soil type tolerances. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G;sdlngs var	I	8-10	H	H	I/I	I	[I]	?	?	?	?	I	L	[I]	T	[I]	?	?	[T]
UFR-4	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the fourth of the UFR series induces an intermediate to high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. It is good for high salinity soils. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	I	10	H	H	I/H	I	G	G	?	?	?	I	L	[I]	T	[T]	?	?	[T]
UFR-5	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the fifth of the UFR series induces a high fruit yield and produces high to intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium to large. It is intolerant for high salinity soils. This rootstock has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora	G	I	8-10	H	H	H/I	I-Lg	[I]	G	?	?	?	I	L-I	?	T	[T]	?	?	[T]
UFR-6	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, the sixth of the UFR series induces a high fruit yield and produces high juice quality. Fruit sizes range from small to large. It is intolerant for high salinity soils. Furthermore, it has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Sm	6-8	H	H	H	Sm-l	[I]	?	?	?	?	G	I	[I]	T	?	?	?	T
UFR-15	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, this rootstock induces an intermediate to high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are large. It is good for high salinity soils, high pH soils, and clay soils. Trials indicate an intolerance for HLB but is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G;sdlngs var	Lg	12	[I]	[I-H]	I/I	Lg	[G]	[G]	[G]	?	?	?	I	[G]	T	?	?	?	?
UFR-16	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, this rootstock induces an intermediate to high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. It is good for high salinity soils, high pH soils, and clay soils. Trials indicate an intolerance for HLB but is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G;sdlngs var	I/Lg	10-12	[I]	[I-H]	I/I	Lg	[G]	[G]	[G]	?	?	?	I	[G]	T	[T]	?	?	?
UFR-17	2015	Released by the University of Florida in 2015, this rootstock is good for seed propagation. It induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Fruit sizes are medium. It is intolerant for salinity soils, but is good for high pH soils, and clay soils. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	G	Sm-l	8-10	[H]	H	I/I	I	[I]	[G]	?	[G]	?	G	L	[G]	T	[I]	?	?	?
US Super Sour I	2019	Recently released by the USDA in 2019. This rootstock induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate to high juice quality. Super Sour I do produce medium to large size fruit. Field trials are being conducted to evaluate tolerance to different soil types. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	?	Sm-l	8-10	[H]	[H]	I/H/I-H	I-Lg	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	?	?	?	[T]
US Super Sour II	2019	Recently released by the USDA in 2019. This rootstock induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Super Sour II produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted to evaluate tolerance to different soil types. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	?	Sm-l	8-10	[H]	[H]	I/I	I	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	?	?	?	[T]
US Super Sour III	2019	Recently released by the USDA in 2019. This rootstock induces a high fruit yield and produces intermediate juice quality. Super Sour III produces medium sized fruit. Field trials are being conducted to evaluate tolerance to different soil types. It has a low incidence of HLB and is tolerant to Phytophthora.	?	Sm-l	8-10	[H]	[H]	I/I	I	?	?	?	?	?	?	L	?	T	?	?	?	[T]

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