Propagation of “Valencia” orange (Citrus x sinensis Osbeck) by minigraft

Demand for citrus (Citrus spp) plants for commercial orchards has increased worldwide due to the need for new plantations, renewal of disease-effected crops, and strict regulation for plant production. To evaluate faster and low-cost propagation alternatives for citrus, “Valencia” orange plants were propagated by using two minigrafting techniques (Cleft and inverted T-budding). Rootstocks were raised from “Cleopatra” mandarin seeds, and scions and buds were isolated from 1-year-old grafted plants. For cleft minigrafts, scions were inserted at 5-7 cm height inside of the decapitated rootstocks and covered with Eppendorf® tubes. For T-budding, buds were inserted at 5-7 cm height under the rootstock cortex cut. Unions were fixed with Parafilm®. Grafted plants were maintained under a shade house (50%) with two daily fog irrigation (2 min each). Treatments were distributed with a completely randomized design. Six weeks after grafting, the percentage of success, the shoot length, and the number of leaves per treatment were registered and analyzed with a T test (α=0.05). Cleft minigraft resulted in a higher success percentage and plants with larger shoots. Cleft minigraft could be considered an alternative for citrus propagation in small and medium size nurseries.