Introduction. The Brazilian citrus industry is characterized by orange
production for processing, with the Rangpur lime (Citrus limonia L. Osbeck) as the
predominant rootstock. Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) is cultivated on a small
scale and represents one of the less studied citrus species. Using other rootstock
alternatives to Rangpur lime could increase fruit production and quality. Materials
and methods. Ten citrus (Troyer citrange, Swingle citrumelo, Cleopatra mandarin,
Valencia Americana sweet orange, Volkamer lemon cv. Catania 2, Nacional and Florida
rough lemons, Rangpur lime, Thornton tangelo and trifoliate orange) were evaluated
as rootstocks for the Marsh seedless grapefruit in an experiment planted at the Citrus
Experimental Station of Bebedouro (EECB), São Paulo State, Brazil, in January 1991.
The spacing was 8.0 m between rows and 4.0 m between trees. The experimental design,
randomized blocks, presented four replications with three trees per plot. Trees were
grown without supplementary irrigation. Yield was evaluated from 1994 through 2000;
fruit quality from 1994 through 1999; the tree size in May 2000. Results. For each
studied characteristic, the various rootstocks showed significant differences, except
for the average weight of the fruit. The data obtained were compared with the results
already published in the Brazilian literature. Conclusion. Swingle, Troyer, Cleopatra
and trifoliate orange could be used as alternative rootstocks for Marsh seedless grapefruit.