The Florida citrus industry is going through major changes and considerable replanting.\nMany growers are planting varieties, especially rootstocks, that are potentially productive under\nHuanglongbing (HLB; Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) prevalent conditions. However, the high\ndemand for new plant material has put tremendous pressure on citrus nurseries and has created a\nbottleneck in production. Often it can take more than one year to produce field-transplant ready\nplants in nurseries; therefore, there is a critical need to accelerate plant production. This three-part\nstudy was conducted with the following objectives: (1) determine citrus nursery trends; (2) evaluate\nuse of compost for rootstock germination; and, (3) evaluate use of compost for rootstock seedling\ngrowth. According to the nursery survey, rootstock seed germination and seedling growth were the\nmost time-consuming, taking 6â??8 months. Moreover, it was apparent from the survey results that\n44% of the citrus nurseries were experimenting with potting mixes to achieve adequate plant growth\nand quality. Our greenhouse study demonstrated successful use of yard waste compost in place of\npeat moss in a potting mix. With use of 37% to 50% of compost in the potting mix, the overall\ngermination rate and mean emergence time were improved to 70% in less than four weeks for US-\n897 rootstock as compared to no compost in the potting mix. In addition, 37% to 50% compost\nresulted in higher biomass accumulation in seedlings. When seedlings of rootstocks C-32 and Flying\nDragon were grown with 37% to 50% compost, the growth rate and, therefore, percentage of\nsuccessful budding were significantly increased as compared to no compost. In addition, substrate\nanalysis indicated that a high compost potting media was rich in mineral nutrients, hence the use\nof fertilizer in nurseries could be minimized. Altogether, use of compost in place of peat moss seems\npromising and could accelerate germination and growth of rootstocks, reducing the production time\nas well as cost.
Loading....