I ran across the Brazilian site and here’s a sample of the content. Impressive “out-of-the-box” growing technique. It is important to stress that vine citrus trees are not really vines. Instead, they have drooping branches unable to support themselves. The plants, therefore, have a willow- or umbrella-type canopy. Their branches do not climb like vines nor have special structures to attach themselves to a support structure. The development of citrus trellises, therefore, are quite different than those for grapevines, for example. Vine citrus trees should be planted at 5 to 7 feet spacing, at about 1.5 feet from the posts towards the interior of the trellis. These posts have to be spaced 10 feet between rows, 5 to 7 feet within post lines, and should be 7 to 8 feet tall. Vine citrus trees should be conducted as a single or double stem until they reach the full height of the trellis. Any lateral branch below this should be removed. These stems should be topped immediately above the trellis and allowed to branch out in all directions. These branches will be supported by beams regularly spaced over the lateral posts. The collection of such willow-type canopies will form the vine citrus trellis. Fruiting occurs along the extremities of the drooping branches and the fruit develop below the foliage with beautiful visual effects. Today,in addition to the vine orange variety, we have tangerine and lemon varieties with drooping branches thanks to breeding done at Citrolima citrus nursery. It is important to stress that vine citrus trees are not really vines. Instead, they have drooping branches unable to support themselves. The plants, therefore, have a willow- or umbrella-type canopy. Their branches do not climb like vines nor have special structures to attach themselves to a support structure. The development of citrus trellises, therefore, are quite different than those for grapevines, for example.Vine citrus trees should be planted at 5 to 7 feet spacing, at about 1.5 feet from the posts towards the interior of the trellis. These posts have to be spaced 10 feet between rows, 5 to 7 feet within post lines, and should be 7 to 8 feet tall. Vine citrus trees should be conducted as a single or double stem until they reach the fulll height of the trellis. Any lateral branch below this should be removed. These stems should be topped immediately above the trellis and allowed to branch out in all directions. These branches will be supported by beams regularly spaced over the lateral posts. The collection of such willow-type canopies will form the vine citrus trellis. Fruiting occurs along the extremities of the drooping branches and the fruit develop below the foliage with beautiful visual effects. Today, in addition to the vine orange variety, we
have tangerine and lemon varieties with drooping branches thanks to breeding done at Citrolima citrus nursery.
‘Natal’ Christmas Trees. ‘Natal’ is a very common sweet orange variety in Brazil and its name means ‘Christmas’. So Natal trees means Christmas trees. Of course we also have Valencia, Hamlin, Navel or any other citrus-type Christmas trees. The fact is that the mini-citrus-trees produced by CITROLIMA have been used in the end-of-the year decorations as tropical Christmas trees. They are grafted on Flying Dragon rootstock, a trifoliate-type citrus originated from China, and cultivated into 4 gallon (15 l) pots using composted Pine bark as growing medium. The mini-trees bear fruit regularly. They are kept under full sun but tolerate extremely well up to 30 days indoors, which makes them well suited for the new Holiday decoration. General care is very simple. The potted plants are light and can be easily moved around, giving a tropical touch to the celebrations, which occur in the summer in the Southern hemisphere. The fruit are under full development in December, have a dark green color and a little over an inch (3 cm) in diameter.
Budwood Thermotherapy The first plants produced with citrus budwood hot treated against the bacteria of Citrus
Variegated Chlorosis (CVC) in 1994 have reached bearing age. The results are better than expected since tree vigor and productivity seem to be also above normal. This indicates the process may have additional benefits other than simply freeing the stock of bacteria. The treatment herein developed is similar to the hot bath used for rootstock seeds and consists in submitting budwood to temperatures above 125 degrees F (52 degrees C) for at least 10 minutes. Treatment parameters vary with budwood variety, physiological stage, and mass.
Budwood Storage New methods for cold storage of citrus budwood are maintaining the quality of the propagation
material for up to 6 months. Mature budwood is cut, treated with benomyl fungicide, superficially dried and stored in cotton-cloth bags inside plastic bags. The material is inspected fortnightly, abscised petioles removed and the budsticks superficially dried again. Fungicidal treatment is repeated every 2 months. Temperature oscillates between 4 and 8 degrees centigrade ( 39 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit). Budwood may thus be kept for up to 2 years or more with the objective of preserving genetic material only, since bud take is commercially inadequate after the sixth month.
New Layout for Citrus Greenhouses Citrolima trials have shown significant advantages for transversal bench-
arrangement in citrus greenhouses when compared with the traditional longitudinal layout: better air circulation, lower temperature, easier tree handling, easier worker circulation, and smaller, more manageable number of trees per bench. The main effect is the reduction in ambient temperature as a result of increased air circulation through the lateral screen walls, which have the entire height free at each bench interval. The resulting reduction in the number of plant containers that can be accommodated in the greenhouse is largely compensated by the derived benefits.
Dark Antechambers Tests carried out in our nurseries indicate that dark antechambers utilized in the citrus screen
houses are advantageous. Dark chambers are built with black screens instead of clear or white ones. The screen at the door to the greenhouse should also be dark, whereas the antechamber door should be clear. The purpose is to avoid attracting insets into the chambers. Should any insects penetrate the chamber, on the other hand, they are attracted to the
clear exit door, thus facilitating their elimination.