Vol. 123 (2010): Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society
Citrus

‘Parson Brown’ Sweet Orange Performance in a Rootstock Planting

Photos: Florida contains over half the wild orchid species found in the United States, at roughly 100 species. The endangered Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) makes its home in the area of southern Florida known as the Big Cypress Swamp (including the

Published 2010-12-01

Keywords

  • Changsha mandarin,
  • Rusk citrange,
  • Swingle citrumelo,
  • Vangasay lemon

Abstract

‘Parson Brown’ sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] is a well-known early-maturing seedy variety whose importance has slowly declined over time. Its usefulness as a commercial variety has been based on its better juice color and soluble solids content compared to the most common early-season orange, ‘Hamlin’. The juice traits of ‘Parson Brown’ have fit into the production and marketing profile of various companies; thus, an unreplicated rootstock planting was initiated in 1988. The planting was located near Basinger, FL, on the property of a grower-cooperator. Bud sources of PB-S-F-56-2-XE infected with citrus tristeza virus were used to propagate trees on 19 rootstocks. A single double-row bed (≈100 trees) was planted with trees of one rootstock in a site of Valkaria fine sand soil. The trees were spaced 10 × 25 ft. In some instances, a second bed or only a row or partial row of a rootstock was planted. Yield was measured annually along with juice quality for 9 years between the 1992–93 and 2000–01 seasons. Yield and juice quality were also measured among trees on five additional rootstocks in adjacent blocks. Tree survival was >80% except for those trees on Rusk citrange [C. sinensis × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.] (73%) and Changsha mandarin (C. reticulata Blanco) (72%). Tree height after 13 years ranged from 6.3 ft (Hybrid 1573-26 Poncirus trifoliata × ‘Ridge Pineapple’ sweet orange) to 14.9 ft (Vangasay lemon; C. jambhiri Lush.). Cumulative yield ranged from 9.6 (hybrid 1573-26) to 29.0 boxes/tree (Changsha mandarin). Tree height was significantly correlated with cumulative yield (r = 0.72) and cumulative pounds-solids/acre (r = 0.69). Cumulative pounds-solids/acre (PS/acre) was highly correlated with cumulative yield (r = 0.96). Thus, the high-yielding, tall trees on Changsha mandarin rootstock produced the largest cumulative PS/acre (26,073); however, high-yielding smaller trees on other rootstocks with high quality juice such as Rusk citrange (22,493 PS/acre) and the Rangpur × Troyer hybrid (20,155) were also among the most productive trees.