Scientia Horticulturae 200 (2016) 131–136 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Scientia Horticulturae journal h om epage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti Short communication Effect of rootstocks on tree growth, yield, quality and leaf mineral composition of lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm.) AK Dubey ∗ , R.M. Sharma Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012 India a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 7 October 2015 Received in revised form 2 January 2016 Accepted 8 January 2016 Available online 22 January 2016 Keywords: Fruit quality Fruiting density Kagzi Kalan Young orchard a b s t r a c t The present study aimed to evaluate the horticultural performance of lemon cv ‘Kagzi Kalan’ on eight rootstocks under typical subtropical conditions for maximizing the production and fruit quality. The experiment was conducted on five years old Kagzi Kalan lemon plants budded on eight rootstocks. The variables collected over two successive years included vegetative growth, fruiting density, fruit quality, and leaf nutrient concentrations. Results revealed a significant effect of rootstocks on all the variables studied. Tree height and canopy volume were found higher on rough lemon and RLC-4 rootstocks, while trunk cross sectional area was higher on Billikichlli and RLC-4 rootstocks than other rootstocks. RLC-4 and Attani-2 rootstocks had higher fruiting density, while it was lowest on Troyer citrange. RLC-4 produced heaviest fruits, while trees on rough lemon and RLC-4 had significantly higher juice recovery. RLC-4 and Karna Khatta improved TSS and acid contents in the fruit juice. RLC-4 and Troyer citrange proved their superiority in terms of higher ascorbic acid content. Foliar N concentration in scion cultivars was found higher on RLC-4, rough lemon and Attani-2 rootstocks, while the foliar K content was higher on RLC-4 and rough lemon. Jatti Khatti was more efficient in accumulating Mg in leaf tissues, whereas Troyer citrange restricted accumulation of Na in leaf tissues. Sour orange was more capable of accumulating Cu and Zn in leaf tissues, while other rootstocks had similar uptake of Cu. Karna Khatta, rough lemon and RLC-4 absorbed more Fe, while the foliar Mn content was highest on rough lemon rootstock. Troyer citrange appeared poor performer in terms of fruiting density and nutrient concentration. A positive significant correlation was found between leaf Ca concentration and canopy volume. Hence, considering growth performance, fruit quality and nutrient concentration, RLC-4, rough lemon and Karna Khatta rootstock could be suggested for lemon under alike ecological conditions. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Rootstock choice is one of the most important aspects in orchard management because scion cultivars respond differently to growth, fruit quality and nutrients accumulation when grown on diverse rootstocks. Plant nutrient concentrations in scion cultivar may dif- fer even though they are grown in the same conditions (Bergmann, 1992). Campeanu et al. (2009) suggested that for better quality fruits, mineral nutrient content of scion cultivars should be taken into consideration. Various studies have shown that rootstocks can affect tree growth, flower development, yield and fruit quality of scion cultivar of mandarin (Smith et al., 2004; Mourao Filho et al., 2007). Rootstocks also affect scion leaf mineral concentration in ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: akd67@rediffmail.com (A. Dubey). mango (Duran-Zuazo et al., 2005) and sweet orange (Araujo et al., 1998). There is no argument over the importance of citrus rootstock for higher production of quality fruits. It is widely accepted that good citrus production depends mainly on the availability of suit- able and compatible rootstocks. Thus rootstocks provide orchardist with useful ecofriendly tool to manipulate the vigour and perfor- mance of trees. Rootstocks directly affect the ability of plants to uptake the water and nutrients from the soil. The long-term per- formance of rootstocks and their significant effects on leaf nutrient levels have been studied for different climatic conditions across the world (Fallahi and Rodney 1992; Georgiou 2002; Smith et al., 2004; Srivastav et al., 2005; Toplu et al., 2012). Hence, selection of an appropriate graft combination under a particular set of soil and cli- matic conditions is very decisive for the production of commercial citrus species. Lemon (Citrus limon), one of the most important citrus fruits worldwide, is mostly propagated through budding. Among http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2016.01.013 0304-4238/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.