Swingle? Flyin Dragon? P.Trifoliate? What's a poor Citrus......
grower wanna be to do. I presented this subject on the rootstock forum back in Sept/Oct with minimal replies so I am posting it again. I have sandy soil with very little organic matter. For Sweet oranges, Satsumas, Mandarians, Lemons and Grapefruit which would you recommend for each one. I live in Pensacola Fl with an 8b zone. Last year I saw 19.3 on two days and two weeks with every night below freezing, probably the worst winter ever here. The PT is used universally up here for cold hardiness and I have some understanding of that. The FD is the same with some other benefits of better quality fruit at the expense of the size of the fruit and maybe an earlier onset of cold hardiness.

Please feel free to discuss what I have stated if you disagree or have comments.

One of the varieties I wish to grow is only available on Swingle. How will it differ from PT and FD in Pensacola FL?

My suggestion to you is Std Tri or dragon-- Cold tolerance added is the major deal there and it gets cold there where you are,don't be fooled every degree counts when it comes to losing a tree to cold, trust me on that. The dragon is a dwarfing stock most of the time, although there are some folks who have some good sized trees on dragon but those are the exception rather than the rule. Unless you plan on climbing ladders use dwarfing stock. The dwarfing stock will give you more room to plant additional varieties.

Also- chill out a little, you will get your answer from someone here-- use the search-- bound to be plenty of threads on this out there!!!

Saw the sig @ the bottom

"Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong! "

Kind of funny!!

Life instruction Book is the Bible and its never wrong

Darkman, If what I read is any indication, I think I am pretty much in the same climatic zone as you. IMHO any of the 3 rootstocks mentioned will work in your area. I would choose Trifloiate and Swingle in that order, and Flying Dragon if I wanted a very dwarf plant.

I have had some people tell me that their citrus have proven less hardy on FD. I suspect that has to do with the plant being small. Trees with large canopies seem to be more cold resistant to me.

Ned

Shown below is advice from Drs. Julian Sauls and Larry Jackson in their IFAS report. In my estimation, they are among two of the very most knowledgeable people on the subject of citrus cold hardiness in northwest Florida. NOTE: I had to copy the report, as I could not get the link to work. - Millet (770-)

In northwest Florida, a 60-80% probability that 24°F will occur
each year, a 40-60% probability of 20F (-7°C)
and a 20% probability of 16°F (-9C). Such
temperatures are not conducive to growing most
citrus, as citrus species are basically subtropical or
or tropical crops. The duration of freezing temperatures can be
more critical than the minimum temperature. For
example, serious damage may not occur during a brief
drop to 24°F (-5C), but could result after several
hours at -3°C (26°F). Moreover, previous
exposure to cold increases the plant's ability to
withstand cold. As the days shorten and nights get
cooler, plants slow active growth and attain
cold-hardiness. Satsuma may withstand 15°F (-9C)
in January when it is completely dormant and hardy, but it may be seriously damaged at -3°C 26°F (-3C) in mid-November.
The home fruit grower cannot control the
climate, but there are certain other factors he can
change which will influence the chances of survival
of a citrus tree in north and west Florida. Moreover,
there are several steps he can take to modify the
immediate microclimate of a citrus tree and thus
enable it to withstand freezing temperatures.
The first consideration is the selection of the
proper variety. Kumquats and satsuma are the most
cold-hardy, edible forms of citrus available and both
will normally survive in north and west Florida.
Moreover, trifoliate orange is the most cold-hardy of
all citrus and an excellent rootstock for the others, as
it will convey its hardiness to the scion variety
budded on it. Thus, kumquat and satsuma budded on
trifoliate orange rootstock are the hardiest combination available.

Darkman,

My low was around 22. Like most areas on the South, this cold period extended for 12 or more days although 22 was the low here.

I have an Orlando on Swingle. I also have 2 Satsumas on Satsuma seedlings, one on Changsha, and one on Rough Lemon. The rest (maybe 15-20 trees) are on various rootstocks including C-35, Swingle, Trifoliate and Flying Dragon. I had a small amont of dieback on the small branches of some varieties, but none on most. (I have a lot of different kinds of citrus) I also have a Meyer Lemon on it's own roots that has been in the ground approximatly 15 years, and which bears a crop every year. In the past 20 years, we have seldom gone below 20 but in 1985 we went to 4 degrees. I fully expect to get wiped out at some point, but until then, I will continue to enjoy the fruits of my hobby. My advice is to take your best shot and do the same.

If I am not mistaken, Lazz grows a lot of his citus on Swingle, and he is in an area that runs 5 degrees colder than me, but he will have to let you know if that is correct or not. I am sure some of Stan's are too.

Ned

'Swingle' citrumelo (CPB-4475) was
hybridized by Walter S. Swingle at Eustis, Fla.,
in 1907, from Citrus paradisi Macf. "Duncan'
grapefruit X Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. It is
tolerant of tristeza virus and Phytophthora
parasitica (root rot) and moderately tolerant of
salt. In experimental field plantings, it has proved
to be a satisfactory rootstock for grapefruit and
sweet orange. Seedlings are uniform and vigorous,
with an extensive root system. 'Swingle' citrumelo
is asexually reproduced by seeds that are 85 to
95% polyembryonic (nucellar).
On April 1, 1974, the Agricultural Research
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, released
to citrus nurserymen and growers the 'Swingle'
citrumelo citrus rootstock, formerly tested as Cit
rumelo CPB 4475. This rootstock selection was hy
bridized by Walter S. Swingle at Eustis, Fla., in
1907, from Citrus paradisi Macf. 'Duncan' grape
fruit X Poncirus trifoliata

Darkman,

I had no citrus in 1985. The cold killed many plants here including most Loquats.

The Meyer Lemon did just fine. Normally Meyer seems to begin to sustain damage at around 20 degrees, but if it has had adequate exposure to cool weather, is not normally killed at that temperture. Remember, there are a number of factors, other than temperture, that impact a citrus tree's ability to tolerate freezing temps.

Ned

Here in south Louisiana they use a variety of rootstocks including a new one I have never heard of from a wild citrus from Mississippi.

Trifoliate
Carrizo
Flying Dragon
Are the main ones.

Swingle has some significant hybrid vigor. It is more vigorous than trifoliate and makes a bigger tree.

Most of my citrus are on trifoliate or flyingdragon. I have one on sour orange and one on swingle. I used to have one on Thomasville citrangequat but pulled it up one time. The one on swingle was my largest until I topworked it. It started it's life as wekiwa tangelo, then panzarella orange, and currently is cocktail grapefruit and two kinds of pumelo. It's nice to have a tree like that to topwork. Change your mind and you have a large tree with the new variety fruit in 2 years!

My swingle rootstocked tree is 10 years old, amoung the oldest of the trees I have. It is still alive! I haven't noticed it being any less cold hardy than the others, although we haven't had a citrus killing freeze since 1989 and I bank my trees every year.

I used to have a source of swingle seeds but Lamar U finally cut down the two swingle trees they had. The fruit was a mess every year. I assume they were rootstock that the top froze off sometime in the past.