Bare-root Poncirus trifoliata, about 20 to 30 cm tall, raised from certified seed.

To be potted up in 1 to 2 L for 1 to 2 years, or heeled in in open ground.

Getting started with this rootstock

Poncirus trifoliata is the hardiest rootstock we offer: it drops its leaves in winter and goes fully dormant, which helps the grafted variety through the cold. It prefers cool, rather acid soils, neither dry nor chalky. Note that it is incompatible with some lemons, citrons and tangors.

• On arrival: bare roots must never dry out. Pot them up or heel them in on the same day, water, and keep them out of full sun and wind for the first few weeks.
• When to graft: when the bark lifts easily, usually from spring to late summer. Young plants are first grown on in pots and grafted when the collar is roughly pencil-thick, by chip budding or whip-and-tongue; a thicker stem is cleft grafted.
• Label each plant with the rootstock name: our rootstock labels.

To compare rootstocks for your climate and soil: how to choose a rootstock and how to grow your own rootstocks. All our lots: citrus rootstocks.