Citrus australis as rootstock

[druss]

Hi all,  I have a citrus australis lime tree that is loaded with fruit and im considering using it as a rootstock for cultivated varieties.  Has anybody tried this?

[pagnr]

Citrus indora has been used as a rootstock in the Wet Tropics areas of Nth Qld, because it is locally well suited.
I think virgata ( finger lime X round lime ) was discussed by W. Swingle as a potential rootstock in The Citrus Industry.
I have never heard of C. australis being used as a rootstock. It does get to be a reasonably large tree in the wild.
There are many other rootstock choices in Australia, probably better suited to high input horticulture, than a wild plant.
C. australis seems to be compatible with Citrus rootstocks, although mine seem to have overgrown the stocks, in some cases.
Not sure about the reverse compatibility when its used as the rootstock.

[druss]

I have inodora here, grafted onto carizzo citrange growing well. I was looking into the use of C. australis as I have hundreds of fruit with seeds, I figured I could germinate them then trade for budwood to increase my collection.

[pagnr]

Yes, I saw that you are talking about C. australis. The use of inodora and possibly suggested virgata could indicate that Microcitrus can be used as Citrus rootstock ??
As seedlings I have found Microcitrus slower to get to good size than most other Citrus and especially Citrus rootstocks.
I can't see why you couldn't use them if you had nothing else, I don't know if it would be my first choice if I could get something else.
There might be compatibility issues with some Citrus types??

[druss]

Cool, might give them a go and see how they germinate, I dont suppose you know of a source of Citrus. Garrawaye?

[citrange]

I dont suppose you know of a source of Citrus. Garrawaye?

There were cyclone-damaged but still fruiting trees of C. garrawayi growing in Kershaw Gardens, Rockhampton when I was there in 2016.

There was a lot of reconstruction work there after the cyclone so I hope they are still OK. I contacted the local council to ask that they were protected but I don't know the current situation. See my webpage http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/australia2016/australia2016garrawayi.html
There are also publicly accessible plants at CSIRO Atherton and in Darwin Botanic Garden.

[pagnr]

Hi Mike, re C. garrawayi. I asked a friend who is familiar with the Rockhampton plants. He says they are all gone now, except for a smaller seedling or sucker.
There was also a plant at the Canberra Botanic Gardens some years ago. It was about a metre tall, outdoors, straggly. Canberra gets pretty cold at times. Not sure if it is still there.
The UC Citrus collection in USA has 3 accessions of C. garrawayi.
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/microcitrus_garrawayae_2002021.html
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/microcitrus_garrawayae_2002022.html
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/microcitrus_garrawayae_2002025.html

[Millet]

Citrange and Pager, thanks for both of your great articles.  Much appreciated.