This research was aimed at evaluating the vegetative growth of citrus rootstocks produced in different commercial substrates and cultivated in four liters containers. The experiment was carried out in greenhouse conditions at the Estação Experimental Agronômica of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, from June 2003 to July 2004. Three commercial substrates [black peat (Commercial 1); processed and enriched husks, expanded vermiculite, expanded perlite and peat (Commercial 2); and (pinus husks and expanded vermiculite (Commercial 3)] and three rootstocks (Trifoliate orange - Poncirus trifoliata [ L. ] Raf.; "C13" citrange - Citrus sinensis [ L. ] Osbeck x P. trifoliata, and Rangpur lime - C. limonia Osbeck) were tested in randomized blocks under dripping irrigation. The following variables were evaluated: stem height and diameter; leaf number and area; root, aerial and total dry mass; leaf nutrient content and relative number of available rootstocks for grafting. The substrate with processed and enriched husks, expanded vermiculite, expanded perlite and peat provided greater vegetative development of rootstocks due to higher nutrient availability. The rootstocks showed diverse development. The "C13" citrange may be offered to the citrus industry as a choice for diversification of rootstocks, due its vegetative growth.
greenhouse; cultivation; Citrus sp.; varieties
